How to Know Which Onshape Education Plan Is Right For You

If you’re here, chances are you’re ready to bring modern CAD tools into your classroom or student group – look no further, Onshape is here to be your solution! Before signing up, let’s highlight a bit more about what Onshape can bring to your classroom.

Onshape is PTC’s cloud-native, fully online CAD platform that’s been transforming how students and educators approach design and engineering. Because it runs entirely in the cloud, there’s no need for powerful hardware, no software installations, and no version mismatches. No matter the device or location, you’ll always have the same performance and latest features of Onshape – anytime, anywhere.

Why Onshape for Education?

But what really sets Onshape apart for education?

Real-time collaboration: Think Google Docs, but for CAD. Students can work together on the same model, live.

Classroom management tools: Built-in features for assignments, version control, and feedback make it easy to manage projects and track progress.

Equal access: Thanks to Onshape’s cloud-native structure, every student and educator gets the same powerful tools, regardless of device or location.

Getting started is easy: Just head over to the Onshape for Education page and click Create EDU Account. Fill out a few quick forms with your role and grade level, and Onshape will match you with the right education plan.

Note: Onshape for Education is available exclusively to students, educators, and those affiliated with educational institutions.

Onshape for Education Plans: Overview

The Onshape Student plan is free for students of any age. It is designed for any level, whether you are learning CAD for the first time or creating your senior capstone design project for University.

Our Educator plan provides additional features that have been developed for the education community to facilitate learning. This includes functionality for Classes and Assignments which enables you to manage student work more easily.

The Education Enterprise plan is a paid subscription that offers further features, including CAM and PCB studio. Additionally, once students and educators are added to the enterprise, they will sign in via a private domain for your institution, district, or team. In the enterprise, educators and administrators have more robust administrative and analytical controls, along with a dedicated customer success representative.

If you are an educator interested in signing up for an Education Enterprise Account for your school, district, university, or institution, visit the Onshape Education Enterprise page.

Changing Plans

Some of you may be thinking, “I’m already signed up for Onshape, but I don’t know what plan I have.” Let’s talk through that now. It’s important to understand which plan you have to ensure you are taking advantage of all the available features.

First, if you are logged in to a personal, student, or educator account, you will see which plan you are on in the bottom-left corner. There, it will say “Subscription” followed by your plan.

If you don’t see this, you could be logged into an Enterprise account. An easy way to check for this is to look at the page URL. If it says cad.onshape.com, you are logged into a personal account. If it says “your enterprise name”.onshape.com then you are logged into an enterprise, just like below.

Another way to view your plan is to click your name in the top-right corner. A dropdown will appear. Within this dropdown, you will see the option to “Switch to” any enterprise plans you are a part of. Or if you are signed into an Enterprise account, you’ll have the option to “Switch to Onshape Account” which would be your student, educator, or free plan.

And lastly, if you click “My Account” at the top of the dropdown, followed by “Subscriptions” in the column that appears on the left, you will be taken to the most detailed overview of your plan or plans.

Upgrade Accounts

If you notice during this process that you are on the Free Plan and you are currently enrolled at or employed by an educational institution, we encourage you to upgrade to either the student or educator plan.

To upgrade to an Education plan from the Free plan, first sign out of your account, then

1. Navigate to the Educator upgrade page.
2. Fill out the form with the appropriate educator information.

Wrapping Things Up

Onshape is transforming CAD in the classroom. Whether a student, educator, or team leader, there is an Onshape Education plan that is right for you. By leveraging all there is to offer in your plan, your educational CAD experience will be enhanced with Onshape! Visit the Onshape for Education to sign up for the plan that is right for you today.