After the successful completion of its beta program, GrabCAD announces the general availability of its Workbench cloud-based CAD file management solution. With its cloud deployment and affordable pricing plans, GrabCAD Workbench provides a cost-effective and easy-to-implement PDM/PLM alternative for small- to mid-sizes businesses.

The beta version of Workbench, which launched in November of last year, enables users to manage and share CAD models with zero IT investment. Since its roll-out, more than 20,000 Workbench users have been able to automatically synch their desktop files to cloud projects, lock files, manage file versions, visualize version differences, resolve conflicts and more.

New file types supported

GrabCAD Workbench now also offers a SolidWorks add-in and neutral file translator, opening up even more options in file types for users. Workbench users can now upload and download files as well as resolve conflicts from within SolidWorks. According to the company, SolidWorks was chosen to be the first CAD program supported, because it is the most popular among current Workbench users. Support for other CAD systems is in the works.

A neutral file translator has also been added to Workbench Professional that allows users to download a CAD file in STEP, IGES and STL formats, regardless of the format it was uploaded in, making it easier to share models with partners who don’t use the same CAD system.

The new Collaborative Product Design (CPD) features will be available to all Professional Plan users while the free plan users will still have access to CAD file sharing and viewing tools. Enterprise customers will have all Professional features as well as additional IT controls and support as well as more storage.

Current pricing and plan options

All file management features, along with all sharing features, will be available to users during a trial. With the release of the new advanced features, Workbench pricing has changed for Professional and Enterprise plans, to $59 and $89 per user per month respectively. Check out the GrabCAD pricing page for more details.