The Hexagon line tools don't quite match Shade's but then splines is what Shade has been about for a looooong time. The interface is a matter of taste - if you've done any TD or CAD, then when you look at Shade, you just fall into it. Hexagon is the easiest to use though, I learned a whole lot faster thanks to its manual with videos and the interface is very well designed - if a bit buggy! While Shade is like useing a drawing board, Hexagon is more akin to sculpting. Whatever you think of the building tools, its worth getting at this price for the UV mapping, texturing, and displacement painting tools alone. You'll not get those in anything for even close the same price.