thanks pilou,

looks like it has a nice interface. however, Atom3D is probably the closest to what I want in features and cost. I'm using Mecway for FEA. The developer said he is going to add inertial properties in the future. If he does that, I won't need Atom3D. So I'm going to wait for now. I found two solutions to convert a stl to obj without retopo. That may be enough for what I need. 3DCoat may not be needed. But if the hobby version has retopo I may check it out in the future. So I think I answered my questions here. Thanks to everyone for the input.

One interesting thing I found. Ashlar Vellum and Atom3D both use the ACIS kernel. But they are drastically different in prices. So Ashlar is just charging more for no particular reason. I thought it might have been due to high licensing costs. But that isn't the case. I think ViaCAD is also using the ACIS kernel. Same with TurboCAD. TurboCAD and Atom3D are both options. I've used both many many years ago.