- Same publisher, two philosophies: SOLIDWORKS is designed to help users become productive quickly, while CATIA is designed to handle highly complex projects over the course of several years.
- 2026 Prices (annual subscription, excluding tax): SOLIDWORKS from €3,480 (Standard) to €7,572 (Ultimate); CATIA from €6,640 (Essential) to €16,460 (Elite). Whether this price difference is justified depends on the specific industry—it is never a matter of principle.
- On the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, both coexist: a team can design in SOLIDWORKS and exchange data natively with a partner using CATIA.
- The most common mistake: choosing CATIA «just to be on the safe side» for parts that don’t need it, and paying the price for that complexity every day.
CATIA and SOLIDWORKS are two 3D CAD software programs from the same publisher, Dassault Systèmes, and the short answer can be summed up in one sentence: SOLIDWORKS for everyday mechanical design, at half the price; CATIA when the project involves complex surfaces, assemblies consisting of several thousand parts, or integrated disciplines (electrical, composites, piping). The rest of the article details the cases where the short answer is incorrect.
Table of Contents
- Two software programs, one developer, two stories
- What SOLIDWORKS Does Best
- What CATIA Does Best
- Comparison by Industry
- The price, item by item
- Can we have both? And switch back and forth between them?
- Our practical advice
Two software programs, one developer, two stories
SOLIDWORKS was founded in 1995 with a simple idea: to bring parametric 3D CAD to Windows PCs at an affordable price, with an interface that engineers could learn in just a few weeks. It has won over design offices, small and medium-sized businesses, industrial startups, and educational institutions. Today, it is the most widely used mechanical CAD software in the world.
CATIA dates back further (1977, at Dassault Aviation) and has its roots in the aerospace industry. It was designed for airplanes, cars, and ships: products with tens of thousands of parts, body surfaces with tolerances down to a tenth of a millimeter, and dozens of disciplines working on the same model. It is more powerful, more sophisticated, and takes longer to master.
Ever since Dassault Systèmes brought the two together on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, the question is no longer «which one is better» but «which one fits what you’re designing.» Both support the same file formats, share the same cloud-based PDM, and can coexist within the same company.
What SOLIDWORKS Does Best
Everyday Productivity. Sketching, extrusion, assembly, drafting: the basic workflow is more straightforward, the interface is easier to use, and the learning curve is shorter. A mechanical designer can be up and running in just a few weeks.
The price. SOLIDWORKS Design Standard starts at €3,480 per year (excluding tax), Professional at €4,152, and Premium at €5,496. For a typical mechanical design workstation, that’s half the entry-level price of CATIA.
The ecosystem. Thousands of component libraries, partners, tutorials, and training courses, plus a huge community. Hiring a SOLIDWORKS designer is easy; training one is, too.
Sheet metal work, mechanical welding, and medium-sized assemblies. The core business of industrial SMEs: SOLIDWORKS excels in this area, with mature, dedicated tools. Our guides on sheet metal tables You complex assemblies give an idea of the available depth.
What CATIA Does Best
Complex surfaces. Bodywork, aerodynamics, free-form product design: CATIA’s surface modeling tools (Generative Shape Design, Imagine & Shape) have no equivalent in SOLIDWORKS. If your product’s success depends on its curves, CATIA is the tool for you.
Very large assemblies. When the number of parts exceeds a few thousand, SOLIDWORKS slows down and requires workarounds (streamlined configurations, locked subassemblies). CATIA is designed for models containing tens of thousands of components, which can be opened and worked on simultaneously by multiple teams.
Integrated professions. 3D electrical wiring, piping, composites, aerospace sheet metal, and advanced kinematics: CATIA handles all of these in a single environment, using industry-specific rules. SOLIDWORKS covers some of these areas (SOLIDWORKS Electrical, for example) but through separate modules.
Capitalized expertise. Design templates, knowledge rules, automation: CATIA allows companies to embed their knowledge into the model. That is why it is so widely used by major manufacturers, where a young engineer works within a framework shaped by twenty years of design experience.
Comparison by Industry
This chart answers the real question. It reflects what we see among our clients, not some theoretical framework.
| Your Business | Recommendation | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Special-purpose machinery, industrial equipment | SOLIDWORKS | Medium-sized assemblies, sheet metal work, and structural welding: SOLIDWORKS's playground. |
| Mechanical subcontracting, machining, sheet metal fabrication | SOLIDWORKS | Responsiveness, quick drafting, and easy communication with clients who also use SOLIDWORKS. |
| Product startups, prototyping, connected devices | SOLIDWORKS | Short learning curve, price, ecosystem. A switch to CATIA may be possible later if the product requires it. |
| Free-form product design, furniture, sports | CATIA (or SOLIDWORKS + surface modeling module, depending on complexity) | CATIA's surfacing capabilities make all the difference when the shape is the product. |
| Automotive, bodywork, Tier 1 suppliers | CATIA | An industry standard; your clients often require it. |
| Aviation, aerospace, and defense | CATIA | History, industry requirements, very large blends, integrated roles. |
| Marine, Energy, Large-Scale Facilities | CATIA | Data volumes, piping, structure, multiple teams. |
| Multi-client engineering firm | Both, depending on the projects | In 3DEXPERIENCE, you open the appropriate role for the customer you're serving. |
The deciding factor in borderline cases: Who do you share your designs with? If your customers and partners use CATIA, using CATIA yourself eliminates day-to-day friction. If your entire ecosystem uses SOLIDWORKS, switch to it as well.
The price, item by item
The rates below are those from the official Dassault Systèmes price list, based on an annual subscription (excluding tax), as we list them in our price list.
| Role | Price per year, excluding tax | Who is this for? |
|---|---|---|
| SOLIDWORKS Design Standard | 3 480 € | Basic Mechanical Design, one license, cloud-based PDM included |
| SOLIDWORKS Design Professional | 4 152 € | Same as above, plus rendering, libraries, and advanced file management |
| SOLIDWORKS Design Premium | 5 496 € | Same as above, plus linear simulation, basic piping, and basic wiring |
| SOLIDWORKS Design Ultimate | 7 572 € | The Complete SOLIDWORKS Suite |
| CATIA Essential | 6 640 € | CATIA Mechanical and Surface Design: Getting Started |
| CATIA Master | 7 850 € | Same as above, plus advanced surface science and applied fields |
| CATIA Elite | 16 460 € | The complete, cross-industry CATIA suite |
Two helpful reads. First, The price difference between CATIA Essential and SOLIDWORKS Ultimate is less than €1,000 : At this stage, the decision is based on the discipline, not the budget. After that, the path to CATIA Elite is a real one: we only take that step if the integrated disciplines (electrical, composites, piping) are included in the specifications.
The price simulator provides an exact cost estimate for your setup—including the number of workstations and duration—in two minutes.
Can we have both? And switch back and forth between them?
Yes to both questions—and that's what the 3DEXPERIENCE platform offers.
Both work at the same company. On the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, CATIA and SOLIDWORKS are roles enabled on the same platform, with the same PDM, the same users, and the same projects. A design office may have three SOLIDWORKS workstations for general mechanical design and one CATIA workstation for surface modeling, and models can be exchanged between the two without conversion. We have detailed how shared data management works in our PDM guide.
Switching from SOLIDWORKS to CATIA. This is the natural path for a company whose products are becoming more complex. SOLIDWORKS models can be opened in CATIA; training is the real issue, not the data. We are supporting this transition with Ohmytraining and a coaching on the initial projects.
Switching from CATIA to SOLIDWORKS. Rarer, but true: a company that inherited CATIA for the wrong reasons and pays the price for its complexity every day on parts that don’t warrant it. Here, too, the data is transferred, and the annual savings more than cover the cost of the transition.
What about CATIA V5? If you're still using CATIA V5, the question isn't CATIA vs. SOLIDWORKS but V5 vs. 3DEXPERIENCE: we covered this in Which version of CATIA should I choose?.
Our practical advice
Our position, after serving more than 1,500 customers: SOLIDWORKS by default; CATIA upon request.
The most common mistake we see isn’t choosing SOLIDWORKS when CATIA was needed (that shortcoming becomes apparent quickly and can be corrected). It’s the opposite: choosing CATIA «just to be on the safe side,» out of prestige, or out of habit from a previous job—and paying twice the price, plus dealing with the added complexity, every single day, for mechanical parts that SOLIDWORKS would have handled better and faster.
The right approach: Start with your actual products (the three most complex ones you designed last year), your communications (who sends you templates, and in what format), and your team (who knows what). These three questions resolve 90 % of cases in a single conversation. For the remaining 10 %, we’ll test it out on a real project.
FAQ
Frequently asked Questions
Are CATIA and SOLIDWORKS compatible?
Yes. Both are owned by Dassault Systèmes and, on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, share the same data environment. A SOLIDWORKS model can be opened in CATIA and vice versa, though there are conversion rules to be aware of for the most advanced features.
Can SOLIDWORKS handle surface modeling?
Yes, to a certain extent: SOLIDWORKS' surface modeling tools cover most of the needs for industrial products. The difference becomes apparent with Class A surfaces (automotive bodywork, high-end design) and complex free-form shapes, where CATIA remains the industry standard.
How does the price of CATIA compare to that of SOLIDWORKS?
Annual subscription (excluding tax, 2026 pricing): SOLIDWORKS from €3,480 to €7,572; CATIA from €6,640 to €16,460. CATIA’s entry-level price is close to SOLIDWORKS’ top-of-the-line tier; the gap widens for multi-discipline roles.
Should I choose CATIA just because my clients use it?
This is an important factor, especially in the automotive and aerospace industries, where clients often require native CATIA files. But if the exchange is limited to neutral formats (STEP, IGES) or visualization, SOLIDWORKS is sufficient. The question to ask your customers: «Do you need my native models, or an exchange format?»
Are you torn between the two, or do you want to make sure your current choice is the right one? The price simulator Get a quote for both options for your setup in two minutes; and if you'd rather discuss it, An expert will call you back.
