Fusion 360 License guide
This article will help you choose right Fusion 360 license according to your case. All existing Fusion 360 licenses are reviewed to make choice as clear as possible.
This guide is current as of March 2022.
Agree on correct naming first
All the licenses currently available are:
None of them is called «free», so let’s agree we name them correctly when talking about.
You can find your license using Help -> About window, it’s in Active Plan.
How do you choose a license
One should consider following points when choosing a license
- What licenses are available for you and how easy they are to obtain
- What do you plan to use Fusion 360 for
- What Fusion 360 features do you need
According to availability and ease of obtaining licenses fall into two groups
- Subscription and Personal are available to everyone. One can easily acquire one or another. A Subscription can be purchased through an official reseller (in most countries), or you can get a Personal license for free on the Autodesk website.
- Second group licenses are available to eligible users. These are Education and Startup. You have to be a student or an educator in order to obtain an Education license. Or you have to fill out an application form and wait for an approval from Autodesk to get a Startup one. Autodesk can support your project by issuing you a free startup license.
In case we look into how it is allowed to use Fusion 360, then the licenses line up as follows
- First is a Subscription. You can use Fusion 360 virtually as you like, including business.
- In the second place is a Startup license, which is almost as good as the Subscription, but has a restriction on business volume. Your income must not be over $100,000 per year. An additional condition of the startup license is that you agree to share certain information about your project with Autodesk.
- Third comes a Personal license. It suits any hobby and personal activities. Commercial use is prohibited (anything over $1,000 a year is considered to be a commercial use). Any enterprise and team usage are not allowed also. In case you are a hobbyist / maker and do projects for yourself, this should not be too restrictive for you.
- Educational license comes last. It's the most limited in possible uses. Actually, you can only use Fusion 360 to learn it. No business or production activity is allowed as well.
N.B.! A Startup license doesn't force you into sharing your projects with Autodesk! You don't have to transfer your models, but rather agree to tell about your project. Ex., if you work on SpaceX-killer project then Autodesk would definitely like to tell everyone about it. You agree on that beforehand.
The last ranking is in features decreasing
- First goes an Education license, oddly enough. Autodesk makes sure future engineers learn Fusion 360 thoroughly, so the education version has all the features, including unlimited cloud rendering and simulation.
- Then we have Subscription and Startup. They’re identical in features. Everything offered by the program is available. You only need to pay for additional features such as Extensions, generative design studies, and cloud rendering and simulation if you need them. Same on both.
- Last is Personal license. It has limitations on features available. According to Autodesk they should clearly define hobby use vs business. Most CAD/CAM features are available, except for team collaboration 5-axis machining with automatic tool change and some others. If you make models for 3d printing, you’ll likely not notice any restrictions at all.
Summary
In fact, the choice comes down to Subscription or Personal licenses in most cases.
It’s simple to choose right one:
- if you plan any CAD/CAM related business and/or wish to invest into comprehensive tool, then a Subscription will likely be your choice.
- if you don't, then a Personal license should be great for you.
More details
More details on what is included in each license you can find on the link below https://dadapasha.ru/fusion360-license (only in Russian yet)
DISCLAIMER: The information there taken from various sources. I do my best for it to be correct and up to date but it’s possible I miss something, and/or license terms could change without my notice. Always use official information, ask official resellers and rely on yourself while making decision on the purchase.
Q&A
Is it true there are no free Fusion 360 licenses anymore?
No, that's not true. There are three free licenses with different terms of use - Personal, Startup and Education. Choose according to your case.
My Education license expired (or I'm required to confirm eligibility), what should I do?
- If you are still eligible, submit the documents required and continue to use the software by obtaining a new or renewing your Education license.
- If you are not, there are options available:
- Buy a Subscription and go on.
- Export all your projects, register a new account, get a Personal license and forget about the old account.
- Contact support https://www.autodesk.com/education/support asking to remove all education licenses from your account. Then get a Personal license.
How to get a Personal license?
Step-by-step guide is down the link https://dadapasha.ru/fusion360-free (only in Russian yet)
TL;DR just google "fusion 360 personal" and follow first link to Autodesk website
How to get Fusion 360 from torrent? Where to get the crack?
There’re no cracked versions. Fusion 360 installer is the same for all cases (with the exception of education institution deployment, but that’s another story). You can just download it from the official website. It's free and legal. Fusion 360 features are determined by the license, not by the software version.
Personal license has features limited, why?
Personal license has limited features in ways that should clearly distinguish hobby use from business. It’s inconvenient and inefficient to use Personal for business. That’s the idea.
I’ve got Personal license. Will I have to buy a Subscription after a year?
Most licenses, including Personal, last one year. After it expires you have to make a new decision and choose from licenses available. If you need a personal license again, just get it once more.