Autodesk recently announced their Fusion 360 Hobbyist/Startup subscription has been replaced with Fusion 360 for personal use and Fusion 360 for startups . While both new subscriptions remain free, the details for eligibility and qualification have been clarified and should be encouraging to any who might be looking to tap into a this well-established yet burgeoning product.
Of course, eligibility for Fusion 360 for personal use includes any individuals doing home-based non-commercial manufacturing and fabrication, but eligibility might be especially interesting to those who engage in a “Hobby Business”. The qualification details state if you are generating less than $1,000 USD in annual revenue, then you are exempt from the non-commercial requirement. In other words, if you are making less than $1,000 USD a year in your hobby business, then you are eligible to use Fusion 360 for personal use. And if your public-facing web content generates more than $1,000 USD in annual revenue, then Autodesk would love to explore partnership opportunities with you.
Eligibility for Fusion 360 for startups is a bit more predictable, but again with greater clarity of definition. Businesses with 10 or fewer employees, and generating (including parent entities) less than $100,000 UDS in total annual revenue are the basics for eligibility. However it also requires your business to have venture-backed, angel-backed, or bootstrap startup status.
In the six years since its release in November 2012, these interesting adjustments to the Fusion 360 business model foster genuine opportunities for many more to use the product. Both the Fusion 360 for personal use and Fusion 360 for startups are available for a 1-year term, and approval is required for renewal. Also, with the Fusion 360 commercial subscription at $495 / year still being a very reasonable option, the other major CAD platforms should be taking notice.
