Donate

If you'd like to contribute to FreeCAD, please donate, and see the Help FreeCAD page for other ways to contribute. If you'd like to edit this wiki read the WikiPages for the general guidelines that you should follow.

If you would like to know how FreeCAD started years ago visit the History page.

Migrating from other software?

• Workarounds
• Migrating to FreeCAD from Fusion360
• Migrating to FreeCAD from OnShape
• Migrating to FreeCAD from SolidWorks
• Migrating to FreeCAD from Revit
• FreeCAD BIM migration guide
• BIM applications compatibility table

Workbenches are collections of tools used for specific tasks. The workbenches listed below are bundled with every FreeCAD installation.

introduced in 1.1: Some rarely used workbenches are disabled by default. These are marked with D below. A disabled workbench can be enabled in the preferences. Disabled workbenches can still be activated via the menu of TabBar Workbench selector.

• Standard tools. These commands and tools are present in all workbenches.

• The Assembly Workbench for building and solving mechanical assemblies. introduced in 1.0

• The BIM Workbench for working with architectural elements and creating BIM models. It combines the Arch Workbench and the formerly external BIM Workbench available in 0.21 and below.

• The CAM Workbench is used to produce G-Code instructions. This workbench was called "Path Workbench" in 0.21 and below.

• The Draft Workbench contains 2D tools and basic 2D and 3D CAD operations.

• The FEM Workbench provides Finite Element Analysis (FEA) workflow.

• The Inspection Workbench is made to give you specific tools for examination of shapes. Still in the early stages of development. D

• The Material Workbench handles the FreeCAD material system. introduced in 1.0

• The Mesh Workbench for working with triangulated meshes.

• The OpenSCAD Workbench for interoperability with OpenSCAD and repairing constructive solid geometry (CSG) model history. D

• The Part Workbench for working with geometric primitives and boolean operations.

• The PartDesign Workbench for building Part shapes from sketches.

• The Points Workbench for working with point clouds.

• The Reverse Engineering Workbench is intended to provide specific tools to convert shapes/solids/meshes into parametric FreeCAD-compatible features.

• The Robot Workbench for studying robot movements. Currently unmaintained. D

• The Sketcher Workbench for working with geometry-constrained sketches.

• The Spreadsheet Workbench for creating and manipulating spreadsheet data.

• The Surface Workbench provides tools to create and modify surfaces. It is similar to the Part Builder Face from edges option.

• The TechDraw Workbench for producing technical drawings from 3D models.

• The Test Framework Workbench is for debugging FreeCAD. D

Macros

Macros are relatively small snippets of Python code that perform a simple or a complex task that is not available in the base FreeCAD system.

Power users have written various macros to enhance FreeCAD with more capabilities.

Since FreeCAD 0.17, many macros can be installed using the Addon Manager. For a list of the macros refer to the Macros recipes page. For manual installation see How to install macros.

External workbenches

When many macros or functions are developed together, and are organized in toolbars and menus, they can become a new workbench.

External workbenches are collections of functions that are not part of the base FreeCAD system, usually developed by experienced users, and targeting a particular need.

Since FreeCAD 0.17, many workbenches can be installed using the Addon Manager. For manual installation see How to install additional workbenches.