Based on our record, BRL-CAD should be more popular than QCAD. It has been mentiond 13 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.
The best software for your situation is to work with a basic 2D CAD program. You would still need to learn the software but they are pretty basic. I'm not an expert in what is free but googling I found this open source one https://qcad.org/en/. Source: about 1 year ago
QCAD has a free community version and professional and CAM versions for reasonable prices. Check out the features list to see which version you will need, although make sure the community version works on your system before committing to a paid version. Source: over 2 years ago
I'm no longer a user of CAD programs so this might be a bit outdated. But for 2D take a look at QCAD. For 3D modeling and lots of other functionality you have FreeCAD. Source: over 2 years ago
If you are looking for something free that can handle dimensions I would recommend QCAD. https://qcad.org/en/ It only supports 2D drawings, but I find it works well for laser cutting / engraving work. The free windows versions is also a bit trashy/unusable in free mode. But the Linux version works great if you want to try booting Linux off a USB stick. Source: about 3 years ago
If computer graphics is of interest, BRL-CAD (https://brlcad.org) is very welcoming to new contributors and has lots of projects you could take on. Source: 12 months ago
Mike Muuss[0] approves of this message. 0: https://brlcad.org/. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
Join an open source community that is welcoming to newcomers (e.g., BRL-CAD, Haiku OS, OSGeo, ..) and work on a little bit of code every day. It can be a simple feature, specific bug, or something new you want to achieve. Many open source groups are very welcoming to newcomers if you do the work and ask smart questions. Source: about 1 year ago
You could also try out free AutoCAD alternatives like libreCAD (2D), or brlCAD (2D&3D, I believe). Source: about 1 year ago
So, uh ... Learning curve. If you want anything and everything under the sun, go with BRL-CAD. It was designed for ballistics testing and simulation, but it can do pretty much anything. The learning curve for BRL-CAD is immense. Otherwise, I recommend OpenSCAD. Source: about 1 year ago
LibreCAD - An open source 2D CAD application for Windows, Apple and Linux.
FreeCAD - An open-source parametric 3D modeler
nanoCAD - nanoCAD is a pro-grade 2D CAD system with native DWG support and full customizability.
OpenSCAD - OpenSCAD is a software for creating solid 3D CAD objects.
SketchUp - 3D for Everyone
DraftSight - Discover Dassault Systèmes®' DRAFTSIGHT™ Professional CAD software that lets you create, edit, view and markup any kind of 2D drawing. Learn more here.