Both names describe drawing a part on a computer. The vs is where the work runs, where you fetch the tool, who published it, and whether the file lives on this Windows PC. We did not make either product. We point at FreeCAD. Official Tinkercad lives on tinkercad.com. We do not clone that site. We do not reprint a feature list or a price. Skip Softonic, CNET, and unofficial wrappers.
The button on this page goes to Install on the home page. The CAD job sits on Computer aided design. Installing a CAD program sits on CAD programs. A 2D drawing page sits on Drafting software. Trust notes sit on Cad software download safe.
| The program we document | Tinkercad | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | This Windows PC. You install a desktop program, open a window, and draw a part already on the machine. Local. | A browser CAD product on tinkercad.com. You use their product from their site. We do not reprint their store listing or a feature list. |
| License | LGPL-2.1. You can read it in the repo. | Their product. We do not reprint their terms or invent a price. |
| File host | GitHub Releases. Winget id FreeCAD.FreeCAD. Usual file FreeCAD_1.1.3-Windows-x86_64-py311-installer.exe. A 7z also exists there. Live tag observed: V1.1.3, 25 July 2026. | Official Tinkercad page. We do not host their app. |
| Source | Public on GitHub. Repo FreeCAD/FreeCAD. Files stay on GitHub. | Their site. You read it there, not here. |
| Who published | The FreeCAD team. We did not make it. | Tinkercad. Official Tinkercad can sit first for its own name. |
| Where the file stays | On this PC unless you send it. You save a .FCStd in a folder you control. | A browser product keeps the work in their service. Read that on their site. We do not invent a cap or a retention line. |
| What we do not clone | We do not host the installer. We point at GitHub Releases and winget. | We do not clone tinkercad.com. Their official page can rank for Tinkercad. |
| Wrappers | Skip Softonic, CNET, and unofficial setup helpers that wrap the name. | Skip those same wrappers. Fetch Tinkercad from Tinkercad. |
Read the table as shape, not a score. CAD software vs Tinkercad does not rank a winner. If you typed Tinkercad because you already want that product, go there. If you want a local Windows program from GitHub Releases, stay on this path.
The program we document
This is FreeCAD. Windows. LGPL-2.1. The FreeCAD team publishes it. We did not make it. Official files live on GitHub Releases. The repo is FreeCAD/FreeCAD. This site does not host the installer. Files stay on GitHub.
Paste this into Windows Terminal or Command Prompt:
winget install -e --id FreeCAD.FreeCADCopy
If winget is missing, install App Installer from Microsoft, then paste again. Official Microsoft links only. GitHub Releases is the other path. For most PCs take FreeCAD_1.1.3-Windows-x86_64-py311-installer.exe. A 7z also sits on that release. Live tag observed: V1.1.3, 25 July 2026. Do not invent a newer number here. File notes sit on Cad software releases. LICENSE sits on Cad software GitHub.
After install you open FreeCAD in a window on this PC, start a document, and save a file here. That is the Windows side of CAD software vs Tinkercad. Checking the model happens in that window. Close when you are done.
Tinkercad, said plainly
Tinkercad is the name people already know from tinkercad.com. It is a browser CAD product. Official Tinkercad can sit number 1 for its own name. That is expected. We do not reprint their screenshots, a price, or a feature list. Those change on their side. If you arrived because you typed Tinkercad and you wanted their page, their official site is the place for that brand.
We will not write install steps for Tinkercad. We will not ship a twin page that clones their UI. This comparison is the map. The install we document is FreeCAD from GitHub Releases and winget.
Local desktop versus a browser CAD product
Want a desktop program and an LGPL exe on this Windows PC? Install FreeCAD. Want a website you already searched? Use official Tinkercad. You can keep both bookmarks. CAD software vs Tinkercad does not demand that you delete the other.
Fetch is part of the map. We document GitHub Releases and winget for FreeCAD. We document tinkercad.com for Tinkercad. Softonic and CNET wrappers of either name are still the wrong place to fetch from.
A part you want to keep as a file in Documents is a desktop job on this PC. The model does not need a tab to exist. Pick based on the program you want to run, not on a fake quality score.
How to choose without a scoreboard
If the file cannot leave this machine, stay local. Open FreeCAD. Save the .FCStd here. If you already work in a browser and you already trust that site with that work, official Tinkercad is the page you typed.
School work on a shared PC is still a file when you save it. A lab that blocks unknown installers is still a policy fact. The vs does not decide policy for you. It names the split: a local Windows window versus a browser CAD product.
If you needed the CAD meaning on this PC, that work sits on Computer aided design. If you needed the install-a-program walk, that work sits on CAD programs. If you needed a 2D drawing page, that work sits on Drafting software. This page stays the map.
Keep the fetch separate
FreeCAD is not on tinkercad.com. Tinkercad is not an exe we document from GitHub. If a search result offers a Tinkercad setup from a helper site, treat it as the wrong place until you prove otherwise on their official page. If a search result offers FreeCAD inside a pack that adds a toolbar, skip it. GitHub Releases and winget are the FreeCAD paths. tinkercad.com is the Tinkercad path.
Wrappers still wrap. Softonic and CNET put a helper around a name people already typed. CAD software vs Tinkercad is not a reason to trust that helper. Fetch FreeCAD from GitHub Releases or winget. Fetch Tinkercad from Tinkercad.
The install pointer is Install on the home page. The off-site file host for FreeCAD is GitHub Releases.
GitHub Releases is the installer host
People type GitHub because many Windows tools put the installer on GitHub Releases. This project does. The repo is public. You can read source there. GitHub Releases is the Windows installer host. Take FreeCAD_1.1.3-Windows-x86_64-py311-installer.exe from that list, or the 7z, or use winget.
That split is part of CAD software vs Tinkercad. Tinkercad is not fetched from this GitHub repo either. Two products, two official places to fetch from, and a GitHub release that is the honest installer host for FreeCAD.
LICENSE text for FreeCAD lives in the repo. Read it there. We will not paste LGPL-2.1 here. Tinkercad terms live on their site. We will not paste those either.
Publisher and license on the map
The FreeCAD team publishes FreeCAD under LGPL-2.1. Tinkercad publishes Tinkercad as their product. CAD software vs Tinkercad names both so you stop hunting a browser form when you wanted an LGPL exe, and stop hunting an LGPL exe on tinkercad.com.
Winget still uses winget install -e --id FreeCAD.FreeCAD. Copy it from the box on this page. That installs FreeCAD. It does not install Tinkercad.
x64 installer and 7z
Most Windows PCs take FreeCAD_1.1.3-Windows-x86_64-py311-installer.exe from GitHub Releases. A 7z also sits on that release if you want a 7z. Match the file name you actually see there. We will not invent a newer tag than V1.1.3 here. Live tag observed: V1.1.3, 25 July 2026. Read the release if you want the date they published.
The exe is still FreeCAD. Pick one path. Skip stacking it with winget. Winget is the tidy fetch when the package is listed. SmartScreen can warn on a first exe. Read the publisher. Prefer GitHub Releases over a renamed copy from search.
School PCs and borrowed laptops
A lab image may block winget and unknown installers. Then the Windows side of CAD software vs Tinkercad is closed for that hour. Official Tinkercad may already be a tab you can open, or it may not. That is a policy fact, not a quality score. When you get back to a PC you control, take the exe from GitHub Releases, or paste the winget command.
A borrowed laptop you will return in twenty minutes is a bad place for an installer. Use what is already on the machine, or skip the install. Leave FreeCAD_1.1.3-Windows-x86_64-py311-installer.exe off a Desktop you do not keep.
A file already on this disk
On the FreeCAD side, you save a model that already sits on this PC. Documents folder. A USB stick you copied. The file is a file. You already know where you put it. We will not invent a cloud for this project. If you later copy the file somewhere else, that is your copy.
On the Tinkercad side, their product decides how their site talks to a design. We will not reprint that. We will not invent a storage plan or a price. Read it on their site. CAD software vs Tinkercad only needs you to notice the split: a local window on this PC versus a browser CAD product from Tinkercad.
Both bookmarks
You can keep both bookmarks. Running both at once is a desktop program and a website that can both draw a part. They do not share an installer. The mix-up that hurts is installing a random Windows program because it used the Tinkercad name in an ad. Official Tinkercad can sit first for its own name. Let it. We wrote a comparison. We point at FreeCAD.
A Chrome tab that asks you to start in a browser is a browser CAD product. This vs documents that shape as Tinkercad side. The CAD job on this PC sits on Computer aided design. Stay on this page when you need the map between the local Windows program and Tinkercad.
Shared PCs and uninstall
If you only wanted to compare names, you do not have to install anything. Read the table. If you install FreeCAD on a machine other people use, tell them, or uninstall when you are done. Uninstall is Apps in Windows, or the project uninstall. Quitting the window is not uninstall.
Fetch again from GitHub Releases or winget, not from a wrapper. Releases sit on Cad software releases. The repo sits on Cad software GitHub. Trust notes sit on Cad software download safe.
What this comparison will not do
It will not host the installer. It will not invent a Tinkercad feature list or a newer FreeCAD number than V1.1.3. GitHub Releases is the Windows installer host. Fetch the exe from that page or use winget.
It will not scold you for already using Tinkercad. Official Tinkercad can sit first for its own name. This page is the map. The install we document is FreeCAD.
Is CAD software vs Tinkercad a copy of Tinkercad?
No. Official Tinkercad lives on tinkercad.com. We wrote a comparison. We point at FreeCAD. We do not clone their site.
What is the winget command on CAD software vs Tinkercad?
The command is winget install -e --id FreeCAD.FreeCAD. Copy it from the box on this page. That installs FreeCAD. It does not install Tinkercad.
Does CAD software vs Tinkercad run in my browser?
No. The Windows side is a desktop program from GitHub Releases or winget. The Tinkercad side is their product from their site. This page is the comparison.
Did you make CAD software vs Tinkercad?
No. We did not make FreeCAD. We did not make Tinkercad. We wrote this comparison. Official FreeCAD files live on GitHub Releases under LGPL-2.1. Skip Softonic, CNET, and unofficial wrappers.