--- title: HEC-RAS Reviews meta_title: 'HEC-RAS Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features | G2' meta_description: Filter 36 reviews by the users' company size, role or industry to find out how HEC-RAS works for a business like yours. aggregate_rating: rating_value: 4.3 review_count: 36 scale: '5' date_modified: '2026-06-15' parent_category: name: CAD url: https://www.g2.com/categories/cad --- # HEC-RAS Reviews **Vendor:** U.S. Army Corps of Engineers **Category:** [MEP Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/mep) **Average Rating:** 4.3/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 36 ## About HEC-RAS HEC-RAS is a computer program that models the hydraulics of water flow through natural rivers and other channels. The program is one-dimensional, meaning that there is no direct modeling of the hydraulic effect of cross section shape changes, bends, and other two- and three-dimensional aspects of flow. ## HEC-RAS Reviews ### 1. Best Free Hydraulic Analysis Software **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Civil Engineering | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 13, 2022 **What do you like best about HEC-RAS?** I like that fact that HEC-RAS is free of cost and has all the basic functions to perform hydraulic analysis. **What do you dislike about HEC-RAS?** Some functions are old in HEC-RAS and can be modernized with time but I know they are updating the software regularly. **Recommendations to others considering HEC-RAS:** If you don't want to spend money on other hydraulic software then HEC-RAS is your best bet. **What problems is HEC-RAS solving and how is that benefiting you?** Bridge Hydraulics. ### 2. 15 years user of HEC-RAS **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** George (Zuliang) Y. | Water Resources Engineer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 30, 2021 **What do you like best about HEC-RAS?** Stream and section cut. Flood inundation mapping. **What do you dislike about HEC-RAS?** Stabilize a unsteady / dynamic hydraulic model. **What problems is HEC-RAS solving and how is that benefiting you?** Helped clients for defining development areas outside of flooding. ### 3. Easy to use **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Ekki F. | Site Engineer, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 06, 2021 **What do you like best about HEC-RAS?** Is able to simulate flood condition (with top view) and able to know how far the impacted area **What do you dislike about HEC-RAS?** Sometime the result is not logic, for example the result for the bed surface (long section of the river) **Recommendations to others considering HEC-RAS:** Watch the tutorial and make a comparison analytical between hecras and conventional method **What problems is HEC-RAS solving and how is that benefiting you?** I have a normalization river project, which is we have to check the capacity of the existing river (check to flow Q50) and we have to check the sloping stability of the river against the shear strength from the water flow. And i did it with hecras. ### 4. I used it in B.Sc engineering final project and since then using it in professional life **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Wasim Z. | Water resource engineer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 09, 2021 **What do you like best about HEC-RAS?** From the actual survey, i get profile of stream and then determine water level in the stream. it is useful for bridge and spillway designq **What do you dislike about HEC-RAS?** Manual entry of the Data. arrange data in excel and then entry in HEC RAS required quite large time **What problems is HEC-RAS solving and how is that benefiting you?** Bridge and Spillway hydraulic calculations ### 5. Good River Analysis and Modelling **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Wilson K. | • Geotechnical and Hydrologist Engineer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 10, 2021 **What do you like best about HEC-RAS?** Analyzing unsteady flow state which is complicated for manual analyzing **What do you dislike about HEC-RAS?** The data to generate the analysis sometime too complicated **Recommendations to others considering HEC-RAS:** You must know the principles of Hydrology analysis in order to have better experience **What problems is HEC-RAS solving and how is that benefiting you?** Analyze capacity of River whether it overflow or not, analyze sediments and analyze scouring. ### 6. 2D Flood Modelling **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Ragavendra V. | Wet utility design engineer, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 30, 2020 **What do you like best about HEC-RAS?** Hec-Ras is a User-friendly hydraulic analysis and modelling software. I have been using this for more than three years for my infrastructure projects. These hydraulics tools are great to model the 2d induction boundaries to determine the Peak flow, velocity and flood depth. The main highlights of the simulation of the final result are really cool. The simulation for any storm duration is possible. Most reliable software to analysis the peak flows and flood path. So it can determine the floodplain map, sediment transport analysis, flood control and storm drain system design and analysis. **What do you dislike about HEC-RAS?** I don't find any issues until now with the software. Unless. I heard the problems with the unsteady flow with numerical analytical results. Also, River Profile create and import from Hec-Georas is like to stair and seem to be not correct but Civil 3d show better and smooth Profile for River. Moreover, Importing data and validating is a tedious task. When I Import Geometry Data From ArcGis into Hec-Ras, in Some Cross-Sections, LOB DownStream Reach Length is Negative. In addition to that HEC RAS is not able to recover geometry data from the HDF file. In RAS Mapper, I import the MDT and it goes smoothly in the Geometry window of HEC RAS. Then, I edit the different layers (rivers, banks, etc.) in RAS Mapper. Apparently everything is going well, but when I'm going to save the geometries, I always get the error that can be seen below. Of course, the layers are not seen in the Geometry window of HEC RAS, it is as if they were empty. The error says: "Error reading geometry data from file: path/*.HDF"So the major issue with the HEC-RAS is depended on computer configuration if the input data is big and the simulation time and analysis period is more. **Recommendations to others considering HEC-RAS:** HEC-RAS utilizes a graphical user interface to make software using both easy and efficient. It also contains several different analysis tools for rivers. Included is a modelling system for water surface profiling and flow calculation, as well as a model for flow simulation. The system is capable of simulating sediment transport and calculating the movable boundaries of a river. There are also included analytics to determine water quality and to model general water temperature. Flat files are used for data management, organization, and storage. Also included is a comprehensive set of mapping and graphing tools. **What problems is HEC-RAS solving and how is that benefiting you?** 2d Modelling I have been using this software for multiple infrastructure projects. The major task to study the flood modelling for the entire site during pre-development and post-development of stormwater runoff. The simulation for any storm duration is possible. Most reliable software to analysis the peak flows and flood path. So it can determine the floodplain map, sediment transport analysis, flood control and storm drain system design and analysis. It helped on modelling/forecasting river floods (influence of environmental factors and climate change; the impact of flood lands on ecosystem services). ### 7. Useful for interpolated cross sections **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Civil Engineering | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 07, 2021 **What do you like best about HEC-RAS?** Creating interpolated cross sections for modelling. **What do you dislike about HEC-RAS?** The automatic set up of chainage when adding my cross sections. **Recommendations to others considering HEC-RAS:** Very useful to create interpolated cross sections. **What problems is HEC-RAS solving and how is that benefiting you?** Creating interpolated cross sections ### 8. It is a perfect software for modeling. **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Civil Engineering | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 09, 2021 **What do you like best about HEC-RAS?** We say all models are wrong, but some are useful. To make even this true Hecras has made this posssible **What do you dislike about HEC-RAS?** Nothing for now. UI could have been a bit better though. But overall i would give a 9/10 **Recommendations to others considering HEC-RAS:** A must learn and use **What problems is HEC-RAS solving and how is that benefiting you?** River modeling ### 9. User friendliness and powerful **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Higher Education | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 16, 2021 **What do you like best about HEC-RAS?** It’s easiness to model hydrological processes. **What do you dislike about HEC-RAS?** Limited undo and redo potential with the current version. **What problems is HEC-RAS solving and how is that benefiting you?** Hydrological modeling and flood analysis. Also GIS integration ### 10. Very easy to use **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Merima T. | Junior Officer - Hydrological Flood Forecasting System for Sava River Basin, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 07, 2020 **What do you like best about HEC-RAS?** It's simple, free, runs smoothly, and recognized as a standard program in my country. It’s important that HEC RAS tell you where is mistake that you made. Also it’s public version and free available on HEC web site. **What do you dislike about HEC-RAS?** Ther is no 3D modeling in hec ras, but it’s not big dislike **What problems is HEC-RAS solving and how is that benefiting you?** Very useful for hydraulic structures analysis work. It make easy the work for hydraulic engineer to design and analysis the structure perimeter such as river cross section, velocity, boundaries, design of fall, dam etc. ### 11. User Friendly and Precise Modeling **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Burhan Ahmad W. | Gazetted Assistant Engineer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 14, 2020 **What do you like best about HEC-RAS?** It is the best software available in the field of hydraulic modeling. Precise, constantly updated and user friendly. **What do you dislike about HEC-RAS?** Multidimensional flow limitations and confusing which handling large data. **Recommendations to others considering HEC-RAS:** The best modeling software in the Flood Plain Management **What problems is HEC-RAS solving and how is that benefiting you?** Flood Plain Management and the way it presents results in a easy and unsophisticated manner. ### 12. I worked with this software in water resources course during my bachelor’s degree study. **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Civil Engineering | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 18, 2020 **What do you like best about HEC-RAS?** The two dimensional modeling of flow is the best feature in the software. **What do you dislike about HEC-RAS?** Three dimensional aspects of flow for river analysis. **What problems is HEC-RAS solving and how is that benefiting you?** Used it for my Water resources harbor project ### 13. HEC-RAS for accuracy prediction. **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Arvind Kumar M. | Managing Director, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 08, 2020 **What do you like best about HEC-RAS?** Simple to use and also the accurate results. **What do you dislike about HEC-RAS?** My experience says that HEC-RAS is versatile and I do not find any reason to dislike. **What problems is HEC-RAS solving and how is that benefiting you?** HEC-RAS has been used by our organization for calculation of sediment loads in the inflows. ### 14. Very easy useful and free software **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Design | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 29, 2020 **What do you like best about HEC-RAS?** I find it very easy. The reference and user manuals are excellent and the error reporting is also very useful in fixing errors and troubleshooting. Plus, it’s free! **What do you dislike about HEC-RAS?** Overall HEC-RAS is good software . I like it **Recommendations to others considering HEC-RAS:** It’s useful software and free. Recommend **What problems is HEC-RAS solving and how is that benefiting you?** culvert design projects, flood risk assessments ### 15. Support Hydrologic Engineer **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** PRIYANKA K. | Intern, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 04, 2019 **What do you like best about HEC-RAS?** It is supported by US engineer and also.acceptable by many government. Public version and free available on HEC web site. **What do you dislike about HEC-RAS?** Some times I found numerical instability problem. **What problems is HEC-RAS solving and how is that benefiting you?** HEC-RAS is a computer program that models the hydraulics of water flow through natural rivers and other channels. ### 16. I am not familiar with your products **Rating:** 3.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Management Consulting | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 07, 2020 **What do you like best about HEC-RAS?** the linking of hydraulic flowing models to the GIS maps **What do you dislike about HEC-RAS?** the area coverage for some countries like Yemen **What problems is HEC-RAS solving and how is that benefiting you?** Mapping the several waster water treatment plants ### 17. I am currently working in Cad Desk. **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Architecture & Planning | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 01, 2019 **What do you like best about HEC-RAS?** HEC-RAS is a standard application which is most useful for hydraulic structures analysis work. It make easy the work for hydraulic engineer to design and analysis the structure perimeter such as river cross section, velocity, boundaries, design of fall, dam etc. Now it is available in 2D also. **What do you dislike about HEC-RAS?** HEC-RAS is good application but it is not work with three dimension that mean the design is accounted for one dimensional flow. Also not suitable for ground slop less than 1:10. **Recommendations to others considering HEC-RAS:** It is easy to use and analyse the data related with river hydraulics and make easy the work. **What problems is HEC-RAS solving and how is that benefiting you?** It is useful for compute the design perimeter for river hydraulics such as cross section, velocity of flow, boundaries etc. ### 18. Useful Hydraulic Software **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Civil Engineering | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** September 18, 2019 **What do you like best about HEC-RAS?** The most recent versions are much more sim user friendly and intuitive. I enjoy getting to use the RAS Mapper functionality especially. **What do you dislike about HEC-RAS?** The older versions, while adequate, can not be as intuitive and can be buggy. **What problems is HEC-RAS solving and how is that benefiting you?** It streamlines our H&H analysis. Generally it’s required for the projects that we work on - it helps that it is a powerful software. ### 19. HEC-RAS The Future For Hydrollic Projects **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Information Technology and Services | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 11, 2019 **What do you like best about HEC-RAS?** It is easy and simple software to use. This software is accepted by many government organization and authorities as well as private agencies. **What do you dislike about HEC-RAS?** The worst thing about this software is that in this software one dimensional modeling is less detailed. It has numerical instability during unsteady analysis. **What problems is HEC-RAS solving and how is that benefiting you?** It is provided with add on supports so easily usable for the modeling of bridges, dams, rivers etc. ### 20. It is good and easy. **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Civil Engineering | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 29, 2019 **What do you like best about HEC-RAS?** It is analysing river hydraulics including water depth , velocity and effect of hydraulic structure etc. It is provide good and effective solution . **What do you dislike about HEC-RAS?** It is sometimes make confuse due to many function. **Recommendations to others considering HEC-RAS:** It needs proper and regular monitoring. **What problems is HEC-RAS solving and how is that benefiting you?** It make work easy and effective. ### 21. River Modelling more interesting **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Supriya S. | Assitant Engineer, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 28, 2018 **What do you like best about HEC-RAS?** It is very interactive plus we get example package. These examples cover all the hydraulic modelling problems which we encounter in model build. **What do you dislike about HEC-RAS?** There should have been a written tutorial to make practicing easy. **Recommendations to others considering HEC-RAS:** Yes, it is a good choice. Makes modelling easier and RAS mapper helps in building layers eliminating the use of the GIS interface. **What problems is HEC-RAS solving and how is that benefiting you?** I am doing Flood Modeling using HEC-RAS. Since it is a open source software it is available easily and with full functionality. So building models is easier. ### 22. I am currently working in pinnacle infotech as a mep modeler **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Design | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 03, 2019 **What do you like best about HEC-RAS?** Models the hydraulic of water flow through natural rivers **What do you dislike about HEC-RAS?** One directional program no direct modeling **What problems is HEC-RAS solving and how is that benefiting you?** Easy model of hydraulic water flow ### 23. Flood modelling at its best! **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Civil Engineering | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 12, 2018 **What do you like best about HEC-RAS?** It is free, robust very stable software for flood modelling **What do you dislike about HEC-RAS?** There is no option to modify terrain directly in HECRAS. **What problems is HEC-RAS solving and how is that benefiting you?** Flood modelling, dam breach modeling ### 24. Great tool **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Civil Engineering | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 29, 2019 **What do you like best about HEC-RAS?** The software is free. I really like the 2D modelling capacities. **What do you dislike about HEC-RAS?** Since the software is fre there is not much software support. **What problems is HEC-RAS solving and how is that benefiting you?** I primarily use the software for floodplain modeling and channel design. ### 25. Helpful in Hydro Analysis **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Civil Engineering | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 29, 2018 **What do you like best about HEC-RAS?** This is a useful product for analyzing hydraulics projects. Its is fairly straightforward to use. **What do you dislike about HEC-RAS?** Sometimes the specific tools take a bit of getting used to and there are the occasional quirks of how to imput data. **Recommendations to others considering HEC-RAS:** Helpful but make sure to have proper training before using. **What problems is HEC-RAS solving and how is that benefiting you?** This aids in our design and analysis process. This software is a needed part of project development. ### 26. Great for roadway Development **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Anna N. | Roadway Design Engineer, PE, CFM, Civil Engineering, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 15, 2018 **What do you like best about HEC-RAS?** Able to handle large roadway and bridge structures for existing and proposed conditions. Can have flows entered at any cross section that is in the model. Able to accurately model confluences of streams and rivers. **What do you dislike about HEC-RAS?** Does not output graphics that can be pulled into cad or microstation. Hard to move around the screen. Difficult to redraw and re-input cross sections when data changes. **What problems is HEC-RAS solving and how is that benefiting you?** Roadway and Bridge Design ### 27. Simple and safisticated **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Philanthropy | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** July 13, 2018 **What do you like best about HEC-RAS?** I like that it shows progressions in its simulations, not just a single situation. It allows you to see gradual changes and find sources of failure very easily. **What do you dislike about HEC-RAS?** The software seems a little outdated, it could be more visually appealing. **What problems is HEC-RAS solving and how is that benefiting you?** I used it in dam failure analysis with different levels of water, it made the calculations into a good visual representation of the situation and highlighted the moment of failure very clearly. ### 28. Easy to use **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Military | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 26, 2018 **What do you like best about HEC-RAS?** Very good at quickly pulling timing data. **What do you dislike about HEC-RAS?** Very complicated and some times can get confusing on which options to use. **What problems is HEC-RAS solving and how is that benefiting you?** Flood map timing ### 29. Solid for backwater analysis for steady-state **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Civil Engineering | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 29, 2017 **What do you like best about HEC-RAS?** I like the results it gives and the ability to put together culvert calcs, depths, junctions, and tie it into one, large backwater analysis. I also like how quick it is to see results. **What do you dislike about HEC-RAS?** I find that there could be an easier way to automate the ineffective flow area widths. I also feel is not the most robust when save-as project files. **Recommendations to others considering HEC-RAS:** Do a little background research on hydraulics before using. The Hydrologic Engineering Center website from the US Army has a good course that can be done to go over the basics. **What problems is HEC-RAS solving and how is that benefiting you?** Finding floodplain ranges and depths. ### 30. Functional but missing components **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Civil Engineering | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 23, 2018 **What do you like best about HEC-RAS?** I like the ability to design entire pressure networks accurately. **What do you dislike about HEC-RAS?** It is clunky and the interface is unattractive to present. **What problems is HEC-RAS solving and how is that benefiting you?** I am able to design pressure networks for water piping. It is great in optimizing pipe sizes. ### 31. HECRAS **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Civil Engineering | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 11, 2017 **What do you like best about HEC-RAS?** I like the ability to run different flow situations **What do you dislike about HEC-RAS?** No autosave functions make it easy to lose work **Recommendations to others considering HEC-RAS:** Read the user's manual...it is very thorough, and helpful while you are working **What problems is HEC-RAS solving and how is that benefiting you?** Determining the 100-year floodplain elevation ### 32. Useful **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Maggie S. | Transportation Engineer, Civil Engineering, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 22, 2016 **What do you like best about HEC-RAS?** HEC-RAS is one of the standard programs for analyzing river hydraulics, including water depth, velocity, effects of hydraulic structures, and inundation boundaries. It is free and commonly used in the field. You can couple it with GeoRAS to convert between GIS shapefiles and RAS geometric input files. Lastly, it can handle very large data sets. **What do you dislike about HEC-RAS?** The biggest limitation of HEC-RAS is that it is one dimension, that means variables are accounted for only in the direction of flow. It is not appropriate for complex pipe network systems. And the steady flow analysis is applicable only for ground slope of less than 1 : 10. **Recommendations to others considering HEC-RAS:** Users can create good models with good engineering judgement and proper level of care **What problems is HEC-RAS solving and how is that benefiting you?** It is useful for analyzing river hydraulics to compute water depth, velocity, and inundation boundaries with the effects of hydraulic structures such as bridges and culvert under roadways. ### 33. Hec-Ras **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Lenore B. | Project Engineer, Civil Engineering, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 28, 2016 **What do you like best about HEC-RAS?** It's simple, free, runs smoothly, and recognized as a standard program. It can now do 1D, 2D, or a combination of both. In 2D, you have the option to select Full Saint Venant or Diffusion Wave Equations. And the Mapper function can do detailed flood mapping and flood animations. **What do you dislike about HEC-RAS?** 2D is new and it's only available for unsteady analysis. The result is susceptible to DEM resolution. You can get different result when you use a 30m DEM vs. a 1m DEM. And there isn't enough features for automating the generation of detailed 2D computational mesh. **Recommendations to others considering HEC-RAS:** Try to use higher resolution DEM and watch the spacing of your cross sections. **What problems is HEC-RAS solving and how is that benefiting you?** As part of the onsite water/wastewater treatment design, we have to analyze the water flow and potential flood risk for the site. This program is used for this purpose. ### 34. Old School software used for flood calculaitons **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Construction | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 25, 2016 **What do you like best about HEC-RAS?** - Ability to calculate flood heights and extents for a given topographical area - Ability to input 2, 25, 100 year storm data - Ability to check bridges and other interferences - Detailed manual for self learning **What do you dislike about HEC-RAS?** - Steep learning curve - GUI could use updating - Software needs complete overhaul - No 3D capabilities **Recommendations to others considering HEC-RAS:** - Garbage in, garbage out. Make sure to double and triple check your input data and measurements - Spend time with the manual to learn the ins and outs of the software **What problems is HEC-RAS solving and how is that benefiting you?** - Flood heights and extents for given topographical area - Checking bridge interferences ### 35. A Hydraulics Modeling Tool For Riverine Analysis **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Environmental Services | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 15, 2016 **What do you like best about HEC-RAS?** HEC-RAS is a free program developed by the USACE. It is widely recognized, and is used for most of the hydraulics analysis for developing FEMA's flood maps. Over the years, a lot of bugs and problems have been resolved with the newer versions. It is taught in college and easy to pick up. You can use GeoRAS to help build your model in ArcGIS. It is a good program for non-complex scenario. **What do you dislike about HEC-RAS?** It is 1D analysis and is meant for open channel. This program is not suitable for complex scenarios or urban (drainage network) settings. Also, it does not have the function of varying manning's n with water depths. And channel sections are generalized into left of bank, channel, and right of bank. It is fine if you just need general results. **Recommendations to others considering HEC-RAS:** This is a program that every engineer in the H/H field should have at least a basic knowledge of. It is a program that you learn from using it. With experience, you will learn how to properly tweak and build a good model. **What problems is HEC-RAS solving and how is that benefiting you?** HEC-RAS is the program I use most for the hydraulics part of my flood risk analysis. I use it with GeoRAS and ArcGIS to build my model and generate result in GIS format. ### 36. Decent open channel water modelling siftwate **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Civil Engineering | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** August 26, 2016 **What do you like best about HEC-RAS?** The cost, this software is free which you won't get from most other modeling software **What do you dislike about HEC-RAS?** The software only allows you to model in two dimensions. Upgrading to 3 dimensionao modelling would be a big upgrade. **What problems is HEC-RAS solving and how is that benefiting you?** Using the software for 1 and 2 d modelling in open channels. Also used for flood modelling. ## HEC-RAS Discussions - [What is HEC-RAS used for?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/hec-ras-what-is-hec-ras-used-for) - [What is the best way?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/32955-what-is-the-best-way) - 1 upvote - [View HEC-RAS pricing details and edition comparison](https://www.g2.com/products/hec-ras/reviews?section=pricing&secure%5Bexpires_at%5D=2026-07-01+09%3A25%3A29+-0500&secure%5Bsession_id%5D=535e99a3-6127-466f-b95d-805cbc2574ca&secure%5Btoken%5D=8b949c8d3b7c818884806d00e0cbcd0e5558b6638854e311b05431249b50bcef&format=llm_user) ## HEC-RAS Features **Design** - Systems - 3D - Documentation - Fabrication - Clash Detection **Work** - Integrate - Drafting - Analysis - Simulations ## Top HEC-RAS Alternatives - [Revit MEP](https://www.g2.com/products/revit-mep/reviews) - 4.6/5.0 (173 reviews) - [AutoCAD MEP](https://www.g2.com/products/autocad-mep/reviews) - 4.3/5.0 (187 reviews) - [MagiCAD](https://www.g2.com/products/magicad/reviews) - 4.1/5.0 (34 reviews)