Autodesk Inventor VS SolidWorks
As of 4 November 2026, SolidWorks is named by 6,399 companies and Autodesk Inventor by 2,170; Autodesk Inventor skews to companies under 200 people (43% vs 49%), SolidWorks to companies over 1,000 (25% vs 30%).
As of 4 November 2026 · refreshed daily · counts move as websites, DNS and career sites are re-read.
The website-and-DNS footprint is not comparable between a marketing suite and a CRM: Autodesk Inventor's script and mail records show on hundreds of thousands of small sites, SolidWorks rarely leaves a trace outside its own apps. Compare on the job-posting numbers; use the footprint for reach.
- Autodesk Inventor: 2–200 employees
- 43%
- SolidWorks: 2–200 employees
- 49%
- Autodesk Inventor: 1,000+ employees
- 30%
- SolidWorks: 1,000+ employees
- 25%
- Postings per company, 90 days
- 2.7 · 3.5
- Website or DNS footprint
- 0 · 0
Who chooses which
Share of each tool's companies in every segment. "Leans" marks a gap of more than two points.
| Segment | Autodesk Inventor | share | SolidWorks | share | Leans |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Self-employed | 22 | 1% | 86 | 1% | even |
| 2-10 employees | 178 | 8% | 597 | 9% | even |
| 11-50 employees | 290 | 13% | 970 | 15% | even |
| 51-200 employees | 474 | 22% | 1,575 | 25% | SolidWorks |
| 201-500 employees | 347 | 16% | 1,000 | 16% | even |
| 501-1000 employees | 216 | 10% | 550 | 9% | even |
| 1001-5000 employees | 332 | 15% | 865 | 14% | even |
| 5001-10000 employees | 92 | 4% | 231 | 4% | even |
| 10,001+ employees | 219 | 10% | 525 | 8% | even |
| Segment | Autodesk Inventor | share | SolidWorks | share | Leans |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing & industry | 1,192 | 55% | 3,785 | 59% | SolidWorks |
| Business & finance services | 301 | 14% | 667 | 10% | Autodesk Inventor |
| Property & construction | 149 | 7% | 244 | 4% | Autodesk Inventor |
| Automotive | 103 | 5% | 328 | 5% | even |
| Technology & software | 94 | 4% | 403 | 6% | even |
| Utilities & infrastructure | 84 | 4% | 178 | 3% | even |
| Commerce & trade | 68 | 3% | 238 | 4% | even |
| Consumer services & leisure | 67 | 3% | 167 | 3% | even |
| Public, community & associations | 37 | 2% | 128 | 2% | even |
| Media & content | 29 | 1% | 96 | 2% | even |
| Transport, logistics & rental | 27 | 1% | 91 | 1% | even |
| Agriculture & forestry | 9 | 0% | – | – | outside top 12 |
| Health care | – | – | 42 | 1% | outside top 12 |
| Segment | Autodesk Inventor | share | SolidWorks | share | Leans |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 1,000 | 46% | 3,735 | 58% | SolidWorks |
| Germany | 379 | 17% | 551 | 9% | Autodesk Inventor |
| Netherlands | 89 | 4% | 146 | 2% | even |
| United Kingdom | 88 | 4% | 278 | 4% | even |
| Canada | 73 | 3% | 234 | 4% | even |
| France | 60 | 3% | 267 | 4% | even |
| Italy | 52 | 2% | 103 | 2% | even |
| Belgium | 42 | 2% | – | – | outside top 12 |
| Austria | 41 | 2% | 57 | 1% | even |
| Switzerland | 30 | 1% | 67 | 1% | even |
| Australia | 28 | 1% | – | – | outside top 12 |
| Spain | 28 | 1% | 72 | 1% | even |
| India | – | – | 130 | 2% | outside top 12 |
| Poland | – | – | 60 | 1% | outside top 12 |
| Segment | Autodesk Inventor | share | SolidWorks | share | Leans |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engineering (non-software) | 5,690 | 79% | 19,528 | 71% | Autodesk Inventor |
| Manufacturing and production | 115 | 2% | 859 | 3% | even |
| Product, program & project management | 96 | 1% | 274 | 1% | even |
| Sales | 94 | 1% | 356 | 1% | even |
| Skilled trades and field service | 90 | 1% | 350 | 1% | even |
| Construction and civil | 77 | 1% | 169 | 1% | even |
| Design & UX | 77 | 1% | 1,777 | 6% | SolidWorks |
| Software engineering | 49 | 1% | 174 | 1% | even |
| IT operations & business systems | 39 | 1% | 218 | 1% | even |
| Education & training | 34 | 0% | 65 | 0% | even |
| Quality, safety & environment | 25 | 0% | 271 | 1% | even |
| Logistics warehouse and transport | 20 | 0% | 25 | 0% | even |
| Unclassified | 19 | 0% | 78 | 0% | even |
| Social care and community | 13 | 0% | – | – | outside top 12 |
| Arts media and entertainment | 8 | 0% | 43 | 0% | even |
| Customer service & success | 8 | 0% | 40 | 0% | even |
| General management & consulting | 8 | 0% | 34 | 0% | even |
| Administration & office | 7 | 0% | 34 | 0% | even |
| Research and science | 6 | 0% | 93 | 0% | even |
| Data & AI | 5 | 0% | 53 | 0% | even |
| Facilities cleaning and security | 2 | 0% | 8 | 0% | even |
| Marketing & communications | 2 | 0% | 8 | 0% | even |
| Hospitality and food service | 1 | 0% | – | – | outside top 12 |
| Procurement and purchasing | 1 | 0% | 17 | 0% | even |
| Retail & store operations | 1 | 0% | 5 | 0% | even |
| Business development & strategy | – | – | 12 | 0% | outside top 12 |
| Finance & accounting | – | – | 4 | 0% | outside top 12 |
| Human resources | – | – | 4 | 0% | outside top 12 |
| Healthcare clinical | – | – | 3 | 0% | outside top 12 |
| Healthcare support and caregiving | – | – | 3 | 0% | outside top 12 |
| Legal, compliance & risk | – | – | 3 | 0% | outside top 12 |
The companies behind each column
Companies using Autodesk Inventor →
Companies using SolidWorks →
mechanical cad ranked →
Quote the sentence with the date and the link. The numbers change daily; the link always shows the current ones.
SolidWorks is named by 6,399 companies in job postings and Autodesk Inventor by 2,170; 1,266 name both. (Breaknorm, 4 November 2026, https://breaknorm.co/compare/autodesk-inventor-vs-solidworks)
Read from the source, not self-reported
Every number on this page can be traced to a page we crawled or a posting we read. Full methodology →
- Job postingsRead hourly from career sites. A tool counts when the employer's own text names it as the team's system; both tools can count for one company.
- Website and DNSScripts and embeds on the company's pages, plus SPF, DKIM, MX and CNAME records of its domain that point at the vendor.
- SegmentsCountry, size and industry from the company profile built from its website.
- Not a reviewNo ratings, prices or feature claims. For those, read the vendors.
Autodesk Inventor vs SolidWorks: questions
Which is more used, Autodesk Inventor or SolidWorks?
By companies naming it in their own job postings, SolidWorks (6,399) over Autodesk Inventor (2,170). By website-and-DNS footprint, SolidWorks (0 vs 0), because its scripts and mail records sit on many small company sites.
Who chooses Autodesk Inventor?
43% of Autodesk Inventor companies have 2 to 200 employees, against 49% for SolidWorks. 30% of Autodesk Inventor companies have over 1,000 employees, against 25% for SolidWorks.
Do companies run both?
1,266 companies name both in their postings, usually Autodesk Inventor in marketing and SolidWorks in sales, or during a migration.
Where do these numbers come from?
From the employer's own text in job postings read hourly from career sites, and from scripts found on company websites in our crawl. No vendor data, no surveys.
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