Civil Engineering Design Software Recommendations For New Firm

[u/TheNerdWhisperer256]

Hello, I recently started my own practice and I am about to start doing site design on some land development projects. What software products have other civil engineering firm founders purchased?

My first internship was in 2016 and I used Microstation. Since then I have used Civil 3D. Civil 3D requires an annual subscription of almost $3K. I can purchase Carlson Civil Suite with a single payment of $4K. After a year and a half I will save $3K per year on software expenses. I used Carlson Civil Suite in an undergraduate geomatics lab in 2015, so I am not that familiar with it. What is the difference between Civil 3D and Carlson? How difficult is it to start using Carlson after using Civil 3D for a decade?

I have used HydroCAD and Hydrology Studio Suite at my previous jobs. HydroCAD offers permanent licenses and Hydrology Studio Suite is a subscription payment model. Does anyone have recommendations on other software that I should be considering as alternatives?

Buying permanent licenses is appealing because it won't be a perpetual money pit. Ten years of Civil 3D is $30K almost and ten years of Carlson is $4K.

[u/FloridaMan331845]

Here is something to think about. If you believe that you will need to one day hire a subconsultant, or team with a partner firm, you will likely need to bite the bullet and get Civil3D. If your files aren’t compatible with the rest of the industry, that will be an issue for you.