Civil 3D subscription FAQs

Autodesk Civil 3D has been a stand-alone software product since it was released in 2005, but it was built on the AutoCAD platform and was sometimes referred to as “AutoCAD Civil 3D” by industry professionals. Civil 3D includes specialized toolsets for civil infrastructure design and geospatial analysis not available in AutoCAD, while AutoCAD has specialized toolsets for other industries that are not included in Civil 3D. To get Civil 3D and all the AutoCAD specialized toolsets, you can subscribe to the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction Collection. Learn more and compare the subscriptions.

There are many ways to learn to use Civil 3D, depending on whether you prefer to learn on your own or from a trained instructor.  

• Prepare for the Civil 3D for infrastructure design professional certification. Autodesk Certified Professional in Civil 3D for Infrastructure Design is on-demand, certification prep courses include lessons, practice exercises, challenge assignments, and assessments.
• Autodesk Learning provides online training programs on demand, including programs that prepare you for the Civil 3D certification exam.
• There are other on-demand learning resources online that you can use for self-guided learning. See below for more details.

Yes. To begin with, there are learning modules and resources available within the software that can help you build your skills and learn to use various features and toolsets. 

• Autodesk provides a number of online tutorials for Civil 3D.
• Autodesk Learning has modules and courses available to help you build your skills and proficiency with specific tasks and complete workflows in Civil 3D.
• You can learn from infrastructure leaders and Autodesk experts via recorded classes at the Autodesk University website.  

The price of a monthly Civil 3D subscription is $360/month. The price of an annual Civil 3D subscription is $2,870/year. The price of a 3-year Civil 3D subscription is $8,610. Autodesk Flex provides a pay-as-you-go option for occasional users. Flex plans start at $300 for 100 tokens with each token providing 24-hour access to Civil 3D, and you can purchase additional tokens as needed—$300 for 100 tokens or $1500 for 500 tokens. Visit Autodesk Flex to learn more. 

Yes, new users can access a free trial version of Civil 3D software for 30 days. You can cancel a free trial by turning off automatic renewal before the trial period ends. If you were not required to enter a payment method at the start of the trial, it will expire automatically. Learn more.

Yes. Students and educators can get free one-year educational access to Autodesk products and services, renewable for as long as you remain eligible. Learn more about Autodesk educational access. 

Autodesk donates software to nonprofits and startups that are using design for environmental or social good. Learn more about the Technology Impact Program.

It depends on how much you expect to use Civil 3D and for how long. If you expect to use Civil 3D intensively for a short period, a monthly subscription may be the best option. It costs slightly more per month than an annual subscription, but can be cancelled at the end of any month. If you expect to use Civil 3D intensively for 8 months or longer, then an annual subscription will be more economical. A 3-year subscription doesn’t save money compared to an annual subscription, but does lock in the cost for three years, making your subscriptions costs more predictable. If you or members of your team expect to need only occasional access, then a Flex plan may be the best choice. For $300, you receive 100 Flex tokens. Each token grants a user full access to Civil 3D for one day (24 hours) and you can share those tokens among users on your team. You can purchase additional tokens as needed, but can only use nine tokens per day. Learn more about the options. 

A subscription gives one registered user continuous access to a Civil 3D for a month or a year, depending on which subscription you choose. With Autodesk Flex, you get a minimum of 100 tokens, each good for access to Civil 3D for 24 hours. A maximum of nine tokens can be used per day by different registered users, and more tokens can be purchased each month if needed. Visit www.autodesk.com/flex to learn more. 

Yes, in most regions, you can change your subscription from monthly to annual or to a 3-year term. If there is no option to change the term in your region, you’ll need to let the original subscription expire and get a new one with a different term.  

The process to change your term depends on how you originally bought your subscription.

• If you bought your subscription online: Sign into your Autodesk Account and open the subscription details for Civil 3D. Under the Renewal Details, look for Term, and click Change. Select a new term and click Confirm. Get more details.
• If you got your subscription from an authorized Autodesk partner: Contact your partner so that they can make the change for you. To get that contact information, sign into your Autodesk Account, go to Billing and Orders and find Subscriptions and Contracts. Locate your contract and click Renew to display the partner’s name and email.  

Yes, you can buy Civil 3D for another user. Sign into the Autodesk Account used to subscribe to the software and click the Users icon. You can then enter the other user’s email address to assign software access and send an invitation to download and install Civil 3D. For more information, see Managing Users and Permissions.

Monthly and annual subscriptions provide single-user access—only one user can access, activate, and use each subscription seat. Users cannot share a seat, but you can purchase additional stand-alone licenses and then assign those seats to different users. With Flex, multiple users can share tokens that provide 24-hour access to Civil 3D. Up to 9 different users can use tokens on a given day. 

Your Civil 3D subscription gives you access to install and use the three previous versions. Available downloads are listed in your Autodesk Account after subscribing. See also previous releases available for subscribers. 

You can cancel a recently purchased subscription and may be eligible for a refund if you act within the refund window. 

• For monthly subscriptions, return within 15 days of purchase or renewal.
• For annual or 3‑year subscriptions, return within 30 days of purchase or renewal. 
• For Flex token orders, return within 30 days of purchase.  

Use the Autodesk Assistant (the icon in the lower‑right of Autodesk website pages) or contact Autodesk to request the refund. 

If you need to cancel or return a subscription you bought from the Autodesk AppStore and paid with PayPal, you must cancel the subscription through your PayPal account. 

To stop future renewals without returning the subscription, turn off auto‑renew in your Autodesk Account. Your subscription will remain active until the expiration date.

Yes, if you act within the refund window. 

• For monthly subscriptions, return within 15 days of purchase or renewal
• For annual or 3‑year subscriptions, return within 30 days of purchase or renewal. 
• For Flex token orders, return within 30 days of purchase.  

Civil 3D runs on Microsoft® Windows® 11 or Windows 10 version 1809 or above. Hardware recommendations include:  

• 3+ GHz processor (base) or 4+ GHz (turbo)
• 32 GB of memory
• 8 GB GPU display card 
• 20 GB of storage.  

See all the system requirements for Civil 3D.

With a subscription to Civil 3D, you can install it on up to three computers or other devices. However, only the named user can sign in and use that software on a single computer at any given time. Refer to the Software License Agreement for more information.

You don’t need to be online to use Civil 3D on your computer. However, you need to connect to the Internet every 30 days to verify that your subscription is still current. An internet connection is needed initially to install and activate Civil 3D on your desktop.