Community project · OpenAEC ecosystem
A full-featured 2D + 3D CAD application built in Rust with GPU-accelerated rendering. Native DWG & DXF read and write, paper space, ACIS solids, dimensions, layouts. An open source community project by Hakan Seven, recognized and promoted by the OpenAEC Foundation.
Released June 2026. Three native binaries — Windows, macOS (Apple Silicon) and Linux (AppImage). Pick the one for your platform and you're up and running in seconds.
Need to build from source or grab an older version? See all releases on GitHub (60 releases so far).
Open CAD Studio in action — DWG drawings of a road design and a foundation repair structural drawing (PUNTNIVEAU -14.5 m NAP)
Open CAD Studio is an independent open-source CAD project filling a major gap in AEC tooling: a modern, performant, native DWG/DXF-compatible CAD application that doesn't depend on Autodesk, Bricsys or other commercial vendors. Entirely written in Rust, with GPU-accelerated rendering via wgpu and an interactive UI in iced.
The OpenAEC Foundation views Open CAD Studio as a natural addition to the ecosystem. The project isn't developed by us, but it fits our mission: promoting open source software for the entire AEC chain. We link to it actively and encourage collaboration.
License: GPL-3.0 (note: different from our own LGPL-3.0 tools, which is more permissive for library use).
Perhaps the most important feature: Open CAD Studio reads and writes DWG and DXF natively, across all versions from R13 through R2018. No converters, no workarounds, no Autodesk libraries.
Native reading and writing of DWG files — the de-facto industry-standard format. Without third-party library licenses.
Full DXF read/write including modern versions. Compatible with AutoCAD, BricsCAD, LibreCAD and any CAD application that supports DXF.
Export to STL and STEP AP203 for 3D printing and CAM. OBJ import for 3D models from other sources.
Plot layouts directly to PDF — with correct paper sizes read from embedded PlotSettings.
Write selected entities or a block to an external file for reuse.
External references (xrefs) attach, reload and auto-resolve — just like AutoCAD.
Complete 2D drafting package with all the commands you'd expect from a professional CAD application:
LINE, PLINE, RECTANG, POLYGON, CIRCLE, ARC, ELLIPSE, SPLINE
OFFSET, TRIM, EXTEND, FILLET, BREAK, STRETCH, LENGTHEN — works on lines, arcs, ellipses, polylines and splines
ARRAY, MIRROR, MOVE, COPY, ROTATE, SCALE, EXPLODE
HATCH and HATCHEDIT with pattern, scale and angle editing.
MASSPROP — area, perimeter and centroid of selected entities.
DDEDIT — double-click to edit text. MTEXT, TEXT, DTEXT with font browser.
Full 3D modelling capabilities with ACIS solids tessellation:
BOX, SPHERE, CYLINDER — basic solids for parametric modelling.
Profile-based solids: EXTRUDE for linear extrusion and REVOLVE for rotation about an axis.
LOFT between multiple profiles, SWEEP along any path.
ARRAY3D — rectangular or polar arrays in 3D.
Renders 3DSOLID, REGION and BODY entities — solids from DWG/DXF are displayed correctly.
wgpu-based rendering. Smooth interaction with large models, even with many solids at once.
Full dimensioning, GD&T, leaders, tables and mlines — all with style managers and correct DIMSTYLE behaviour (DIMASZ, DIMSCALE, DIMEXO, DIMEXE, …).
Model space + unlimited paper space tabs. Camera position and zoom saved per layout.
Model content correctly projected into paper-space viewport rectangles. Double-click for inline MSPACE overlay.
VPORTS — single, 2H, 2V, 4-way configurations.
PLOTSTYLEPANEL and STYLESMANAGER — CTB/STB plot style table editor.
Send layouts directly to the system printer with correct paper sizes from embedded PlotSettings.
LAYOUTMANAGER / LAYOUTPANEL — GUI for layout management.
Entirely written in Rust — memory-safe, fast, compiles to Windows, macOS and Linux. UI via iced, GPU rendering via wgpu. Native DWG/DXF without vendor lock-in.
⭐ 147 GitHub stars · open-source CAD app built by one independent developer
Every released version of Open CAD Studio, fetched live from GitHub.
Loading releases…