Gate Design Software for Fabricators

Most gate shops draw the same few gates over and over. A pedestrian gate. A pair of swing gates. A sliding gate. The style changes, the sizes change, but the shape does not. That matters when you pick software, because a tool built to draw anything is not always the fastest way to draw a gate.

This guide compares the tools fabricators actually use to design gates. Every claim about another product was checked on that company's own website in October 2026. CAD60 is in here too, as one option, with what it cannot do written down plainly.

What should gate design software do for a fab shop?

Forget features for a minute. A gate drawing has one job: get the gate built right the first time. For that, the sheet needs:

• A front orthographic view with the overall size and the clear opening.
• Every tube called up by size and wall, like 50x50x3 SHS or 65x35 RHS.
• Infill spacing, hinge and latch positions, and the post and footing.
• A cutting list so the saw hand does not have to work it out.
• A title block with your business, the job and the customer.

Some jobs also need a file for a laser or CNC machine. Others need a picture the customer can sign off. The right software is the one that gets you those things with the least time at the desk. The full checklist is in what to include on a gate fabrication drawing.

What kinds of gate design software are there?

Three kinds, and they work in very different ways.

1. General CAD. SketchUp, Autodesk Fusion, AutoCAD LT, Onshape and FreeCAD. You draw lines, faces or solids yourself. It can draw any gate, any shape. It also takes the longest to learn and the longest per job.
2. Supplier configurators. A parts maker gives you a free tool that builds a gate from its own range. Quick, but locked to those parts. More on these in gate drawing configurators.
3. Gate drawing generators. You pick a gate type and type your sizes. The software draws the full set. CAD60 works this way. Fast for the gates it knows. No use for a shape it does not have.

There is also structural detailing software like Tekla Structures. It is built for building frames and big projects. It can do gates, but it is a lot of tool for a small gate shop.

How do the main gate design tools compare?

Checked on each vendor's own site in October 2026. "Free option" means a free plan exists, not that it allows business use. Read the last column.

Prices move, so check each site. At the time of writing (October 2026), the Australian Autodesk site listed AutoCAD LT from A$66 a month and Fusion at A$985 a year.

When is general CAD the right call?

When the gate is a one-off. A curved top, a scroll pattern, a gate that has to match an old one, a frame that wraps a post at an odd angle. General CAD has no idea what a gate is, which is exactly why it can draw anything.

The cost is time. In any general CAD tool you:

• Draw every stile, rail and batten as its own part.
• Place every dimension yourself.
• Count the battens and work out the gaps yourself.
• Redo a good part of it when the customer changes the width.

Templates and components help. A good SketchUp user can turn a gate around quickly. But someone has to learn the tool first, and that learning is the real cost for most small shops. If you are weighing two of them, see Fusion 360 vs SketchUp for fabrication.

Are supplier gate configurators worth using?

For the right job, yes. A supplier configurator is a free web tool from a parts maker. You pick a template, change the size and the parts, and it shows you the gate.

F.H. Brundle in the UK is a good example. Its Brundle Design Studio is a free ironwork design tool for gates, railings and balustrades, built from Brundle's standard wrought iron parts. You can print a design or email it to a customer. Its site does not say it makes dimensioned shop drawings or a cutting list.

That is the catch with most configurators. They are built to sell parts, so they stop at a picture or a quote. They are great for showing a customer a style. They are not a fabrication drawing.

Where does CAD60 fit, and what can it not do?

CAD60 is a gate drawing generator that runs in your browser. You pick a model, like a battened pedestrian gate or a cantilever sliding gate, and type your sizes. It builds a 3D model and draws the full set: front, side, top and isometric views, detail sheets, every dimension and a cutting list. Drawings in 60 seconds. Change the width and it redraws.

Paid users also get a STEP file and their own logo in the title block.

Now the limits, because they matter:

• It only draws models in its catalogue. Gates, fences, pool fences, screens and balustrades. If your gate is not a model, CAD60 cannot draw it.
• It is not general CAD. You cannot sketch a new shape or move a line by hand.
• DXF only on sheet models. The decorative sheet models give a DXF cut file. For other laser parts, you import the STEP file into other CAD and export DXF from there. See DXF vs DWG vs STEP.
• The free plan is for looking. Free users see a watermarked preview of their own sizes. Clean downloads of your own sizes are on the paid plan. Details are on the pricing page.

On the paid plan, CAD60 will build a model you make that is not in the catalogue, at no extra cost. That helps, but it is not the same as drawing it yourself today.

How do you choose the right gate design software?

Ask yourself four questions.

1. How often do your gates repeat? If most jobs are the same few types at new sizes, a drawing generator saves the most time. If every job is a one-off, you need general CAD.
2. Who will do the drawing? If nobody in the shop knows CAD, pick something you can use today. Learning FreeCAD or Fusion takes weeks of evenings.
3. Who reads the drawing? A welder needs sizes and a cutting list. A builder or a strata manager wants a clean printed set. A laser cutter wants a file.
4. Is it for business use? Several free plans are non-commercial only. Read the terms before you quote a paying job off one.

Common questions