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When did Fusion 360 stop being free?

Is Fusion 360 for personal use still free? Yes. Fusion 360 for personal use remains free. It's not going away.

knowledge.autodesk.com - Changes to Fusion 360 for personal use - Autodesk Knowledge Network

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On October 1st, 2020 - Fusion 360 for personal use will be defining clearer lines between what is available in Fusion 360 for personal use compared to other offerings in order to align with intended usage, scale for the future, and stay true to Autodesk’s guiding principles of democratizing design. To navigate to a specific section, click any of the links below. Use ‘Return to Top’ in each section to navigate quickly back to the top of the webpage.

Timeline for Changes

This document will cover the Frequently Asked Questions around Fusion 360 for personal use. To compare all available subscription and offering types for Fusion 360, visit the Fusion 360 Comparison Page To consult with a representative to understand the options, contact a Fusion 360 Representative today On October 1st, 2020 – any existing or new Fusion 360 for personal use user will be limited to the following capabilities:

Design – Standard design and 3D modeling tools.

Electronics – 2 schematics, 2 layers, 80cm2 board area.

Manufacturing – 2.5 axis milling & 3 axis milling, turning, FFF additive, fabrication.

Local Rendering.

File Import – Standard file types.

Cloud Storage – Maximum of 10 active documents ***.

Collaboration – Basic Access .

Drawings – Single sheet, print only.

*Export (download) of IGES and SAT from Fusion Team will be available until January 19th, 2021

**Simulation, Generative Design, Extensions, and cloud rendering are not included.

***The 10 active design document allowance will go into effect on January 19th, 2021.

How will I notice these changes?

When do these changes go into effect?

How long do I have access to Fusion 360 for personal use?

On or after October 1st, 2020, upon login into Fusion 360, the changes will take effect automatically. There is no need to uninstall and reinstall.Changes to Fusion 360 for personal use are effective on October 1, 2020. To export any designs before these changes, do so before January 19th, 2021 via Fusion Team. The 10 active design document allowance will go into effect on January 19th, 2021Fusion 360 for personal use is available for a 3-year term for qualifying users. Individuals need to reapply once their term has expired to check qualifications.

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Most Commonly Asked Questions

Can I still export my designs as STEP?

Is Fusion 360 for personal use still free?

What does the 10 active documents change really mean?

What this change means:

10 active documents means that there are 10 spots for any document to open and be editable at any given time. All the other documents will be stored in the projects as a new inactive state. The ownership still remains with the user, saved in the projects. When 10 document capacity is reached, to revisit an older design, do so by deactivating an active document and activating the inactive one to swap places with. Again, the account continues to keep all the designs and projects with no limits on how many can be stored as inactive. PDFs, images, presentations, spreadsheets, etc do not count towards the 10 active document allowance. With an assembly that has referenced designs in it, the assembly will count as 1 document. The referenced designs can be edited as long as they are also active. If the referenced designs in the assembly are inactive, they will be read only.

How would this work?

The interactions of how this is dine is still being worked on, and any existing experience around archiving designs from Fusion Team is not indicative of what this new interaction may be, that’s why it’s slated for January 2021. We hope that everyone understands that we are trying to put limits in place to stop commercial mis-use, while still enabling the vast majority of hobbyists to continue to design and make with little to no impact.

Can I still machine parts?

Can I still 3D Print?

Can I still laser-cut or do 2D routing?

Are there changes to Education, Startup, Trial & Paid Subscriptions?

STEP export will remain available.Yes. Fusion 360 for personal use remains free. It’s not going away.All data stored is kept and can have unlimited number of documents (3D design, drawing, PCB) as well as projects (top level folders in your data panel) in the account.Today all the designs and documents are active by default. Open any design no matter how old or new and they will open.Yes. 2, 2.5 and 3 axis milling will still be available in the new Personal Use offering.More advanced manufacturing functionality such as 3+2 axis, 4 axis, and 5 axis milling will only be available in the paid subscription.Toolpath simulation in the Manufacture workspace is not going anywhere and will still be available.Yes, STL Export will still be available for personal use.Fusion 360 can still be used for 3D printing with File > 3D print > send to chosen print utility, File Export > STL or Save As STL. Save As DXF is still available from sketch.DXF will not be a supported file format from File > Export, but there is an ability to right click on a sketch in the browser and select Save As DXF for laser cutting and routing needs. For more information on how to Save as DXF, refer to How to Save Sketch as a DXF No, personal use still has access to scripts and add-ins downloaded from the Autodesk App Store , there is no change here.The ability to leverage the API as well as the add-ins are available in our App Store.Extensions in this context refer to the Manufacturing Extensions available to purchase . These are the capabilities like Probing, 4 axis Rotary, 5 axis Steep & Shallow Strategies that extend manufacturing capabilities with more convenience, faster machine times, and higher quality finishing.There are no changes to these offerings. To clarify, this change does not impact the trial, Education offering, Startup offering, or the Paid subscription.Product updates will continue to be delivered to all of our offerings, additional advanced functionality may be excluded from the Personal offering moving forwards.We will continue to support the Personal Use offering with product updates, improvements, fixes, as well as new features moving forward.

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General Questions about Fusion 360 for personal use

What offering of Fusion 360 should I use?

Why are these changes being made?

Do I still qualify for Fusion 360 for personal use?

How do I renew for Fusion 360 for personal use?

Within Fusion 360 select the Question Mark icon and select About.

The expiration date will be displayed under the Active Plan section.

Is Fusion 360 for personal use going away?

How do I subscribe to Fusion 360?

What is an active document?

What are the available consumption services with a paid subscription to Fusion 360?

Cloud Rendering

Simulation Cloud Solving

Generative Design

Manufacturing Extension

Do personal users get access to the extensions?

Do I still have access to the Manufacturing and/or Generative Design Extension I subscribed to?

Do I have access to all my data if I choose not to subscribe to Fusion 360?

Will my data still be secure and private?

Depending on the needs, there are a few options. We suggest looking at the comparison chart here These changes are being made to more clearly define the differences between personal, startup, education, and the paid subscription offering so that we can continue to make Fusion 360 the most affordable end-to-end product development tool in the market. We remain committed to our community of free users, as well as our entire community. For a more in-depth description of these changes, view the following blog post For the list qualifications, review Do I Qualify for Free Use of Fusion 360 Once the current Fusion 360 for personal use term expires, follow the steps in How to register for Fusion 360 for personal use to renew.Renewal cannot be done until the current term ends. To check when the Fusion 360 for personal use account will expire:No. We will continue to offer a free personal use version for those who are solely doing home-based, non-commercial design, manufacturing, and fabrication projects.Fusion 360 is available via monthly, annual, and 3-year terms. Subscribers receive access to a robust set of design/3D modeling tools and manufacturing capabilities, along with the ability to access and use additional task-based or access-based consumption services. Fusion 360 may be purchased via the online store here or by connecting with one of our sales representatives. An active document is any current editable document. Personal use now has access to 10 active documents.There are several consumption services available in Fusion 360. These services are not included in Fusion 360 for personal use:For more information on consumption services in Fusion 360 and cloud credits, please read Cloud credits in Fusion 360 No. Fusion 360 for personal use does not include access to the extensions.It will stay active till the end of the term of the extension. After that, a commercial subscription to Fusion 360 will be required to access this functionality.Yes, the data created with Fusion 360 for personal use is tied to the individual Autodesk Account. The data is owned by the account owner and remains private.Yes, no changes are being made to the security and privacy of data. For more information about the security of our cloud offerings, please review the Autodesk Fusion 360 Cloud Security

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FAQ - Manufacturing Impact

What manufacturing functionality is included in Fusion 360 for personal use?

2 and 3-axis milling toolpaths.

Water/Laser/Plasma profiling operations.

Turning.

What’s not included?

Probing.

3 + 2 axis Milling (Tool Orientation).

Multi-Axis Milling.

Rapid moves.

Automatic Tool Changes.

Why are these pieces of functionality being removed?

Probing: Probing helps automate setup and inspection workflows, especially in small to medium batch production. This is outside the scope of personal use. Probing helps automate setup and inspection workflows, especially in small to medium batch production. This is outside the scope of personal use. 3+2 axis milling: 3+2 helps reduce total cycle time by eliminating the need for many setups on complex parts. While this adds efficiency and saves time, most parts can be made with additional 3-axis setups. 3+2 helps reduce total cycle time by eliminating the need for many setups on complex parts. While this adds efficiency and saves time, most parts can be made with additional 3-axis setups. Multi-axis milling: Simultaneous 5-axis milling is typically used to machine complex components that are outside the scope of personal use. Simultaneous 5-axis milling is typically used to machine complex components that are outside the scope of personal use. Rapid moves: Rapid moves traverse long distances across large machines at significantly faster speeds than the cut feedrate. Higher end machines typically have longer distances to travel and faster rapid speeds, making this feature valuable to those in a commercial setting but unnecessary for personal use. Rapid moves traverse long distances across large machines at significantly faster speeds than the cut feedrate. Higher end machines typically have longer distances to travel and faster rapid speeds, making this feature valuable to those in a commercial setting but unnecessary for personal use. Automatic Tool Changes: Automatic tool changes reduce overall cycle time, which is important in a production environment but outside the scope of personal use.

What does no rapid moves mean?

What does no automatic tool changes mean?

What if I want to use my automatic tool changer and rapid moves?

Can I do additive manufacturing?

How do I access manufacturing features in an extension?

What happens to toolpaths I created previously that are no longer included?

While this change may feel significant, there’s still plenty of functionality available in Fusion 360 for personal use. Here’s what will still be included:All other features, like NC Programs, Templates, Tool Libraries, free post processors, and access to the community forums will still be available as well.The following will no longer be included in Fusion 360 for personal use:For more information about how and why we made these decisions, here’s a blog post , where you can read more about our rationale, and learn more details about the changes to the Fusion 360 for personal use in its entirety.While these cuts may seem significant, we thought through the impact these changes would have and how they should have an impact on those using Fusion 360 to run a business, while letting true personal users continue to imagine, design, and make as usual.Removing rapid moves means that all toolpaths will use High Feed, where the maximum feedrate for linking moves is the cut feedrate. The ability to decrease the feedrate of linking moves exists if it's needed but the ability to raise the high feed value above the cut feedrate is removed.For those with small consumer grade machines, this will likely not have a significant impact on the total cycle time. With a large machine and a high rapid feed, the rapid codes will no longer be in the posted code.Removing automatic tool changes means the inability to post operations that use more than one tool. Posting multiple operations is still available, so long as they all use the same tool. This means that if the program uses multiple tools, each section has to be an individual post.For many without automatic tool changers, this likely changes very little in workflow. If there is an automatic tool changer in the machine being used, it can still be used, but the tool change codes won’t be in the posted code.To generate code including automatic tool changes and rapid moves, subscribe to Fusion 360 Yes! FFF additive, or additive for most consumer grade plastic printers, is available for personal use. Learn more about using FFF additive in Fusion. For higher end additive manufacturing, including metal additive and some SLA processes, a subscription to Fusion 360 as well as a subscription to the additive extension needs to be purchased. Continue to the next section to learn how to access extension features.All extensions require a subscription to Fusion 360. Our intention with extensions is to offer deeper functionality beyond the tools included in Fusion 360 without the high cost of most specialty pieces of software and flexible access means that subscribers only pay for the tools needed, and when they are needed. The specialized functionality that extensions offer are outside the scope of what a personal user needs. So, we are limiting access to extensions to startups, education, and those with a Fusion 360 subscription.Generated toolpaths using functionality that’s no longer accessible for personal use, are still accessible and can still post process those toolpaths. However, no changes can be made to them. To make changes, subscribe to Fusion 360 (and the appropriate extension, if necessary).

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FAQ - Product and Data Usage Questions

What does this mean if I want to export a file from Fusion 360 for personal use?

Personal use can still export select file types for non-commercial use. The exports will still give the ability to 3D print, CNC, and render in external software.

Can I still export DXFs and how do I do it?

DXFs can be exported, but only from a sketch. To do this, right click on the sketch in the browser and choose ‘Save as DXF. For more information, review How to Save Sketch as a DXF.

Can I still print a drawing?

Yes, there is still an ability to print an active drawing.

What happens to my previous drawings that had multi-sheets?

What if I currently have more than 10 active documents?

Existing documents with multiple drawing sheets will be able to view and edit the existing sheets, but no new sheets can be created in that same document. All the documents will be made non-editable but will remain in their current projects/folders. Documents can be filtered between active and inactive. Only a max of 10 documents are editable at one time.

How do I continue to work with the 10 active document limit?

When 10 documents is reached, to add another, make another active document non-editable.

Do I still have the ability to use ‘offline’ mode?

Yes, personal use has the ability to work offline.

What happens to my simulation and generative design studies?

Results can still be seen from these studies that have been run in the past. Studies can't be re-run. All previous Generative Design outcomes can be viewed, but the results are unable to be exported.

What changed with the design tools?

Standard design tools will remain. Edit-in-Place is no longer part of Fusion 360 for personal use. Click here for more information on Edit-in-Place.

Can I still 3D print from Fusion 360?

Yes. The ability to export a non-commercial Fusion 360 design as an STL or OBJ format to use with a third-party slicer is available. There is also access to FFF Additive in the Manufacturing workspace to print directly from Fusion 360.

If I am using Fusion 360 for personal use, will my data still be stored in the cloud?

Yes, all data is still stored in the cloud and can be accessed from any computer logged into.

Do I still get updates to Fusion 360?

Yes. Regular product updates with new features, fixes, and performance enhancements, given that the installed Fusion 360 application is running on supported OS versions and meet the system requirements. Click here for more information on the system requirements.

Future enhancements to Fusion 360

With each update to the Fusion 360 platform, advanced functionality is added. Some of these new advanced functionalities will not be available for the personal version of Fusion 360.

What can I do with my existing purchased cloud credits?

Please reach out to a representative for assistance on how to proceed here.

What if I signed up for the personal offering but I should have signed up for the educational offering?

Please visit our Fusion 360 for Educational Use site here.

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knowledge.autodesk.com - Changes to Fusion 360 for personal use - Autodesk Knowledge Network

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