3DPrinting

Depending on your system I think, I have been using Sketchup 2017 (whatever the last free version was they released) for years to make 3D models for all kinds of purposes, incl 3D printing. For my brain it has proven to be the most intuitive tool to learn, it’s been a really long time so maybe I have forgotten but I feel like the barrier to entry was pretty small. There is a lot of content out there from people giving tips and tutorials. There are plug-ins still flooding around that have really good functionality. I use it with a Connexion 3D Space Navigator mouse that’s prob 10+ years old. That’s been a godsend and adds so much efficiency and flow to the tool.

I don’t know if you can still download it from Trimble but there are sources for it elsewhere.

Have fun, whatever you choose.

I use a free version of sketchup make from 2008. You can still find it out there on the internet for download.

Sadly, the CAD software I have the most experience with is SolidWorks. It has its quirks, but I like it and I know my way around.
Which is too bad, because it's completely absolutely fucking stupidly expensive for any home use.

Not to mention I've heard stories of people getting caugth through exported models' metadata and getting sued for publishing models made with pirated or student versions or whatnot.
I'm not even a business and whilr I have no moral qualms pirating software, I don't exactly wanna deal with an actively hostile company either.

I've switched to onshape for now, but I know enshittification will eventually butcher it too.
There's a few others I've tried that I either can't get good at, or that simply lack functionality.

I've been meaning to try Alibre CAD, but last I checked, their trial thing required back and forth with a rep and I just never bothered.

I don't even mind paying, yet not $5k yearly or some shit.
If you ever find something, ping me.

I really don't understand why people have so much trouble with FreeCAD. It does everything the other software does, it just crashes on occasion.

Alibre is the only perpetual affordable license CAD software I’m aware of unless you want to use student/hobbyist versions of other software.

I saw a bit ago that blended has an addon or plugin or something that adds parametric functions

I think I got the impression it's less powerful that proper parametric cad or something, but I figured I'd mention it in case that makes it a more viable option for you!

I've been using Solid Edge. Siemens offers a free community edition that works great if you want to create models for 3d printing. I originally used FreeCAD, and while it works, had problems with models breaking when trying to make changes. Solid Edge is much more professional, easy to use, with pretty much all the features available that you could want. The only drawback for me is that it only runs on Windows. Tried going back to FreeCAD since it has the new 1.0 release and will run on Linux, but it felt too awkward. Now I have a dual boot system with Windows solely to run CAD software.

I will be blunt. If you are as bad at math and spatial reasoning as you say, then CAD probably isn't for you. You will always find it difficult and unrewarding. Design and engineering require a mindset you might not have.

As far as "cheap and easy and professional" CAD they ALL require effort to learn and money to gain entry for commercial versions. CAD is a skill and skills require effort to acquire. And it sounds as if you have no desire to put in very much effort.

For a CAD program to meet your want of cheap and simple, (professional means a lot of money and takes more than a few minutes of effort), look at TinkerCAD. It's free and simple enough that I teach that to 5th and 6th grade students well enough for them to make simple objects. Ain't nothing wrong with starting there and learning how to think about design and CAD before you might try and step into more demanding software.

I haven’t used it but there is also tinkercad

I tried using FreeCAD 5 or 10 years ago, and it was painful. I had access to Inventor, so I used that for the limited work I was doing. Later, I heard of some build/pack/whatever that removed a lot of pain from the FreeCAD workflow, but I can't remember what it was called and I wasn't doing CAD work any more. Trying to find that led me to this, though:

Ondsel ES Look

Also, I found a video on YouTube that appears to go through the same steps. Here it is.

I'm not sure it that will solve your problems, but the 20 minute video should answer that question for you.

I use alibre, it’s a one time purchase

RS Design Spark?

I haven't used it in a few years but I remember it being alright for hobby stuff.

Solidworks has a cheap maker version. You can save locally. It's always been shit, so it can't get enshittified /s.

Pirated inventor is good. Fully local, used by lots of people. Free when obtained on the high seas

The problem is that Parametric CAD kernels are complicated and expensive. There are some recent open source efforts but they are slow going. Just look at how bad Freecad is after all these years to see how difficult they are.

I'm quite experienced with SolidWorks and have used both Creo and NX as well. I can't stand the likes of Freecad or Fusion because of that. Luckily I have access to the professional ones for my day to day modelling.

One option to look at is Solid Edge, they have a maker version that is free and it's a proper professional package many companies use.

I'm looking for the same thing for electromagnetic FEA. Besides Ansys or Comsol, both of which are unattainable for hobbyists, there're really no options.

I got a 3d printer about a year ago and looked into CAD software and came to the exact same conclusion you just did. I ended up using Plasticity. I thiink I paid $150 for a year of updates. But there are still two major drawbacks: first is it's not parametric, as you said, but more importantly you can't import stls and edit them. You can export stls, but you have to make them from scratch. You can technically import an stl but it's impossible to edit. Oftentimes I find a design online but I want to tweak it to my purposes but I can't do that.

I'd love it if Free CAD had a better UI. It's just so frustrating and hideous to use.