Does AutoCAD run on Linux?

Verdict: Partly

Partly. Full AutoCAD is Windows only and Autodesk's 2026 system requirements list no other desktop operating system. AutoCAD Web runs in a Linux browser, but it is a smaller product and it is paid.

AutoCAD by Autodesk · Design, CAD & 3D · Only some of it works

Autodesk's published system requirements for AutoCAD 2026 list 64-bit Windows 11 and Windows 10 and nothing else, and the program leans on DirectX, which is a Windows graphics system. There is a separate AutoCAD for Mac, but no Linux build has ever existed and none is coming. Do not try to force the installed version through a compatibility layer for paid work.

AutoCAD Web is the part that changes the answer. Autodesk sells it from about nine US dollars a month, and it is included with an AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT subscription. It runs in an ordinary browser, opens your .dwg files from cloud storage or your own drive, and gives you what Autodesk calls core AutoCAD commands. That is real AutoCAD editing real .dwg files on a Linux machine. It is also clearly less than the desktop program, with no add-ons, no LISP routines and a reduced toolset, so check the feature list against what you actually do.

Your drawings are the thing to handle before you switch. The .dwg format is closed, and FreeCAD's own documentation explains it needs an outside converter such as GNU LibreDWG to read one at all, with some drawing elements still missing. Free Linux CAD programs work in DXF instead, which AutoCAD can save to. Export everything you care about to DXF while you still have AutoCAD running.

Then be realistic about the free alternatives. LibreCAD and QCAD are decent 2D drafting programs and will feel familiar in shape, but they are not AutoCAD and your command habits will not carry over. FreeCAD is capable and free, and it is a 3D parametric modeller rather than a drafting program, so it is a change of trade rather than a change of tool.

What to use instead of AutoCAD

QCAD

Close matchFree with paid extras

The tidiest 2D drafting program on Linux and the nearest in feel to AutoCAD LT. Free community edition, with a one-off paid add-on for extra tools.

Your files: Works in DXF. The paid professional add-on handles .dwg, so reading your old drawings may cost money.

LibreCAD

Close matchFree

Free 2D drafting laid out along traditional lines. Simpler than QCAD and enough for plans, layouts and dimensioned drawings.

Your files: DXF is its native format. No .dwg support, so convert before you leave Windows.

FreeCAD

Different way of workingFree

Free and capable, but it is a 3D parametric modeller, not a drafting program. Treat it as learning a new trade rather than swapping tools.

Your files: Opens DXF, STEP, IGES and SVG. .dwg needs an extra converter and still misses some elements.

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