Wil je graag starten met zelf ontwerpen? Er is veel software beschikbaar om dit te doen. Van gratis webapplicaties en gratis apps tot professionele applicaties met ongekende mogelijkheden. Hieronder hebben we een opsomming gemaakt van veel gebruikte applicaties en het vereiste kennisniveau.
| Software applicatie | Niveau | Besturingssysteem | Abonnement | Bestandsformaten |
| Onshape | beginner/professional | Browser | Gratis | stl, Parasolid, ACIS, STEP, IGES, Solidworks, Rhino, DWG en DXF |
| Vectary | beginner/professional | Browser | Gratis | stl, obj, dae, gltf, glb, png |
| 123D design | Beginner | Windows, Mac en iOS | Gratis | 123x, step, stl, x3d, vrml |
| 3D Slash | Beginner | Windows, Mac, Linux, Raspberry Pi of Browser | Gratis | 3dslash, obj, stl |
| SculptGL | Beginner | Browser | Gratis | obj, ply, sgl, stl |
| TinkerCAD | Beginner | Browser | Gratis | 123dx, 3ds, c4d, mb, obj, svg, stl |
| Meshmixer | Gemiddeld | Windows, Mac en Linux | Gratis | amf, mix, obj, off, stl |
| OpenSCAD | Gemiddeld | Windows, Mac en Linux | Gratis | dxf, off, stl |
| Sculptris | Gemiddeld | Windows en Mac | Gratis | obj, goz |
| SketchUp | Gemiddeld | Windows en Mac | Gratis | dwg, dxf, 3ds, dae, dem, def, ifc, kmz, stl |
| Blender | Professional | Windows, Mac en Linux | Gratis | 3ds, dae, fbx, dxf, obj, x, lwo, svg, ply, stl, vrml, vrml97, x3d |
| AutoCAD | Professional | Windows en Mac | Abonnement | dwg, dxf, pdf |
| Photoshop CC | Beginner | Windows en Mac | Abonnement | 3ds, dae, kmz, obj, psd, stl, u3d |
| Moment of Inspiration (MoI) | Gemiddeld | Windows en Mac | Abonnement | 3ds, 3dm, dxf, fbx, igs, lwo, obj, skp, stl, stp and sat |
| Mudbox | Professional | Windows en Mac | Abonnement | fbx, mud, obj |
| Rhino3D | Professional | Windows en Mac | Abonnement | 3dm, 3ds, cd, dae, dgn, dwg, emf, fbx, gf, gdf, gts, igs, kmz, lwo, rws, obj, off, ply, pm, sat, scn, skp, slc, sldprt, stp, stl, x3dv, xaml, vda, vrml, x_t, x, xgl, zpr |
| ZBrush | Professional | Windows en Mac | Abonnement | dxf, goz, ma, obj, stl, vrml, x3d |
| CATIA | Industrie | Windows en Mac | Abonnement | 3dxml, catpart, igs, pdf, stp, stl, vrml |
| Fusion 360 | Industrie | Windows en Mac | Abonnement | catpart, dwg, dxf, f3d, igs, obj, pdf, sat, sldprt, stp |
| Inventor | Industrie | Windows en Mac | Abonnement | 3dm, igs, ipt, nx, obj, prt, rvt, sldprt, stl, stp, x_b, xgl |
| Solidworks | Industrie | Windows en Mac | Abonnement | 3dxml, 3dm, 3ds, 3mf, amf, dwg, dxf, idf, ifc, obj, pdf, sldprt, stp, stl, vrml |
| 3ds Max | Professional | Windows | Abonnement | stl, 3ds, ai, abc, ase, asm, catproduct, catpart, dem, dwg, dxf, dwf, flt, iges, ipt, jt, nx, obj, prj, prt, rvt, sat, skp, sldprt, sldasm, stp, vrml, w3d xml |