DriveWorks Solo vs Pro: which one do you need?

Choose DriveWorks Solo when one engineer, sitting in SOLIDWORKS, wants to stop redrawing variants of the same product. Choose DriveWorks Pro when anyone other than that engineer needs to use the result: sales, a dealer, a customer in a browser, or another business system. The dividing line is who fills in the form and where the output goes, not how complicated the product is.

The short version

Question	Solo	Pro
Who fills in the form?	The engineer, inside SOLIDWORKS	Anyone: desktop users, or a browser through DriveWorks Live
Where are models generated?	On that engineer's machine, straight away	There, or queued and generated unattended by Autopilot
Where does data come from?	Tables stored in the project	Those, plus SQL Server, ODBC sources, and web services
Who can log in?	No users or teams	Users, teams, permissions, single sign-on
What comes out besides CAD?	Quote and BOM documents from built-in templates	Fully custom documents, HTML email, XML, PDF, data pushed to other systems

Source for every row: the DriveWorks feature comparison.

What Solo does well

Solo is not a cut-down toy. Compared with the free DriveWorksXpress it has the things that make design automation practical:

A real form designer, with multiple forms, dynamic navigation, and controls that show, hide, and validate by rule.
Tables in rules. Tabular data, pasted from Excel if you like, can drive rules.
Control of files. Rules set the names and locations of new models and drawings, and one project can drive several sets of models.
Drawings that come out finished. Multiple drawings per part or assembly, with control of sheets, views, annotations, and dimension positions.
More than dimensions. Materials, colors, textures, instances, component replacement, and advanced feature properties such as Hole Wizard, sheet metal, and weldments.
Extra file formats from models and drawings: STEP, STL, PDF, DXF, and others.
On-demand preview, which updates the model while you are still specifying.

If the person who knows the product is also the person who will run the configurator, Solo is the right answer more often than people expect.

What only Pro can do

These are the capabilities marked Pro-only in the DriveWorks comparison. Each one is a reason people upgrade.

Other people can use it. Pro has shared groups with users, teams, and granular permissions. Solo has no security model.
A browser front end. DriveWorks Live serves the same forms in a browser, for sales, dealers, or customers, with 3D preview.
Unattended generation. Autopilot generates models, drawings, and documents on a server, so nobody's SOLIDWORKS seat is tied up while a quote's drawings are built.
Live data. Rules can read from and write to SQL Server and ODBC sources, and call web services. That is the basis of ERP integration.
Workflow. Specification flow controls who can do what and when: quote, approve, release.
Project hierarchy. A specification can run inside another, which is how an order with several configured line items is built.
Macros and generative tasks. Pro can run SOLIDWORKS macros and create features, mates, and configurations during generation.
Custom documents and email. Word, Excel, XML, and HTML email with attachments, all from rules.
Debugging tools. Specification Test Mode and rule profiling exist only in Pro.
PDM and an API. SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional check-in, a documented SDK, and plugins.

Pro is a set of modules, not one program: Administrator to build, User and Live to fill in forms, Autopilot to generate. You buy the modules the job needs.

How to decide

Ask three questions.

Does anyone outside engineering need to run it? If sales still sends a request and waits for an engineer to fill in the form, the configurator has automated the drawing and none of the waiting. That needs Pro.
Does the answer need to go somewhere? If the quote, BOM, or order has to land in an ERP, CRM, or database without retyping, that needs Pro.
Does generation need to happen without a person watching? Queued, overnight, or triggered by another system means Autopilot, which is Pro.

Three "no" answers mean Solo will do the job. One "yes" means Pro, either now or as the planned next step.

Starting in Solo and moving up

Starting in Solo is not a dead end. DriveWorks Pro can import a Solo project: the New Project wizard has an "Import DriveWorks Solo Project" option that creates a Pro project from it and copies across the folders you choose. The rules, forms, and captured models carry over.

What does not carry over is the design. A project built for one engineer on one machine usually needs rework before a salesperson can use it in a browser: validation that assumes less knowledge, file locations on a server, and a decision about who may see prices. Budget for that, and the upgrade is routine.

Where Xpress fits

DriveWorksXpress is included in every seat of SOLIDWORKS and is the place to prove that one model can be driven by rules. It stops well short of Solo. What DriveWorksXpress cannot do covers the limits and the signs you have outgrown it.

Common questions

What is the difference between DriveWorks Solo and DriveWorks Pro?

DriveWorks Solo is design automation for one engineer working inside SOLIDWORKS. DriveWorks Pro adds shared groups with users and teams, browser access through DriveWorks Live, unattended generation with Autopilot, live connections to SQL Server, ODBC sources, and web services, workflow, and an API.

Can DriveWorks Solo be used by a sales team?

Not in practice. Solo runs as an add-in inside SOLIDWORKS, has no users or teams, and has no browser front end. A configurator for sales, dealers, or customers needs DriveWorks Pro.

Can a DriveWorks Solo project be upgraded to Pro?

Yes. DriveWorks Pro has an import option for Solo projects in its New Project wizard. Rules, forms, and captured models carry over.

Does DriveWorks Solo connect to an ERP or a database?

No. Solo uses tables stored inside the project. Reading and writing SQL Server or ODBC data, calling web services, and using the API are DriveWorks Pro features.

Is there a free trial of DriveWorks Solo?

Yes. DriveWorks offers a free 30-day trial of Solo. DriveWorksXpress is free permanently, as part of SOLIDWORKS.

How much do DriveWorks Solo and Pro cost?

DriveWorks does not publish prices. Both are sold through authorized SOLIDWORKS resellers, and Pro is priced by module.