# Autodesk Fusion

18 Hacker News commenters recommended Autodesk Fusion and 10 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 10 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Parametric CAD app that people find precise and capable for modeling and toolpaths; the common complaints are crashes, lost model data, and licensing changes.

## Why people recommend it

- Strong parametric CAD modeling (4 comments): "If you use something like OnShape or Fusion, you could easily get comfortable enough to model those parts in about a day." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48179652)) "I've locked myself into Fusion for now, but I do quite enjoy modeling by hand in it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50100919)) "Autodesk Inventor, Fusion, etc. have good constraint solvers." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46787958))
- Precise procedural node workflow (2 comments): "copying nodes/layers/effects and getting plaintext in your clipboard is EXTREMELY powerful and underused" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49989907)) "the procedural graph workflow is more precise" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47826049))
- Good for video and VFX compositing (3 comments): "it sits somewhere between After Effects, Fusion, TouchDesigner, Blender (with nodes), and Resolume" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46445167)) "it works very well to edit a photo in a compositing program" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47765181)) "For video and vfx work fusion is great." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47823821))
- Fantastic experience for users (2 comments): "I'm having great success with Fusion (formerly known as Eagle)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49741134)) "our experience with fusion has been fantastic" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48387433))

## What people warn about

- Crashes and lost model data (2 comments): "I have frequent crashes with Fusion that seem to be related to specific nodes" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48386305)) "the time that Fusion lost a whole part of a model" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47099356))
- Licensing changes and free model limit (2 comments): "Their licensing and changes to their hobbyist offering were no longer tenable for me" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45974571)) "the 10 model limitation for Fusion" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47088081))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [FreeCAD](https://hackerapproved.com/p/freecad.md): 199 recommend
- [OpenSCAD](https://hackerapproved.com/p/openscad.md): 173 recommend
- [Onshape](https://hackerapproved.com/p/onshape.md): 65 recommend
- [Autodesk Fusion 360](https://hackerapproved.com/p/fusion-360.md): 60 recommend
- [SolveSpace](https://hackerapproved.com/p/solvespace.md): 37 recommend

## Where to get it

- [Visit the official site](https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/fusion)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Autodesk Fusion", https://hackerapproved.com/p/fusion/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).