[caption id="attachment_4155" align="alignleft" width="300"]onshape-sheetmetal-image02 Onshape sheet metal visualization[/caption]

I'm personally comparing use of Onshape vs. Autodesk Fusion 360, seeing which one I prefer to use for my own projects. As I wrote earlier, each of them offer something I would miss if I started using the other exclusively.

In a close competition, everybody would learn from everybody else and the most important user features will propagate through all the offerings in the market. I wasn't sure if the people behind Onshape and Autodesk Fusion 360 saw each other as competitors, but now I'm fairly confident that they do and are keeping an eye on each other.

The proof: Sheet metal.

[caption id="attachment_4154" align="alignright" width="300"]a360-sheetmetal-shiftec Autodesk Fusion 360 sheet metal preview[/caption]

Onshape just unfolded their sheet metal feature. ("unfolded" their joke, not mine...) Autodesk said theirs is in a closed invite-only technology preview coming soon to all users. Such a similar feature introduced within a few weeks of each other might merely be a coincidence, but I doubt it. It certainly looks and sounds like they're working to reach parity with each other's features.

Additional proof: Constraints

Last time I wrote about the fact Onshape does a great job with constraints, letting the user know exactly where they stand in a way that Fusion 360 does not. At the time I didn't know Fusion 360 has constraint visualization available as a "preview feature" that is turned off by default.

It is a good step forward for Fusion 360. As of the current preview, Onshape still holds a significant advantage in user friendliness, but the mere presence of the preview assured me that it's on Autodesk radar and they'll keep working away at it.

I like the progress I see so far. Competition making everybody better, and consumers win.