--- title: Altair Inspire Reviews meta\_title: 'Altair Inspire Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features | G2' meta\_description: Filter 76 reviews by the users' company size, role or industry to find out how Altair Inspire works for a business like yours. aggregate\_rating: rating\_value: 4.3 review\_count: 76 scale: '5' date\_modified: '2026-08-09' parent\_category: name: CAD & PLM url: https://www.g2.com/categories/cad-plm --- # Altair Inspire Reviews & Product Details Claimed ###### Profile Status This profile is currently managed by Altair Inspire but has limited features. Are you part of the Altair Inspire team? [Upgrade your plan](https://sell.g2.com) to enhance your branding and engage with visitors to your profile! Altair® Inspire™ is an intuitive, powerful family of integrated software products that accelerates simulation-driven design throughout the product development lifecycle, from concept to reality, while reducing product time-to-market. Used early in the design process, Inspire enables the creation of designs focused on both performance and manufacturability. Inspire empowers its users to explore, develop, and manufacture high-performance products in a single, intuitive environment. Accelerate Design from Concept to Reality • Geometry Creation and Modification: Supports use of parametric surfaces, solids, polyNURBS, facets, and implicit modeling within the same model. • Computational Physics for Rapid Exploration: Makes complex physics simulations accessible and designer friendly, enabling rapid, accurate analysis of structural, fluid flow, and motion dynamics. • Design Optimization for Topology and Beyond: Goes beyond standard topology optimization, incorporating AI for generative design that produces practical, sustainable products. • Manufacturability Analysis: Evaluate processes like casting, metal forming, injection molding, metal and polymer extrusion, polyurethane foaming, and additive manufacturing early to prevent defects and costly retooling. * * * Seller [Altair](https://www.g2.com/sellers/altair-186799f5-3238-493f-b3ad-b8cac484afd7) Discussions [Altair Inspire Community](https://www.g2.com/products/altair-inspire/discuss) Languages Supported German, English, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Chinese (Simplified) Solution Type Best-of-Breed Overview by Shaun Kroeger (Director – Partner Sales, Americas at Altair) Show More ## Value at a Glance Averages based on real user reviews. ### Perceived Cost $$$$$ [ View More Pricing Information ](https://www.g2.com/products/altair-inspire/pricing) ## Top-Rated Alternatives [ ![SOLIDWORKS](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "SOLIDWORKS") SOLIDWORKS 4.5/5(646) ](https://www.g2.com/products/solidworks/reviews) [ ![Autodesk Fusion](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Autodesk Fusion") Autodesk Fusion 4.5/5(520) ](https://www.g2.com/products/autodesk-fusion/reviews) [ ![Ansys Fluent](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Ansys Fluent") Ansys Fluent 4.5/5(122) ](https://www.g2.com/products/ansys-fluent/reviews) [ View All Alternatives ](https://www.g2.com/products/altair-inspire/competitors/alternatives) ## User Insights Average based on 76 real user reviews. Perceived Cost $$$$$ [Log in to unlock pricing and user insights](/login) CM Clayton M. Principal Engineer Machinery Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) 6/6/2017 "Get approximate design guidance/results quickly" 4/5 What do you like best about Altair Inspire? Quick easy to learn UI is great and commands are efficient and easy to use Solves fast Helps to get to an efficient design with fewer iterations Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Altair Inspire? Errors can be ambiguous Hard to get a result that is manufacturable, especially for fabricated steel plate designs and/or complex designs Needs better feedback during solves to see how long the solve will take Needs better more efficient ways of organising and duplicating load cases where there are many similar load cases Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering Altair Inspire: Highly recommended as a quick design tool to cut down on design time for issues of weight saving or basic FEA but for complex designs or load conditions a higher level program will be required. Good quick 3D editing tools but again if the edits are complex it's best to use more traditional 3d CAD software. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Altair Inspire solving and how is that benefiting you? Vehicle weight reduction Quick initial FEA solves, just using Inspire for the FEA solver has been useful. We now get more engineers to do basic initial FEA work and if further more complex FEA work is required we use our other full feature FEA software Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite on behalf of seller ![Nathan L.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Nathan L.") NL Nathan L. Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 6/6/2017 "Excellent. Great tutorial and excellent results for increasing stiffness and decreasing weight." 4.5/5 What do you like best about Altair Inspire? I love the way in which Inspire allows direct import of a full Solidworks assembly into the interface. I was quickly able to model the exact scenario i desired to optimize and get accurate results for what I wanted to achieve. The results were verified at Formula North this year when Iowa State's car drew attention from anyone that saw it saying "Those actually hold up?" I was amazed at the stiffness we saw with this optimization. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Altair Inspire? I struggled to smooth out the profile that I got from my shape optimization. With the intricate curves and edges, I found it easier to measure individual components of the shape and try to re-model it in Solidworks to avoid using the shaping tools in Inspire. If the shape optimization tool was able to bring the part closer to a feature recognition, I would be willing to spend more time trying to decipher which lines and edges to use. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering Altair Inspire: Follow the tutorial. Use a different FEA program to go back and forth and compare results. Still no real-life evaluation to determine accuracy other than pass/fail. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Altair Inspire solving and how is that benefiting you? My Formula SAE team needed to find a way to reduce weight throughout the aerodynamic system. Through CFD results, I was able to create a desired loading scenario for the part to be optimized within. This system was able to increase it's down-force, stiffness, and still become lighter than our previous mounting design. This translates to a better performing racecar. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite on behalf of seller ![Nicolas C.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Nicolas C.") NC Nicolas C. Ingénieur junior de projet Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 6/13/2017 "Very user friendly optimisation program" 4/5 What do you like best about Altair Inspire? Inspire is very easy to use to optimise the design of any mechanical part. The interface is very user friendly and you can get results in few minutes, unlike many other optimization softwares. You can import many types of 3D modeling files and export the optimized geometry in many other formats. Also, SolidThinking offer this software for free to students, which is very appreciated for educative purposes. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Altair Inspire? The "analyse" module of SolidThinking Inspire 2017 is impossible to use on a optimized model on Mac OS 10.12. (It is a software bug). However, it is possible to use the "analyse" module on an imported model. I had to install the software on Windows instead for completing my projects. I hope this compatibility problem will be corrected in a future update or the 2018 version. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering Altair Inspire: This software is very easy to use. I recommend it in an education purpose (engineering) or in an entreprise who do mechanical design. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Altair Inspire solving and how is that benefiting you? As a member of a Baja SAE team, I use this software to minimise the weight of many parts of the vehicle. With a 10 hp engine only, the vehicle have to be as light as possible to be competitive. Many parts are critical and it is very important to ensure that they will resist to the applied loads in competition. We uses SolidWorks for the design of the vehicle and the optimisation module of SolidWorks is very less powerful than Inspire. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite on behalf of seller ![Marcel J.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Marcel J.") MJ Marcel J. Director Mechanical or Industrial Engineering Enterprise (\> 1000 emp.) 6/13/2017 "I used the software to show a group of minor students applications for topology optimization. " 5/5 What do you like best about Altair Inspire? The fast learning curve and simple straight forward approach. Very welcome was the cost free use for our students. We use SolidWorks as modelling software throughout the curriculum. Importing general formats into Inspire is a huge plus. Solidworks has no capability in itself for optimization, although the simulation options are good for students. An add-in for SW (ParetoWorks) is really awful. If you want to do optimization, just like more complex simulation, the simulia/abaqus software of Dassault is expensive and complex for students with limited background in statics, materials and strength. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Altair Inspire? I prefer modelling software as Inventor or SolidWorks over Inspire, by far. But that said, I haven't dug into Inspire or Evolve enough to really judge it. I have similar experience when using sketchup or Rhino for a project once. It does not compare with professional modelling software. However, every software has it niche users that can do awesome stuff. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering Altair Inspire: Powerfull tool when used for quick experimentation. I recommand import of general formats from modelling software that you're probibly used to. It than shows a perfect companion. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Altair Inspire solving and how is that benefiting you? We experimented with some mechanical machine parts. With Inspire we realized mass reduction with better mises distribution. Knowing that we had to let go of some conventional subtractive manufacturing methods and investigate additive manufacturing. What we also did is export the mesh like texture for aesthetics, read artistic looks in design. It works nice. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite on behalf of seller ![Rahul P.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Rahul P.") RP Rahul P. Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 6/6/2017 "Interesting UI choice" 3.5/5 What do you like best about Altair Inspire? The software is really powerful. Most of which I have no idea how to use. It will be good to provide guides to simple tasks (A bit like Fusion 360 or Simscale). It was overall a very good piece of software. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Altair Inspire? I found that the UI was too over simplistic. As in they were icons with no descriptions when you hovered over (not was bad as evolve though). This is alright if you know the software inside out but I found it rather difficult to use. I did not like the student licensing system because I work between my windows PC (at home) and MacBook (at university). The licence tied me to one system. Also the license expires after I am a student (may be provide a free/cheaper hobbyist licence?). Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering Altair Inspire: Its a cool piece of software. Definitely should try it out since its free for students Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Altair Inspire solving and how is that benefiting you? I primarily used it for modelling lightweight structures to be manufactured using additive manufacturing Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite on behalf of seller ![Verified User in Automotive](/assets/icons/anonymous-avatar-purple-4ae1032bdb50ee5682003170c8184aee790d25958bd397abbd384ba52c596a7b.svg "Verified User in Automotive") UA Verified User in Automotive Enterprise (\> 1000 emp.) 1/29/2018 "Optimize your design!!!!" 4.5/5 What do you like best about Altair Inspire? Very cool way to take a design, throw it in a computer, and use dynamic modeling to make it even better! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Altair Inspire? Really steep learning curve, and not so intuitive to use at first when applying loads and pulling in parts Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering Altair Inspire: Make the buttons easier Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Altair Inspire solving and how is that benefiting you? Optimization and design! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Verified User in Higher Education](/assets/icons/anonymous-avatar-purple-4ae1032bdb50ee5682003170c8184aee790d25958bd397abbd384ba52c596a7b.svg "Verified User in Higher Education") UH Verified User in Higher Education Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) 6/13/2017 "Nice Topology Optimization" 3.5/5 What do you like best about Altair Inspire? I think the optimization is very easy and quick to execute. I think a great tool to develop quick optimizations and make a better first design. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Altair Inspire? I think that the tools to create CADs are a bit difficult to use. Consequently it is easier now to develop the part in other software which is bad since we need to use more than a tool at once. I also think that having multiple options in one icon makes finding new commands a bit tough. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering Altair Inspire: Give it a try, nice and easy to use. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Altair Inspire solving and how is that benefiting you? Topology optimizations. Easy, quick and reliable in its use. I think that is a perfect tool to begin with several options to improve the designs. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite on behalf of seller ![Aaron H.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Aaron H.") AH Aaron H. Production Assistant Higher Education Enterprise (\> 1000 emp.) 6/6/2017 "Inspired!" 3.5/5 What do you like best about Altair Inspire? The best thing I like about solidThinking Imspire is the unique optimization feature. Being able to "grow" a part is amazing. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Altair Inspire? The think I like least is the learning curve. It's unlike the top parametric modeling software and takes getting used to. Also it is supposed play nice with native solidworks files, but doesn't. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering Altair Inspire: Very cool software for optimizing parts. Can also be used to model parts. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Altair Inspire solving and how is that benefiting you? I use inspire in my SAE Baja team to optimize parts we have designed in solidworks. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite on behalf of seller ![Ryan R.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Ryan R.") RR Ryan R. Software Developer Aviation & Aerospace Enterprise (\> 1000 emp.) 6/6/2017 "Solid Thinking Inspire" 5/5 What do you like best about Altair Inspire? License Management Is easily manageable. The software has great tools to get a quick understanding of possible design geometry. The surfacing environment is very efficient and useful. The Load case controls are efficient and pretty accurate. Meshing is a very easy process. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Altair Inspire? Direct CAD Geometry manipulation would be ideal in order to iterate even more efficiently. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Altair Inspire solving and how is that benefiting you? This software brings the napkin sketch philosophy of design to the world FEA. It gives a quick understanding of expected geometric options around specific use cases. The traditional process of manually imagining possible geometry, modeling it and setting up a full-fledged FEA analysis seems to have been replaced with this much more efficient workflow. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite on behalf of seller ![Morgan M.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Morgan M.") MM Morgan M. Diagnostics/Sales Retail Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 6/6/2017 "Confusing to start " 2.5/5 What do you like best about Altair Inspire? The ease of contacting support, and how local everyone is made it very easy to communicate. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Altair Inspire? It needs a better and more training presentations, it was hardly enough to get going for those not familiar with this type of software Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Recommendations to others considering Altair Inspire: More tutorial videos. Major cas programs have huge user bases that create videos, without the need of the company to do so. You are starting out and do not have that user base to make those videos. You need to supplement that until you reach the mainstream. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Altair Inspire solving and how is that benefiting you? Optimizing tube chassis Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite on behalf of seller ## Questions about Altair Inspire? Ask real users or explore answers from the community Get practical answers, real workflows, and honest pros and cons from the G2 community or share your insights. [ Ask about Altair Inspire ](https://www.g2.com/products/altair-inspire/discussions/new) GU Guest User What is Altair Inspire used for? 0 Upvotes 0 [ Join the conversation ](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-altair-inspire-used-for) ![Verified User](/assets/icons/anonymous-avatar-purple-4ae1032bdb50ee5682003170c8184aee790d25958bd397abbd384ba52c596a7b.svg "Verified User") G2 Verified User • Last activity over 4 years ago What is topology optimization? 2 Upvotes 1 [ Join the conversation ](https://www.g2.com/discussions/topology-optimization) [ View all Discussions ](https://www.g2.com/products/altair-inspire/discuss) ##### Pricing Pricing details for this product isn’t currently available. Visit the vendor’s website to learn more. [ View More Pricing Information ](https://www.g2.com/products/altair-inspire/pricing) Altair Inspire Comparisons ![Product Avatar Image](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/small_square/small_square_8a92e2c305bc2b2784390d729470b9b4/solidworks.png "Product Avatar Image") SOLIDWORKS 4.5/5(646) [ Compare Now ](https://www.g2.com/compare/altair-inspire-vs-solidworks) ![Product Avatar Image](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/small_square/small_square_e00dd8bdafdafc988f2621d1c6fb30ad/fusion-360.png "Product Avatar Image") Autodesk Fusion 4.5/5(520) [ Compare Now ](https://www.g2.com/compare/altair-inspire-vs-autodesk-fusion) ![Product Avatar Image](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/small_square/small_square_dfb12a5a88f8f2862f8227c868951fc6/ansys-fluent.JPG "Product Avatar Image") Ansys Fluent 4.5/5(122) [ Compare Now ](https://www.g2.com/compare/altair-inspire-vs-ansys-fluent) ##### ##### Altair Inspire Features Design 3D/solid modeling Tools Drawing Tools Editing Tools Tools Fluid analysis Finite element analysis Multibody dynamics Work Continuous event modeling Mechanical event simulation Manufacturing process simulation Environment Hardware support Task Command Clarity [ View More Features ](https://www.g2.com/products/altair-inspire/features) ##### Categories on G2 [Simulation & CAE](https://www.g2.com/categories/simulation-cae) ##### Explore More [Which bot platform has the best features for marketing automation](https://www.g2.com/discussions/which-bot-platform-has-the-best-features-for-marketing-automation)[Which financial aid software platforms allow staff to review applications as families would see them during verification?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/which-financial-aid-software-platforms-allow-staff-to-review-applications-as-families-would-see-them-during-verification)[What is the most affordable transcription service for SMBs?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-the-most-affordable-transcription-service-for-smbs) [Which enterprise performance management consultants avoid lengthy implementations while delivering measurable return on investment?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/which-enterprise-performance-management-consultants-avoid-lengthy-implementations-while-delivering-measurable-return-on-investment%20)[What are some of the highest-rated enterprise information archiving platforms for compliance teams executing multi-channel retention mandates?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-are-some-of-the-highest-rated-enterprise-information-archiving-platforms-for-compliance-teams-executing-multi-channel-retention-mandates%20)[Pros and Cons Details](https://www.g2.com/products/altair-inspire/reviews?qs=pros-and-cons) [Show MoreShow Less](javascript:void(0);)