--- title: "How popular is FreeCAD? Searches and AI answers in New Zealand" description: "A free, open source 3D CAD modeller. Branded searches tell you how often people look for a brand by name or related terms. Comparing these searches across competitors helps you see how popular each brand is over time." canonical: "https://gobrandwave.com/demand/nz/brands/freecad" publisher: "Brandwave" --- # How popular is FreeCAD? Searches and AI answers in New Zealand A free, open source 3D CAD modeller. Branded searches tell you how often people look for a brand by name or related terms. Comparing these searches across competitors helps you see how popular each brand is over time. ## Key facts - **Brand**: FreeCAD - **Market**: New Zealand - **Measured month**: Oct 2026 - **Share of Search among CAD and 3D design software**: 2.5% ## Where does FreeCAD compete? | Competitive set | Rank | Share of Search | Estimated monthly branded searches | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | CAD and 3D design software | 7 | 2.5% | 1.3K | - [CAD and 3D design software](/demand/nz/categories/nz-cad-and-3d-design-software) ## Top CAD and 3D design software in ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews In three ChatGPT questions and two Google AI Overviews, FreeCAD was mentioned in three out of five: in two of the three ChatGPT answers and in one of the two Google AI Overviews. FreeCAD is the sixth most recommended of the ten. Brands get a higher AI rank if they are mentioned earlier in the answers that list options. | Brand | AI rank | ChatGPT answers that named it | Google AI Overviews that named it | All answers that named it | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Fusion 360 | 1st | 3 of 3 | 2 of 2 | 5 of 5 | | SketchUp | 2nd | 3 of 3 | 2 of 2 | 5 of 5 | | SolidWorks | 3rd | 3 of 3 | 2 of 2 | 5 of 5 | | AutoCAD | 4th | 3 of 3 | 1 of 2 | 4 of 5 | | Revit | 5th | 2 of 3 | 1 of 2 | 3 of 5 | | FreeCAD | 6th | 2 of 3 | 1 of 2 | 3 of 5 | | Blender | 7th | 3 of 3 | 1 of 2 | 4 of 5 | | Onshape | 8th | 2 of 3 | 2 of 2 | 4 of 5 | | Tinkercad | 9th | 0 of 3 | 1 of 2 | 1 of 5 | | Cadpro | 10th | 2 of 3 | 1 of 2 | 3 of 5 | ## Every AI answer about CAD and 3D design software - Asked ChatGPT "Which CAD or 3D design tool should I use in New Zealand?": 1. Fusion 360, 2. FreeCAD, 3. AutoCAD, 4. SketchUp, 5. Onshape, 6. SolidWorks, 7. Blender - Asked ChatGPT "What are the best CAD and 3D design tools in New Zealand?": 1. Fusion 360, 2. SolidWorks, 3. Revit, 4. SketchUp, 5. Blender, 6. FreeCAD, 7. AutoCAD, 8. Cadpro, 9. Onshape - Asked ChatGPT "What's the best CAD or 3D design tool in New Zealand for design work?": 1. Fusion 360, 2. SolidWorks, 3. SketchUp, 4. Blender, 5. AutoCAD, 6. Cadpro, 7. Revit - Searched Google, AI Overview "cad software nz": 1. AutoCAD, 2. Revit, 3. SolidWorks, 4. Fusion 360, 5. Onshape, 6. FreeCAD, 7. SketchUp, 8. Cadpro - Searched Google, AI Overview "3d design software": 1. Tinkercad, 2. SketchUp, 3. Fusion 360, 4. Onshape, 5. Blender, 6. SolidWorks Brands are listed in the order each answer named them. The answers were collected in New Zealand on October 19, 2026. ## How has branded search demand for FreeCAD changed in New Zealand over the last 12 months? - Across the 12 months ending October 2026, estimated monthly branded searches for FreeCAD in New Zealand held steady at 1.3K. - Across the 12 months ending October 2026, FreeCAD’s share of searches among CAD and 3D design software in New Zealand peaked at 6.4% in January 2026 and was lowest at 1.6% in June 2026. ## How did search popularity change for New Zealand CAD and 3D design software in October 2026? - In October 2026, AutoCAD gained share of searches among CAD and 3D design software in New Zealand, from 3.6% to 5.7%. - In October 2026, Fusion 360 gained share of searches among CAD and 3D design software in New Zealand, from 4.2% to 6.2%. - In October 2026, Revit gained share of searches among CAD and 3D design software in New Zealand, from 3.4% to 4.5%. - In October 2026, SketchUp gained share of searches among CAD and 3D design software in New Zealand, from 24% to 24.9%. - In October 2026, FreeCAD gained share of searches among CAD and 3D design software in New Zealand, from 1.9% to 2.5%. - In October 2026, Tinkercad lost share of searches among CAD and 3D design software in New Zealand, from 49.9% to 42.5%. ## Historical estimated branded-search demand | Month | Competitive set | Estimated monthly branded searches | Share of Search | Rank | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Nov 2025 | CAD and 3D design software | 1.3K | 2.1% | 7 | | Dec 2025 | CAD and 3D design software | 1.3K | 4.6% | 7 | | Jan 2026 | CAD and 3D design software | 1.6K | 6.4% | 6 | | Feb 2026 | CAD and 3D design software | 1.3K | 2.3% | 7 | | Mar 2026 | CAD and 3D design software | 1.6K | 2% | 7 | | Apr 2026 | CAD and 3D design software | 1.6K | 3.1% | 7 | | May 2026 | CAD and 3D design software | 1.6K | 2.2% | 7 | | Jun 2026 | CAD and 3D design software | 1.3K | 1.6% | 7 | | Jul 2026 | CAD and 3D design software | 1.3K | 2.6% | 7 | | Aug 2026 | CAD and 3D design software | 1.6K | 2.2% | 7 | | Sep 2026 | CAD and 3D design software | 1.3K | 1.9% | 7 | | Oct 2026 | CAD and 3D design software | 1.3K | 2.5% | 7 | ## How are FreeCAD’s branded searches counted? Brandwave collects information about searches that people make online using FreeCAD’s name. When viewed over time, estimated search volumes for this branded term can be used to understand whether interest in the brand is growing, holding steady, or fading. - “freecad” ## Which CAD and 3D design software compete with FreeCAD? - [Tinkercad](/demand/nz/brands/tinkercad) - [SketchUp](/demand/nz/brands/sketchup) - [Onshape](/demand/nz/brands/onshape) - [Fusion 360](/demand/nz/brands/fusion-360): Head-to-head: /demand/nz/compare/freecad-vs-fusion-360 - [AutoCAD](/demand/nz/brands/autocad): Head-to-head: /demand/nz/compare/autocad-vs-freecad - [Revit](/demand/nz/brands/revit): Head-to-head: /demand/nz/compare/freecad-vs-revit - [SolidWorks](/demand/nz/brands/solidworks): Head-to-head: /demand/nz/compare/freecad-vs-solidworks - [Blender](/demand/nz/brands/blender): Head-to-head: /demand/nz/compare/blender-vs-freecad - [Cadpro](/demand/nz/brands/cadpro) ## Methodology - [How is the Brand Demand Index measured?](/demand/methodology): Where the figures come from, what they compare, and how they may be reused. ## Cite this page Brandwave. "How popular is FreeCAD? Searches and AI answers in New Zealand". https://gobrandwave.com/demand/nz/brands/freecad This page is also available as HTML at https://gobrandwave.com/demand/nz/brands/freecad. Brandwave publishes an index of its Markdown pages at https://gobrandwave.com/llms.txt.