SOLIDWORKS License Guide


Buying a SOLIDWORKS license doesn’t have to be complicated, let’s break it down together into 3 simple questions.

  1. How do you want to buy SOLIDWORKS?

  2. How do you want to access SOLIDWORKS?

  3. What do you want to do with SOLIDWORKS?

Choose one option from each of the following three sections to determine which license type is best for you and your organization.

  1. Purchasing Options

  2. License Access Types

  3. License Tiers

SOLIDWORKS Buying Options: Perpetual or Subscription (Term)

Perpetual: This license never expires. You will always have access to the version that you purchased, and you can pay a ‘maintenance fee’ to access the latest version of the software, use cloud services, and receive technical support. The original purchase of this option includes 2 years of maintenance.  

Subscription (Term): This license entails a yearly fee for each seat and gives you access to cloud services, updated tools, technical support, and the latest version of SOLIDWORKS after every update. This license type offers you more flexibility and requires less upfront investment while still offering access to the same suite of best-in-class software.  

SOLIDWORKS Licensing (Access) Options

Named User Licensing: With this license type, you can access your license from anywhere at any time by logging in with your credentials. If SOLIDWORKS isn’t installed on the computer, you can easily download the software and sign in to start designing. Note: This option is available for subscription-based licensing only.  

Standalone Licensing: This license is installed on a single device and can only be accessed through that device. This option is fine for users on a single computer but isn’t suggested for teams utilizing the license on multiple computers.   

Network Licensing: This license type allows you to check out a seat of SOLIDWORKS when you need to use the software as it draws from a pool of licenses hosted on your company’s server. The number of seats purchased equates to the number of employees that can access the software concurrently. This option is great for large teams with fewer concurrent SOLIDWORKS users. A VPN connection is needed to activate a license remotely.

 

More information about the differences between Named User Licensing and Network Licensing can be found in our blog titled Named User vs Network Licensing for SOLIDWORKS.  

SOLIDWORKS License Tiers

Your last step is to determine which version tier is right for your use case. SOLIDWORKS comes in three versions: Standard, Professional, and Premium. We explain the primary differences below.  

Standard: Standard is SOLIDWORKS’ baseline tier, but that doesn’t mean you receive a baseline product. This tier is still feature-rich with 2D drawings, 3D design, part assembly, and specialized toolsets for working with sheet metal, surfaces, weldments, configuration of products, molds, and design analysis. 

Professional: Professional provides you with everything offered in Standard and includes Photorealistic Rendering (SOLIDWORKS Visualize) and a Prebuilt CAD Library of Fasteners and Hardware (SOLIDWORKS Toolbox). 

Premium: Premium provides you with all of the capabilities in Professional and includes Linear Static FEA Analysis, Time-based Motion Analysis, and Routing (Pipe/Tube, Electrical Cable/Harness, Rectangular/Other Section). 



Putting it all together: 

The last step is to use your product preferences to request a quote.  

For example, if you selected Perpetual, Network licensing, and Professional, you would request a quote for a SOLIDWORKS Perpetual Professional Network license.