BricsCAD
Octave (formerly Bricsys)
€330–€1,176 / year
Robert McNeel & Associates
Rhino
$995 perpetual · 3D · DWG via DXF interchange
Verdict
The best-value perpetual licence in professional 3D, and the natural companion to SketchUp on this page rather than a competitor to it. Rhino does NURBS surfacing that nothing else at this price approaches, and Grasshopper makes it the default choice for computational and parametric design. Buy it once, use it for a decade. Like SketchUp, it is not a 2D drafting replacement.
What it costs, honestly
Rhino 8 commercial is a one-time $995 USD perpetual purchase that never expires, including support and service releases for that version. Major-version upgrades are optional and discounted. Educational pricing is substantially lower, and upgrade pricing from an older version is cheaper again.
For scale: AutoCAD is ≈ $2,095 / year, subscription only, with no perpetual option at any price.
What it gets right
- $995 once, forever — no subscription, no expiry
- Best-in-class NURBS surfacing for complex geometry
- Grasshopper: the industry standard for computational design, included
- Windows and macOS, with a huge plugin ecosystem
What to watch out for
- Not a 2D drafting tool; DWG is interchange, not native
- Major version upgrades are a paid (discounted) step
Pricing and specifications: https://www.rhino3d.com/