Comparison
Vectorworks Spotlight vs 3D Event Builder
We built this because we were paying for Spotlight and using about a tenth of it. If you are doing the same, this page is for you. If you are not, the honest answer is below too.
What it costs
| Plan | Month to month | Or a year up front |
|---|---|---|
| Vectorworks Spotlight | $170.00/mo | $127.50/mo — $1,530.00 at once |
| Spotlight + ConnectCAD | $204.00/mo | $152.50/mo — $1,830.00 at once |
| Spotlight + Entertainment Bundle | $315.00/mo | $235.83/mo — $2,830.00 at once |
| 3D Event Builder — Basic | $9.99/mo | no year to buy |
| 3D Event Builder — Pro | $29.99/mo | no year to buy |
| 3D Event Builder — Team | $79.99/mo | no year to buy |
Month to month, Spotlight is $170 and our Basic is $9.99. Their cheaper figure is a year bought up front — $1,530 handed over on the day you sign, before you have drawn anything.
We do not sell a year, at a discount or otherwise. Every plan is month to month, cancel in one click from inside the app, and a month you do not use is a month you do not buy. Our Team plan — unlimited collaborators, everyone on the same drawings — is $79.99 a month against Spotlight's $170 for one seat.
What Vectorworks does that we do not
| Feature | Spotlight | 3D Event Builder |
|---|---|---|
| Rigging load analysis (Braceworks) | Add-on | No |
| AV signal flow (ConnectCAD) | Add-on | No |
| Lighting paperwork, patch, instrument schedules | Yes | No |
| Full architectural drafting and BIM | Yes | No |
| Decades of plugins and a trained labour pool | Yes | No |
| DWG in and out for architects and venues | Yes | No |
| Photoreal rendering | Yes | AI concept images only |
That list is not short, and it is not going to get much shorter. Spotlight is a CAD platform with an entertainment layer on it. We are not building a CAD platform.
What we do that it does not
| Feature | Spotlight | 3D Event Builder |
|---|---|---|
| Runs in a browser, nothing to install | No | Yes |
| Works on an iPad | Desktop app | Yes |
| Opens on a machine that is not yours | Licensed seat | Any browser |
| Real part numbers from real catalogues | Generic symbols | Yes |
| Pull sheet counts itself from the drawing | Report, configured | Yes |
| Share a show with a client by link | Export a file | Yes |
| Learn it in an afternoon | Weeks | Yes |
The part numbers are the real difference
A truss stick in our library is a specific truss stick, with its own part number, its own length and its own connection points. Join two and they either mate or they do not. So when the drawing is done, the pull sheet is already done — it counted itself off the parts, not off a legend somebody remembered to keep up to date.
That is also why we will tell you a wall does not fit. The LED wall calculator and the power calculator are the same arithmetic, pulled out where anybody can use them without signing up.
Who should stay on Vectorworks
- You produce lighting paperwork — plots, patch, instrument schedules.
- You need Braceworks for rigging loads, or ConnectCAD for signal flow.
- You trade DWGs with architects, venues or scenic shops.
- Your crew already knows it. Retraining costs more than the licence.
Who should try us
- You lay out truss, video walls, stages and rigging, and you mostly need it to be right and counted.
- You are paying for a CAD platform to do a layout job.
- You want the person on site to open the drawing on an iPad.
- You want a client to see the show without installing anything.
Also worth reading
If you are weighing up SketchUp rather than proper event CAD, the SketchUp comparison is the other side of this.
Try it
Seven days free. It runs in a browser, so there is nothing to install and nothing to uninstall if you do not like it. The trial asks for a card and nothing is charged during it; cancel in one click from inside the app. Start a drawing.