Comparison

eDrawings vs STL Simple Viewer

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

eDrawings

View native CAD files, including SolidWorks, DWG, and DXF, on your mobile device. Utilize augmented reality to visualize 3D models in real-world settings. Easily share designs via email for enhanced collaboration.

Highlights
  • View native CAD files (SolidWorks, DWG, DXF)
  • Augmented Reality (AR) for 3D model visualization
  • Email-enabled file sharing for collaboration
  • Multi-touch gestures for navigation
  • Support for configurations, drawing sheets, and exploded views
  • Open files from various sources (email, cloud, web)
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

eDrawings® is the only CAD viewer on iPad, iPad mini, iPhone and iPod Touch that allows you to view native eDrawings files as well as native SolidWorks® parts, assemblies and drawings files. In addition, eDrawings allows convenient viewing of DWG and DXF files. eDrawings includes Augmented Reality (AR). This allows you to view your 3D models in 1:1 scale into the real world. By simply activating the device’s camera, you can bring your virtual 3D designs in a real context and see them in situ, sitting on your desk or on your conference room table or even in the palm of your hand, through your iPad, Pad mini, iPhone or iPod Touch’s screen. Move around the room and see your design from any perspective. eDrawings is the email-enabled communication tool that dramatically eases sharing of product design information. You can load and send files via email to collaborate more effectively with everyone involved in product development, including people who are not regular CAD software users to interpret and understand 2D and 3D designs. Multi-touch gestures let you pan, zoom, and rotate models easily. eDrawings also supports configurations, drawing sheets, and exploded views for eDrawings files published from SolidWorks® and all other supported CAD software. Features: * Intuitive and easy-to-use user interface * Visualize your 3D models in real context with Augmented Reality (AR) * Open 3D (EASM, EPRT, SLDASM, SLDPRT, IGES, IGS, JT, STEP, STP, IFC), 2D (EDRW, SLDDRW, DWG, DXF) and associated files from any source: email attachments, cloud storage services (Dropbox™, SkyDrive®, Google Drive, YouSendIt®, and others), web and FTP sites, networks, and iTunes® File Sharing. * Zoom, pan and rotate your 2D or 3D CAD data using multi-touch * Animate 3D standard views as well as 2D drawing views. * Browse your assembly components tree, configurations and drawing sheets * View your designs in full screen and double tap to fit it on screen * Adapt the scale of your 3D model in AR mode * Freeze the background in AR mode with viewpoint lock to prolong AR experience without holding up your device. * Sample files included For more information, visit: http://www.edrawingsviewer.com

About

STL Simple Viewer

Easily view and interact with 3D STL CAD models. Supports various file types and offers advanced rendering options for detailed analysis. Get model information and explore interiors with clipping planes.

Highlights
  • View ASCII and Binary STL files
  • Load STL from ZIP
  • Rotate, pan, and zoom
  • Orthogonal and Perspective modes
  • Model info (triangle count, bounding box)
  • Rendering options (faces, edges, transparency)
  • Clipping plane for interiors
Features
Read full description

STL Simple Viewer is a great app to quickly view STL, 3MF & DXF 3D files and export them to the most commonly used CAD formats. Features: - Supports STL files both ASCII and Binary formats. - Supports 3MF & DXF files. - Load files directly from ZIP archives. - Export to DXF, OBJ, DAE, PLY, USD, STL & 3MF. - Measure distances between points within your model. - Rotate, pan, and zoom models with intuitive touch controls. - Configure rendering options: faces, edges, points, background and transparency. - Render using a clipping plane (useful for viewing model interiors). - View models in Orthographic or Perspective mode. - Obtain model information including triangle count, bounding box, surface area, and volume. Privacy Policy: https://www.boviosoft.com/apps/privacy.html Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ For support or questions: support@boviosoft.com

Screenshots

eDrawings3 screens
STL Simple Viewer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: STL Simple Viewer at Free against eDrawings's $1.99. STL Simple Viewer also leads on rating (4.3 vs 2.5) and ratings volume (909 vs 17). eDrawings's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4) and ads (none vs shown). On update cadence, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

STL Simple Viewer is free to download; eDrawings costs $1.99 up front. STL Simple Viewer sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days. eDrawings asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

STL Simple Viewer holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 2.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: STL Simple Viewer has 909 ratings behind it against 17, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 32% of eDrawings's written reviews are positive against 18% of STL Simple Viewer's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

eDrawings ships an update every 3 months, STL Simple Viewer every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
eDrawings versus STL Simple Viewer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParametereDrawingsSTL Simple Viewer
Price$1.99Free — better
Rating2.5 (17 ratings)4.3 (909 ratings) — better
Positive reviews32.0% of reviews — better18.1% of reviews
Number of ratings17909 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 months — betterEvery 5 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#33 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size185 MB19 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDassault Systemes SolidWorks CorporationVictor Bovio

Customer experience

eDrawings

All ratings17 ratings
Positive35.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative64.7%
Written reviews247 reviews
Positive32.0%
Neutral13.4%
Negative54.7%

STL Simple Viewer

All ratings909 ratings
Positive80.3%
Neutral4.5%
Negative15.2%
Written reviews166 reviews
Positive18.1%
Neutral11.4%
Negative70.5%

User reviews

eDrawings

From 17 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Smooth rotation and zoom
  • 👍 Sleek and intuitive interface
  • 🚀 Handles large assemblies well
  • 👍 Practical for quick checks

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes on larger files
  • 🔍 Lacks key features like measuring, sectioning, and part visibility control
  • 💰 Paid app with limited functionality compared to free desktop version
  • 🐛 Compatibility issues with newer file formats and devices

STL Simple Viewer

From 909 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Simple and intuitive viewer
  • 👍 Useful viewing options
  • 💡 Supports multiple file formats

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes
  • 🔋 High battery consumption
  • 🚨 Excessive and intrusive ads
  • 🔍 Limited functionality for larger files

Bugs and requests

eDrawings

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Crashes on startup
  • Crashes when opening large files
  • Incompatibility with iOS 14 and newer devices
  • Inability to open personal files

Requested features

6 requests
  • Measuring tool
  • Sectioning tool
  • Ability to hide/show parts
  • Support for more file formats
  • Cloud storage integration
Show 1 more
  • Annotation and markup tools

STL Simple Viewer

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App crashes when opening larger STL files
  • Inability to open some file formats
  • Ads continue to appear even after paying for ad removal

Requested features

3 requests
  • Add ability to save color/lighting settings
  • Improve stability and reduce crashes
  • Provide an ad-free paid version

In-app purchases

None

eDrawings

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

STL Simple Viewer

Subscriptions2
  • Pro version (1 week plan)$0.997 Days
  • Pro version (1 month plan)3 Days trial$1.991 Month
One-time2
  • Remove Ads$2.99
  • Export Pack$3.99

Questions

Is eDrawings free?
eDrawings costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is STL Simple Viewer free?
STL Simple Viewer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, eDrawings or STL Simple Viewer?
STL Simple Viewer is rated higher. eDrawings averages 2.5 out of 5 from 17 ratings, while STL Simple Viewer averages 4.3 from 909 ratings.
Do eDrawings or STL Simple Viewer have ads?
STL Simple Viewer shows ads; eDrawings does not.
Which is updated more often, eDrawings or STL Simple Viewer?
eDrawings ships an update every 3 months, and STL Simple Viewer every 5 months. Most recently, eDrawings was updated on October 19, 2026 and STL Simple Viewer on October 16, 2026.

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