CAD Software in 2026: The Cloud Advantage

There’s a story in SOLIDWORKS’ public release notes: Over 40 top enhancements in their 2019 annual release. Their 2026 release? Six. This isn’t a temporary slowdown but a strategic shift. Earlier in 2025, Dassault Systèmes, which owns SOLIDWORKS, reported adjusting their operating margins specifically to “invest in Gen 7,” their next-generation cloud platform.

Desktop CAD users face a choice: Wait and see where cloud investment leads, or make a proactive switch to a platform built cloud-native from the start.

Onshape was built cloud-native from the start, with a cloud architecture rather than adapting desktop infrastructure. The difference shows: Onshape shipped 17 updates in 2025 with numerous feature enhancements, in contrast with desktop’s sole yearly release.

CAD is moving to the cloud. Desktop development is winding down while cloud platforms accelerate. The shift is happening. What matters is whether you lead it or follow it.

Here’s what you need to know about your options and what switching could mean for your product development team.

Understanding Your CAD Software Options

The architecture of CAD software can determine a lot about what teams will experience throughout the design workflow.

Desktop CAD is file-based and locally installed. Engineers work on local copies of files stored on their workstations or shared network drives. When you need to collaborate, you email files, use shared folders, or implement PDM systems to manage versions with check-in/check-out workflows. It’s been the standard for decades, but as the enhancement numbers show, it’s receiving drastically reduced investment in 2026.

Hybrid CAD leverages locally installed applications but synchronizes data in the cloud. Access improves, for example, multiple people can reference the same cloud data without emailing files. But you're still managing software versions across your team, still dependent on local hardware for performance, compatibility, and stability. And, still dealing with synchronization issues between local compute and cloud storage.

Cloud-native CAD means both the CAD application and the database live in the cloud. The CAD software is a collection of microservices that support multi-tenant workflows, so multiple people can access and edit simultaneously without creating copies or versions. If you've used Google Docs, you understand the model: no file extensions, no “latest version” questions, access from any device. Cloud-native CAD works the same way. Nothing is installed locally, you access CAD models through a browser, and all compute capacity is sourced on-demand with cloud servers.

How Cloud-Native CAD Changes Your Workflow

When CAD software lives entirely in the cloud, entire categories of traditional problems simply disappear, and new design workflows form. Cloud CAD is still CAD software, but with more possibilities.

Hardware Freedom: There’s no hardware to purchase and no software to install, no updates to coordinate across teams, no version management headaches. Engineers log in through a browser and start working. The CAD platform runs on proven public clouds, such as AWS data centers with 99.95% uptime.

Hardware requirements that used to dominate purchasing decisions become almost irrelevant. Cloud-native CAD runs on any device with a browser – workstations, laptops, tablets, phones. Gaming graphics cards, which cost significantly less than CAD-specific GPUs, often deliver better performance because cloud platforms optimize for different rendering architecture.

Real-Time Collaboration: The real transformation shows up in how teams actually work together. Multiple engineers can work on the same model simultaneously, watching each other’s changes happen in real time.

For global design and engineering teams, everyone works on the same version of the same data at the same moment – no time zone delays, no revision confusion, no emailing files back and forth.

Data Management That Just Works: Traditional CAD computer programs often integrate PDM as a separate system, requiring an additional license, implementation, and administrator.

Cloud-native platforms make it intrinsic, borrowing Git-style version control from software development. Create branches to explore design alternatives without affecting the main model. Multiple team members work on different branches simultaneously, then merge changes back when ready. Every modification gets tracked automatically, allowing you to recover to any previous state at any time.

Security Built for Distributed Teams: File-based CAD offers little security or visibility on how files are shared. Once someone receives a CAD file via email, they own a local copy you can’t control.

Cloud-native platforms invert this. You grant revocable access to a single source of truth. Set granular permissions, see audit trails of who accessed what and when, and remove access instantly when someone leaves a project.

Strong Base for AI-Assisted Engineering: Your data already lives where AI can access it with proper permissions. Current offerings for AI in CAD provide conversational assistance, while development roadmaps aim to enable AI agents to perform actual tasks, such as executing design changes, optimizing for manufacturability, and exploring alternatives.

Desktop platforms will struggle to retrofit these capabilities onto file-based foundations. Cloud-native systems were designed for this future from the start.

In short, desktop CAD is winding down. Hybrid solutions are transitional. Cloud-native architecture opens up more possibilities.

Choosing the Best CAD Software in 2026

The cloud era is here. Investment trends make this clear: The best CAD software for your team is the one receiving active funding and regular feature updates, not the one living on legacy architecture.

You don’t need to migrate overnight. But you should understand what’s happening, because the industry is moving regardless of individual team decisions. The question isn’t whether this transition occurs but whether your team leads it, follows it, or resists until circumstances eliminate the choice.

Onshape offers up to six months of professional-level access, specifically so design and engineering teams can evaluate platforms with real projects rather than sanitized demos.

That’s enough time to understand how cloud-native architecture actually works in your specific workflows, with your actual design challenges, on your real projects.

• SOLIDWORKS What's New 2019
• SOLIDWORKS What's New 2026
• Dassault Systèmes Press Release
• SNS Insider Technology CAD Software Market Report