--- 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: '2026-08-07' 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. 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. ### 2. 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. ### 3. 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 ### 4. 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. ### 5. 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 ### 6. 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. ### 7. 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. ### 8. 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. ### 9. 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. ### 10. 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. ### 11. 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 ### 12. 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. ### 13. 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. ### 14. 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. ### 15. 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 ### 16. 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. ### 17. 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 ### 18. 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?filters%5Bnps_score%5D%5B%5D=4§ion=pricing&secure%5Bexpires_at%5D=2026-08-14+00%3A45%3A04+-0500&secure%5Bsession_id%5D=80fc0f09-2d2a-4467-b2dc-418addc973c1&secure%5Btoken%5D=25280d54da38de9728d13efdd33e75675d8a59cd77bf2fef0db57cd8889c9046&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)