Sketchup

Free web app – https://www.sketchup.com/products/sketchup-free

Student version – https://www.sketchup.com/buy/resellers-educational

Pros of Sketchup

• Free
• Web application (browser based)
• Very versatile
• Easy to learn
• Exports .stl
• Freehand any shape
• Huge “3D Warehouse” of pre built objects that can be easily modified
• Premium version has many third-party plugins and more tools
  • Pro license – $695
  • Student license – $49

Cons of Sketchup

• Can be laggy (Depending on computer, may requires faster hardware)
• Low polycount
• More advance techniques are possible, but not intuitive
• Faces might be deleted easily, which will cause 3D printing errors (have to be very attentive)
• Only imports .skp files

Recommended Tutorials

Official “Getting Started” Playlist – Playlist

3D Printing with Sketchup on Lynda!