Category: CAD & Engineering
8 European alternatives to Cadwork — GDPR-compliant & EU-hosted.
Swiss 3D CAD/CAM software (Cadwork informatik AG, Basel, founded 1988) for timber construction and wood engineering, market leader serving about 4,200 mostly SME customers with parametric modeling, Lexocad BIM integration and full fabrication-workflow automation.
Facts
- Headquarters
- CH (EU)
- Category
- CAD & Engineering
- Type
- Product
- GDPR-compliant
- Yes
- Open-source
- No
- Data hosting
- EU
Top EU-based & GDPR-compliant alternatives to Cadwork
- CATIA (Dassault Systemes)↗
Advanced multi-platform CAD/CAM/CAE software for product design and engineering
FR · commercial
- COMSOL Multiphysics↗
Swedish simulation platform for multi-physics modeling and finite element analysis
SE · commercial
- ELITECAD (XEOMETRIC)↗
Austrian professional 3D CAD software developed by XEOMETRIC GmbH (Linz), offering ELITECAD Architecture and ELITECAD Mechanics with BIM2COST/BIM2AVA cost-estimation modules for architecture and mechanical/plant engineering.
AT · commercial
- Graebert ARES↗
German family-owned CAD software company headquartered in Berlin (founded 1977), developing the ARES Trinity of DWG-native CAD tools: ARES Commander (desktop), ARES Touch (mobile) and ARES Kudo (cloud), plus industry-specific verticals. Actively sold via subscription in 2026, with operations in 100+ countries.
DE · commercial
- Graphisoft ArchiCAD↗
Hungarian BIM/CAD software house (Budapest, founded 1982) behind ArchiCAD, an industry-leading Building Information Modeling solution for architects with 2D/3D drafting, real-time collaboration and AI assistant features. Now majority-owned by Nemetschek SE (Munich, Germany).
HU · commercial
Frequently asked questions
What is the best European alternative to Cadwork?
It depends on your use case. Strong EU alternatives to Cadwork include Blender, BricsCAD and CATIA (Dassault Systemes). On this page you can compare 8 EU alternatives by jurisdiction, data residency and open-source status.
Are there open-source alternatives to Cadwork?
Yes. Open-source EU alternatives to Cadwork include Blender and FreeCAD. These keep your data fully under your own control and let you self-host if you want to.
Is Cadwork GDPR-compliant and where is the data hosted?
Cadwork is headquartered in CH (EU) and hosts data in EU. That makes Cadwork an EU-sovereign choice in its own right; the EU alternatives on this page are comparable European tools.