What’s the minimum price for CAD drafting?

Our CAD drafting services have a minimum order price of $195.

With a standard ‘D’ or ‘E’ size 2D AutoCAD *.dwg being $ 195.00.  This is a fixed price for almost all 2D CAD work. *There is a small exception for GIS or very dense drawings.

Which CAD file formats do you work with?

All the CAD file formats are listed on this page but bear in mind that we also work with exotic and legacy CAD systems.  After 31 years of providing CAD Services, we have run into almost any CAD file format.


What’s the fastest turnaround for CAD drafting work?

Our facility runs three shifts and we're open and operating 24/7 to ensure the fastest turnarounds on the market. We offer turnarounds as low as 24 hours on our CAD drafting work. For larger projects, we can commit to aggressive timelines and tight turnarounds to ensure you meet your needs.

How are your CAD drafting projects billed?

We like to bill our CAD drafting projects per hour. The rate depends on the CAD software that we use and any specialties or expertise that your project requires. It typically starts at $55 an hour, and you only get billed for hours that went directly to your project (no, you don’t get charged for any time spent daydreaming or working on other projects).

Often, we’ll include a limit to the cost, called a “not to exceed quote”. This will protect your budget and make sure you’re never paying too much.

We can also provide a fixed cost as part of our PO, if you would prefer that route.

What do you need for an accurate CAD drafting quote?

To get the most accurate CAD drafting quote, we’ll need the following:

  • Target CAD file/software. We’ll make sure we send files you can actually open and use.
  • How many parts you need drafted. Larger orders usually come with some discounts, so make sure you tell us how many drawings you need.
  • Any existing notes/drawings/files. These can help with the CAD drafting process, but you can also come to us with a general idea and some constraints if the part isn’t designed yet.
  • Turnaround time. If you have a strict need-by date, we need to know it. Alternatively, if you have a date that you’d like delivery by, let us know and we’ll make sure you get the part in time.
  • Any manufacturing requirements. In some cases, clients have an in-house machine shop that will make the part, and all they have is a CNC milling machine. This changes how we engineer and design the part. If you have manufacturing requirements that might limit the design process, please let us know. This ensures the final design can be made in your facilities.

What parts can be made with CAD drafting?

Any part that will be machined or manufactured can be made with CAD drafting. We’ve designed everything from simple brackets to entire aircrafts in CAD drafting. Parts can be reverse-engineered or designed from scratch, OEM parts or aftermarket alternatives, and everything in between.

What industries can benefit from CAD drafting services?

We’ve been doing this for 3 decades, and we’ve worked with many different industries and too many applications to count. From our experience, we learned that any industry can benefit from CAD drafting services. The bottom line is that you’ll save time and money any time you need to manufacture or fabricate a part (whether it’s new, a spare, or an OEM part).

Is CAD drafting better than manual drafting?

CAD drafting is a thousand times better than manual drafting. With CAD, it’s much easier to design a part, the accuracy is much higher, machinists have an easier time making the part, it’s simpler to iterate on designs, sharing files is more optimized, and collaboration is a breeze.

Manual drafting has been aged out, and very few companies create new manual drawings, they almost all defer to CAD drafting instead — it’s the same reason why we use calculators instead of counting on our fingers.

What’s the difference between CAD drafting and CAD designing?

These terms are sometimes used interchangeably, but they’re very different. CAD drafting involves 2D drawings that give a manufacturer the information they need to fabricate a part. The standard format is 3 “plan” views and an isometric view with plenty of dimensions, notes, and specifications.

CAD designing typically involves 3D CAD modeling. We also offer that through CAD/CAM Services if you need 3D models as well. If you go through the CAD designing process and make a 3D model, you can also generate 2D CAD drafting drawings from it.

What comes with CAD drafting purchases?

With a CAD drafting purchase, you’ll receive CAD Perfect 2D files that are ready for manufacturing. We design each part with manufacturing in mind, and we include all of the information needed to fabricate your part. We don’t do any machining, just engineering, designing, and drafting. However, you can take our files directly to a machine shop and they can make the part with no further information needed from you.

What CAD software do you use?

Our full list of CAD software can be found above, but we use all of the large 2D CAD drafting software like AutoCAD, Inventor, CATIA, Siemens NX, Creo, and SolidWorks. We also deal with foreign CAD software and rare files to fit your workflow.

What are the benefits of CAD drafting services?

Outsourcing your CAD drafting will likely save you time and money on each project. At the same time, you’re avoiding the headaches of drafting while leveraging industry experts at CAD/CAM Services.

How much does CAD drafting cost?

Depending on the software used, our 2D CAD drafting costs $45 an hour and up. For more niche industries/applications, more intricate designs, and faster turnarounds, our hourly or fixed price will be higher. In general, you can expect to pay the following starting rates for CAD drafting projects:

  • AutoCAD 2D, D or E size sheet: flat rate $185
  • Basic AutoCAD 2D work $45+/hr
  • SolidWorks work, level 2 or 3 CAD tech: $55+/hr
  • Creo 2D work: $95+/hr
  • Siemens NX work: $95+/hr
  • CATIA V5 work: $95+/hr
  • Additional BIM work: $65+/hr