3D modelling software for 3D printing - which to use? (ideally parametric & free)

[ship69]

Hello

I need to decide which free (or nearly free) 3D modeling software to use for 3D printing.

Background
I am new to 3D Printing. I need is a very low cost/free solid modeler which ideally should be parametric (I think!).

Application
I am designing consumer products that will be made from injection molded plastic. The geometry will be 'slightly complex' (with lots of rounded corners and extrusions following curved lines), however it will be fairly 'mathematical' rather than free-form.

OPTIONS SO FAR:

1. Sketchup Make
I have spent about 1 week learning Sketchup. It is not good at solids and I didn't get on well with it. Although it has a fantastic inference engine, and an amazingly active user community, I found it buggy and tending to create meshes with holes in it. Also it does not seem very 'parametric' (if that's the right word) meaning it's hard to change the fundamentals of a design after you have detailed it.

2. 123D Design (Autodesk)
My local makerspace expert says 123D Design is very good for 3D printing. I have installed and spent a couple of hours on it. Initially it looks dead easy. However I have found that certain things such as the magnetic "Cruising" function... although they look brilliant, they can be pretty chunky in practice. (e.g. the only way I could get cruising to work was to do things in a very deliberate order and hold down the shift key at just the right moment - which appears to be undocumented??) Also clicking seems unreliable. And changing the size of objects seems clunky. I couldn't get a to follow a path when offset from the path like you can in Sketchup...
Either way, many users have commented that they "run out of power" when using it, however.

3. Fusion 360 (Autodesk)
Users say it is "very powerful" and free for startups & home users. The big problem seems to be that you have to be online and all your design files are held online. I'm not sure I like that. Some users moan about "multiple clicks" do everything, making it slow to develop in. (Also some of the 'power' seem to be CAM - modelling milling machines etc which is overkill for me at this point.)

4. DesignSpark Mechanical
Although "completely free", and seem to have some loyal users, it is not open source and everything in DSM is very tied selling you RS Components. I couldn't work out how to join their user forum. I spent about 25minutes trying!

5. Onshape
Looks amaaaazing to me. I love the look of the parametric stuff that I saw in a video (e.g. the ability to set that "this line connects to this circle as a tangent - even if you change the diameter of the circle").
However being browser-based (i.e. online only) is likely to make it slow to load. And only allowing 10 private documents a moderate pain. Worse is that the Professional account is a huge jump in cost - $1200/year - insane.

6. Blender
I read that this is the "most widely used" modelling software for 3D printing, and someone said it was "10 times faster then Sketchup". BUT everyone also seem to moan about the "steep learning curve" and it not being intuitive.

6. Other possibles:
- OpenSCAD ?
- FreeCAD ?


MY REQUIREMENTS
I need something that:
a) is good at exporting for 3D printing, reliably

b) has an active user forum.

c) has lots of nice explainer videos (as I am fairly dyslexic - and read only with some difficulty)

d) solid modeler that is parametric (??)
TBH, I can't yet decide how important being fully parametric will be, but when my designs are of innovations/inventions and not being held to early design decisions could be a god-send I feel...

e) Good hotkeys
I maybe dyslexic but I am good at remembering hotkeys. And they can dramatically speed life up!


I am now running out of time to make the decision. Any suggestions?

Many thanks


EDIT01
I have now installed Fusion360 which is parametric & looks promising so far. Very full-featured although a rathercomplex/cluttered interface. It is possibly slight over-kill for my requirements, but the full caffeine version is "free for students, enthusiasts, hobbyists, and startups" ... "for as long as you need it".