What is Creo?

Creo is the 3D CAD solution that helps you accelerate product innovation to build better products faster. Easy to learn, Creo uses a model-based approach to seamlessly take you from the earliest phases of product design to manufacturing, and beyond. Creo combines powerful, proven functionality with new technologies, including generative design, real-time simulation, advanced manufacturing, IIoT, and augmented reality.

Read about the enhancements to Creo 10.

Creo is also available as a SaaS product, providing innovative cloud-based tools for real-time collaboration and streamlined license management and deployment.

The world of product development moves quickly, and only Creo delivers the transformative tools you need to build a competitive advantage and gain market share.

New in Creo
What are the benefits of Creo?
Creo is a fully integrated, 3D CAD solution that allows engineers to seamlessly conceptualize, design, analyze, and validate products. Creo features technologies that empower design engineers to simulate and optimize products for weight, performance, cost, and sustainability, using a wide variety of materials and manufacturing processes. These benefits can extend far beyond the engineering department, too. With a model-based approach, 2D drawings can be replaced by fully annotated 3D models that streamline manufacture, inspection, and service of parts and assemblies.
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Lower cost
Your CAD tools can help you save material, labor, and overhead costs. Leverage part optimization tools to reduce material costs. Simplify assembly processes. And use real-time simulation to minimize product failures and scrap.
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Time to market
Creo helps you build better products faster. Validate design quality early in the design cycle to avoid redesign and rework. Annotated 3D models can streamline downstream activities.
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Performance
Differentiate your products with exceptional performance. Optimize your designs for weight, reliability, and sustainability. Maximize performance using the latest additive and composite manufacturing processes.
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Lower cost
Your CAD tools can help you save material, labor, and overhead costs. Leverage part optimization tools to reduce material costs. Simplify assembly processes. And use real-time simulation to minimize product failures and scrap.
cad-time-to-market-icon-96x96
Time to market
Creo helps you build better products faster. Validate design quality early in the design cycle to avoid redesign and rework. Annotated 3D models can streamline downstream activities.
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Performance
Differentiate your products with exceptional performance. Optimize your designs for weight, reliability, and sustainability. Maximize performance using the latest additive and composite manufacturing processes.
Creo capabilities Creo capabilities

Creo capabilities

Creo provides a solid foundation of CAD capabilities to meet a wide variety of engineering needs. PTC offers several CAD packages and numerous extensions to meet your specific design requirements. Explore the breadth and depth of Creo capabilities available to you and your team.

Explore Capabilities

Creo enables the latest in design

PTC is committed to delivering continuous CAD improvement, as well as powerful new technologies for the ever-evolving world of product development.

Software as a service
Generative design
Additive manufacturing
Ansys-powered simulation

Software as a service


Creo+ combines the power and proven functionality of Creo, delivered as a SaaS product. Creo+ provides innovative cloud-based tools to enhance collaboration for engineers and streamlined license management for CAD administrators. Creo+ is compatible with on-premises versions of Creo for better interaction between engineering, manufacturing, and suppliers. 

Generative design


Generative design helps you deliver high-quality, lower-cost, manufacturable solutions, with benefits from engineering through manufacturing and service. Improve engineering productivity and time to market with rapid exploration of innovative CAD models, all within the Creo environment. Deliver your best designs in less time with Creo generative design. 

Additive manufacturing


Innovate faster with Creo additive manufacturing. Creo helps you reduce time to market, production cost, and development expense. Design, optimize, and print—all within the Creo design environment, avoiding the time-consuming, error-ridden hassle of multiple software packages. Connect easily to numerous printers and online service bureaus. Improve schedule, costs, and quality with Creo additive manufacturing.

Ansys-powered simulation


When you want real-time feedback as you design, choose Creo Simulation Live powered by Ansys. Just define a few simple conditions and the software does the rest, presenting results in real time as you edit or create features. That’s not just convenience and speed, that’s design guidance as a normal part of your workflow.
When you want a comprehensive analysis of your model while you design, choose Creo Ansys Simulation or Creo Ansys Simulation Advanced. While both are built for design refinement and validation, Creo Ansys Simulation Advanced has the added benefit of supporting use cases like nonlinear contact and nonlinear materials. Creo Ansys Simulation Advanced also allows you to run combined structural and thermal studies.

How is CAD Software Used?

Hill Helicopters masters business processes with Creo

With Creo and Windchill, Hill Helicopters took control of their data management, change control, and other business processes to produce 500 visually stunning personal helicopters per year.

Read Their Story

Cummins optimizes new product designs to prioritize sustainability

With Creo, Cummins is reducing material waste, saving time, and making engineers more productive.

Read the Case Study

CUPRA optimizes vehicle component design and manufacturing

CUPRA drives the design and manufacture of vehicle components with Creo, achieving high performance that continues to leave a mark on the racing circuits.

Read Their Story

HPE COXA brings innovation to the fast lane

The computer-aided design solution makes it easy to integrate emerging technologies into design and production

Read Their Story

Frequently asked questions

  • What companies use Creo?

    Creo has a wide variety of customers, from start-ups to Fortune 500 corporations. A truly global company, we have customers with operations on every continent and representation in nearly every major industry. Visit ptc.com/case-studies to learn more about how Creo helps customers like you solve problems every day.

  • What is Pro/ENGINEER?

    Pro/ENGINEER (Pro/E) was PTC’s original CAD solution. Pro/E was the industry’s first parametric, feature-based solid modeling CAD software, meaning that an adjustment to a single parameter would automatically update the rest of the model. Pro/E was named Technology of the Year by Industry Week in 1992.

    In 2010, Pro/E was renamed Creo, and in 2023, PTC introduced Creo 10, the latest version of this historic CAD software franchise. PTC continues to make improvements to make every day more productive, as well as introduce leading-edge simulation, generative design, and simulation technologies.

  • Is Creo easy to learn?

    PTC has invested millions of development dollars and thousands of development hours to improve the usability of Creo. The result is an intuitive CAD solution that is both powerful and easy to learn.

    PTC University provides the best-in-class, instructor-led and self-paced training courses for Creo. Our LEARN Online subscription offers unlimited virtual instructor-led classes for one low cost.

  • How is Creo better than other CAD systems?

    There are many CAD solutions available, but none of them match up to the combined benefits of Creo:

    • Parametric: PTC was the innovator of parametric modeling, and we continue to lead the way with Creo. Parametric modeling captures the design intent, not just the dimensions. When a part is changed, perhaps years later by another engineer, the original design intent is maintained, helping to ensure a quality design.
    • Integrated: Many competitive CAD systems are challenged when a part design is exported to a third-party software and then reimported. With Creo, there are so many deeply integrated design capabilities that the 3D model can be maintained throughout the design process and beyond. With Creo, the design intent and integrity of your model is maintained.
    • Powerful: Creo is recognized as a technology leader. A powerhouse in the world of model-based definition (MBD), Creo is award-winning for breakthroughs in generative design, real-time simulation, and additive manufacturing, to name a few. You may not use all of these technologies today, but Creo has them available when you need them.
    • Easy to use: PTC has invested millions of development dollars and thousands of development hours to make Creo intuitive and easy to use. PTC University offers best-in-class live and virtual, instructor-led and self-paced training courses for Creo, including certification courses and an innovative subscription-based service with unlimited virtual, instructor-led classes.
    • Scalable: Creo is competitively priced for start-ups through major enterprises. And unlike other CAD systems that have distinct CAD systems for different types of customers, Creo companies, customers, and suppliers of all sizes can share data files effortlessly.
    • The PTC family of products: Creo seamlessly integrates with PTC’s suite of market-leading industrial software solutions like Windchill PLM, ThingWorx IoT, and Vuforia AR, just to name a few.

    If you’re looking for the best in CAD solutions, you search starts and ends with Creo.

Are you part of a start-up, incubator, or accelerator?

The Creators Program for start-ups, and the Empower Program for incubators and accelerators, empower creators with Creo, our powerful 3D design and engineering platform, and much more.

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