CadStd is a general purpose, easy to learn CAD/drafting program for creating professional quality mechanical designs, house plans, CadStd.com What others are saying about CadStd
is a free, lightweight, and user-friendly 2D computer-aided design (CAD) program designed specifically for Windows, catering to beginners, hobbyists, students, and professionals needing simple drafting capabilities. It is developed by Apperson & Daughters and acts as the free counterpart to the company's "CadStd Pro" version, offering a streamlined interface to create technical drawings, mechanical designs, and floor plans. Core Capabilities and Features
The software was developed by Apperson & Daughters and was ported to Windows 95 in the late 1990s. CadStd-Lite---Tech-eXe
Lite provides 4 levels of undo, compared to 250 in Pro.
Includes standard snapping options (intersection, tangent, center, endpoint, midpoint, perpendicular) and basic edit functions. CadStd is a general purpose, easy to learn
Reads drawings created by the Pro version and can read/write industry-standard DXF files (revision 12), allowing for easy sharing with other CAD software like AutoCAD .
Students learning CAD, homeowners designing a home project, and professionals creating quick, simple layouts. Lite provides 4 levels of undo, compared to 250 in Pro
Designed for quick learning, avoiding the complexity of higher-end, expensive CAD programs. CadStd Lite vs. Pro (2026 Context)