{"slug": "autodesk-fusion", "name": "Autodesk Fusion", "category": "media", "category_name": "Media and creative", "description": "", "recommenders": 4, "commenters": 9, "warners": 2, "score": 2.193, "rising": -1.31, "first": "2025-11-05", "latest": "2026-07-19", "why": "the results are quite promising. It's especially good as a quick starting point.", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 5, "neutral": 1, "compare": 2, "warn": 2}, "spark": [2, 1, 2, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "the results are quite promising. It's especially good as a quick starting point.", "kind": "", "icon": true, "domain": "autodesk.com", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Autodesk Fusion"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 745484256, "item_id": 46592766, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46592766", "by": "jwr", "date": "2026-01-12", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "the results are quite promising. It's especially good as a quick starting point.", "excerpt": "FWIW, I've been testing MCP tools exposed from Autodesk Fusion (https://github.com/AuraFriday/Fusion-360-MCP-Server) and the results are quite promising. It's especially good as a quick starting point.", "context": "", "use_case": "CAD modeling via MCP", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: AI in SolidWorks"}, {"id": 744264865, "item_id": 46516554, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46516554", "by": "buildbot", "date": "2026-01-06", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "been using Autodesk Inventor then Fusion", "excerpt": "I\u2019m just a hobbyist 3D user but I feel like I have good experience, been using Autodesk Inventor then Fusion since early high school\u2026 I saw the level of detail in the model and am shocked. If this is truly their first experience with CAD/CAM they are a natural. For example - here\u2019s my home built camera. It\u2019s massively more simplistic: https://blog.maxg.io/phase-one-swc/", "context": "hobbyist 3D user", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "Autodesk Inventor", "story": "I wanted a camera that doesn't exist \u2013 so I built it"}, {"id": 741497072, "item_id": 46343567, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46343567", "by": "fainpul", "date": "2025-12-21", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Fusion works brilliantly for this", "excerpt": "People should share the original files or at least step files along with the stl files. But if you must work with stl, Fusion works brilliantly for this. You can open the stl file, which gives you the usual mesh that's hard to work with. You then convert that mesh to a solid object, on which you can use \"direct modeling\". It's not the same as a parametric object, but the editing features are quite powerful and sort o", "context": "", "use_case": "Editing STL meshes", "switched_from": "", "story": "OpenSCAD is kinda neat"}, {"id": 736526032, "item_id": 46032877, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46032877", "by": "fainpul", "date": "2025-11-24", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "learn the basics of Fusion or FreeCAD", "excerpt": "To me it sounds like it would be worth it for you to learn the basics of Fusion or FreeCAD. You would probably quickly recover the hours spent on learning with increased productivity. I recommend going through some basic tutorial (written or in video form) to build a simple part. The tutorial should teach view navigation, drawing and constraining a sketch, extruding or rotating it to create a 3D body, modifiying that", "context": "", "use_case": "parametric 3D CAD", "switched_from": "", "story": "\u00b5cad: New open source programming language that can generate 2D sketches and 3D"}, {"id": 733208465, "item_id": 45825529, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45825529", "by": "jcoby", "date": "2025-11-05", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "fusion (autodesk; free license available)", "excerpt": "> What software today do people recommend as an alternative to Sketchup? onshape (web; free to use unless you want to protect your designs) and fusion (autodesk; free license available) are both really popular right now. they work differently than sketchup. i never really made friends with sketchup but the parametric modeling system used in fusion and onshape clicked with me and i really enjoy using them.", "context": "", "use_case": "3D CAD modeling", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: My family business runs on a 1993-era text-based-UI (TUI). Anybody else?"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 753454801, "item_id": 47090925, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47090925", "by": "dgroshev", "date": "2026-02-20", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "Fusion doesn't allow to pattern features on sketch points", "excerpt": "I find SOLIDWORKS for Makers [1] a great middle ground between bait-and-switch \"free\" Fusion and the real, very expensive, deal. SW is one of industry standards, its interface is much better than FreeCAD's, and it's more powerful than both FreeCAD and Fusion. For example, both FreeCAD and Fusion struggle with G2/G3 smoothness [2] where SW doesn't even blink. Fusion doesn't allow to pattern features on sketch points (", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "FreeCAD is an open-source parametric 3D modeler"}, {"id": 753404673, "item_id": 47087792, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47087792", "by": "JKCalhoun", "date": "2026-02-20", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "I avoided Fusion (etc.) because of the usual bait-and-switch", "excerpt": "Yeah, I avoided Fusion (etc.) because of the usual bait-and-switch I've seen with commercial applications that claim to be \"free\" at some point. If I'm going to invest in learning a new application, I'd rather it be an open one. I dove into FreeCAD with either version 1.0.0 or earlier. It was\u2026 rough. To be sure, it was a whole new app so I expect initial navigation around the app to be challenging. But, wow. Nonethel", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "FreeCAD is an open-source parametric 3D modeler"}]}], "who": [{"by": "buildbot", "context": "hobbyist 3D user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46516554", "date": "2026-01-06"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["cad for 3d printing", "parametric 3d modeling", "cad modeling via mcp", "editing stl meshes", "parametric 3d cad", "3d cad modeling"], "compared": [{"slug": "freecad", "name": "FreeCAD", "co": 6, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47047010", "title": "FreeCAD is an open-source parametric 3D modeler", "mentions": 4}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48911021", "title": "Blender 5.2 LTS", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46591100", "title": "Show HN: AI in SolidWorks", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46466843", "title": "I wanted a camera that doesn't exist \u2013 so I built it", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46337984", "title": "OpenSCAD is kinda neat", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46027216", "title": "\u00b5cad: New open source programming language that can generate 2D sketches and 3D", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"recommend": 2}, "2025-12": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-01": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-02": {"compare": 2, "warn": 2}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {}}, "versions": [], "version_unnamed": 0, "family_ref": null, "runs_on": null, "lines": [], "quotes": [{"id": 783473826, "item_id": 48967114, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48967114", "by": "cheschire", "date": "2026-07-19", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Autodesk Fusion (prev. Fusion 360) is also a popular option.", "excerpt": "FreeCAD is great if someone mainly wants to print functional, usable parts. That\u2019s totally valid and honestly even more powerful than Blender for that use case. Autodesk Fusion (prev. Fusion 360) is also a popular option. I use blender because I also like to do a lot of 3d printed art, and as you mentioned, that sculpt tooling is one of many fantastic tools for that purpose. Also LLMs know a lot about Blender, making", "context": "", "use_case": "CAD for 3D printing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Blender 5.2 LTS"}, {"id": 753454801, "item_id": 47090925, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47090925", "by": "dgroshev", "date": "2026-02-20", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "Fusion doesn't allow to pattern features on sketch points", "excerpt": "I find SOLIDWORKS for Makers [1] a great middle ground between bait-and-switch \"free\" Fusion and the real, very expensive, deal. SW is one of industry standards, its interface is much better than FreeCAD's, and it's more powerful than both FreeCAD and Fusion. For example, both FreeCAD and Fusion struggle with G2/G3 smoothness [2] where SW doesn't even blink. Fusion doesn't allow to pattern features on sketch points (", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "FreeCAD is an open-source parametric 3D modeler"}, {"id": 753418801, "item_id": 47088675, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47088675", "by": "mijoharas", "date": "2026-02-20", "version": null, "stance": "compare", "quote": "", "excerpt": "For me, as a beginner in Freecad and 3d modelling I kept being unable to interpret/remember all the tool icons, and remember the shortcuts while learning. I found this command palette that helped me discover the different commands and actually get to (beginner) proficient.[0]. Again, no relation, but it's what made it stick for me after a few aborted learning attempts. (and I had a lot of fun with freecad! Especially", "context": "", "use_case": "parametric 3D modeling", "switched_from": "", "story": "FreeCAD is an open-source parametric 3D modeler"}, {"id": 753404673, "item_id": 47087792, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47087792", "by": "JKCalhoun", "date": "2026-02-20", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "I avoided Fusion (etc.) because of the usual bait-and-switch", "excerpt": "Yeah, I avoided Fusion (etc.) because of the usual bait-and-switch I've seen with commercial applications that claim to be \"free\" at some point. If I'm going to invest in learning a new application, I'd rather it be an open one. I dove into FreeCAD with either version 1.0.0 or earlier. It was\u2026 rough. To be sure, it was a whole new app so I expect initial navigation around the app to be challenging. But, wow. Nonethel", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "FreeCAD is an open-source parametric 3D modeler"}, {"id": 753363105, "item_id": 47085194, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47085194", "by": "dracotomes", "date": "2026-02-20", "version": null, "stance": "compare", "quote": "Fusion does a LOT of stuff for you that FreeCAD doesn't", "excerpt": "I switched from Fusion to FreeCAD when I bid Windows goodbye (this video inspired me https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEfNRST_3x8). Fusion does a LOT of stuff for you that FreeCAD doesn't - i.e. extrude a pad from two intersecting shapes in a sketch. While this is annoying at first I feel it forces me to design smarter. I've had a few crashes and the constraint solver sometimes seems to behave weird and takes a ctrl+z", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "FreeCAD is an open-source parametric 3D modeler"}, {"id": 745484256, "item_id": 46592766, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46592766", "by": "jwr", "date": "2026-01-12", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "the results are quite promising. It's especially good as a quick starting point.", "excerpt": "FWIW, I've been testing MCP tools exposed from Autodesk Fusion (https://github.com/AuraFriday/Fusion-360-MCP-Server) and the results are quite promising. It's especially good as a quick starting point.", "context": "", "use_case": "CAD modeling via MCP", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: AI in SolidWorks"}, {"id": 744264865, "item_id": 46516554, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46516554", "by": "buildbot", "date": "2026-01-06", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "been using Autodesk Inventor then Fusion", "excerpt": "I\u2019m just a hobbyist 3D user but I feel like I have good experience, been using Autodesk Inventor then Fusion since early high school\u2026 I saw the level of detail in the model and am shocked. If this is truly their first experience with CAD/CAM they are a natural. For example - here\u2019s my home built camera. It\u2019s massively more simplistic: https://blog.maxg.io/phase-one-swc/", "context": "hobbyist 3D user", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "Autodesk Inventor", "story": "I wanted a camera that doesn't exist \u2013 so I built it"}, {"id": 741497072, "item_id": 46343567, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46343567", "by": "fainpul", "date": "2025-12-21", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Fusion works brilliantly for this", "excerpt": "People should share the original files or at least step files along with the stl files. But if you must work with stl, Fusion works brilliantly for this. You can open the stl file, which gives you the usual mesh that's hard to work with. You then convert that mesh to a solid object, on which you can use \"direct modeling\". It's not the same as a parametric object, but the editing features are quite powerful and sort o", "context": "", "use_case": "Editing STL meshes", "switched_from": "", "story": "OpenSCAD is kinda neat"}, {"id": 736526032, "item_id": 46032877, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46032877", "by": "fainpul", "date": "2025-11-24", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "learn the basics of Fusion or FreeCAD", "excerpt": "To me it sounds like it would be worth it for you to learn the basics of Fusion or FreeCAD. You would probably quickly recover the hours spent on learning with increased productivity. I recommend going through some basic tutorial (written or in video form) to build a simple part. The tutorial should teach view navigation, drawing and constraining a sketch, extruding or rotating it to create a 3D body, modifiying that", "context": "", "use_case": "parametric 3D CAD", "switched_from": "", "story": "\u00b5cad: New open source programming language that can generate 2D sketches and 3D"}, {"id": 733208465, "item_id": 45825529, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45825529", "by": "jcoby", "date": "2025-11-05", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "fusion (autodesk; free license available)", "excerpt": "> What software today do people recommend as an alternative to Sketchup? onshape (web; free to use unless you want to protect your designs) and fusion (autodesk; free license available) are both really popular right now. they work differently than sketchup. i never really made friends with sketchup but the parametric modeling system used in fusion and onshape clicked with me and i really enjoy using them.", "context": "", "use_case": "3D CAD modeling", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: My family business runs on a 1993-era text-based-UI (TUI). Anybody else?"}]}