Top 10 SolidWorks Simulation Alternatives & Competitors

(58)4.3 out of 5

Explore the best alternatives to SolidWorks Simulation for users who need new software features or want to try different solutions. Other important factors to consider when researching alternatives to SolidWorks Simulation include design. The best overall SolidWorks Simulation alternative is Inventor. Other similar apps like SolidWorks Simulation are Designcenter NX, Autodesk Fusion, Ansys Mechanical, and Altair HyperWorks. SolidWorks Simulation alternatives can be found in Simulation & CAE Software but may also be in Mechanical Computer-aided Design (MCAD) Software or Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM) Software.

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Best Paid & Free Alternatives to SolidWorks Simulation

Inventor
Designcenter NX
Autodesk Fusion
Ansys Mechanical
Altair HyperWorks
Abaqus
COMSOL Multiphysics®
Inventor Nastran

Top 10 Alternatives to SolidWorks Simulation Recently Reviewed By G2 Community

Browse options below. Based on reviewer data, you can see how SolidWorks Simulation stacks up to the competition, check reviews from current & previous users in industries like Mechanical or Industrial Engineering, Machinery, and Industrial Automation, and find the best product for your business.

Inventor

By Autodesk

4.4/5

(437)

Product Description

Reviewers say compared to SolidWorks Simulation, Inventor is:

Better at meeting requirements

More expensive

Categories in common with SolidWorks Simulation:

Mechanical Computer-aided Design (MCAD)

Simulation & CAE

Designcenter NX

By Siemens Digital Industries Software

4.4/5

(523)

Product Description

Reviewers say compared to SolidWorks Simulation, Designcenter NX is:

More expensive

Better at meeting requirements

Better at support

Categories in common with SolidWorks Simulation:

Mechanical Computer-aided Design (MCAD)

Autodesk Fusion

By Autodesk

4.5/5

(504)

Product Description

Reviewers say compared to SolidWorks Simulation, Autodesk Fusion is:

Better at meeting requirements

Easier to set up

More usable

Categories in common with SolidWorks Simulation:

Mechanical Computer-aided Design (MCAD)

Simulation & CAE

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Altair HyperWorks

By Altair

4.2/5

(54)

Product Description

Altair® HyperWorks® is a comprehensive design and simulation platform that empowers professionals across various industries to address complex engineering challenges efficiently. By integrating advanced computational science, high-performance computing (HPC), and artificial intelligence (AI), HyperWorks facilitates physics simulations and concept designs across multiple disciplines, including structures, motion, fluids, thermal, electromagnetics, electronics, controls, and embedded systems. This unified, open-architecture environment enhances productivity and innovation throughout the product development lifecycle. Key Features and Functionality: - Multidisciplinary Simulation: Supports a wide range of physics simulations, enabling analysis of structural integrity, fluid dynamics, thermal performance, and electromagnetic fields. - AI-Powered Design: Incorporates AI and machine learning to automate complex tasks, identify data trends, and provide predictive insights, accelerating the design process. - High-Performance Computing Integration: Leverages HPC environments to conduct large-scale simulations rapidly, facilitating extensive design iterations and optimization. - Open and Customizable Architecture: Offers seamless interoperability with over 250 CAD systems, solvers, and file formats, allowing for extensive customization and automation through scripting capabilities. - Comprehensive Material Database: Provides access to a robust material database, enabling informed design decisions and exploration of alternative materials to meet performance and sustainability goals. Primary Value and Solutions Provided: Altair HyperWorks addresses the need for an integrated, efficient, and versatile design and simulation platform. By combining AI, HPC, and multiphysics simulation within a connected ecosystem, it enables engineers to explore more design options in less time, ensuring accuracy and manufacturability. The platform's open architecture and customization options allow for seamless integration into existing workflows, enhancing collaboration and traceability across the product lifecycle. Ultimately, HyperWorks empowers organizations to accelerate innovation, reduce development costs, and bring high-quality products to market faster.

Reviewers say compared to SolidWorks Simulation, Altair HyperWorks is:

More expensive

Better at meeting requirements

Categories in common with SolidWorks Simulation:

Product Description

Reviewers say compared to SolidWorks Simulation, Abaqus is:

Easier to set up

More expensive

Better at meeting requirements

Categories in common with SolidWorks Simulation:

By COMSOL

Product Description

Engineers and scientists use the COMSOL Multiphysics® software to simulate designs, devices, and processes in all fields of engineering, manufacturing, and scientific research. COMSOL Multiphysics® is a simulation platform that provides fully coupled multiphysics and single-physics modeling capabilities. The Model Builder includes all of the steps in the modeling workflow — from defining geometries, material properties, and the physics that describe specific phenomena to performing computations and evaluating the results. The COMSOL Multiphysics® software brings a user interface and experience that is always the same, regardless of engineering application and physics phenomena. Add-on modules provide specialized functionality for electromagnetics, structural mechanics, acoustics, fluid flow, heat transfer, and chemical engineering. Choose from a list of LiveLink™ products to interface directly with CAD and other third-party software. Deploy simulation applications with COMSOL Compiler™ and COMSOL Server™.

Reviewers say compared to SolidWorks Simulation, COMSOL Multiphysics® is:

More expensive

Better at meeting requirements

Categories in common with SolidWorks Simulation:

By Autodesk

Product Description

Autodesk Inventor Nastran is a comprehensive finite element analysis (FEA) software integrated within the Autodesk Inventor environment, designed to assist engineers and analysts in predicting the physical behavior of products under various conditions. Leveraging the robust Autodesk Nastran solver, it offers a wide array of simulation capabilities, including linear and nonlinear stress analysis, dynamics, and heat transfer studies. Key Features and Functionality: - Linear Static Analysis: Evaluate stress, strain, and deformation resulting from static loads and constraints. - Nonlinear Analysis: Simulate complex material behaviors such as plasticity and hyperelasticity, accommodating large deformations and nonlinear contacts. - Dynamic Analysis: Assess structural responses to time-dependent loads, including transient and frequency response analyses. - Heat Transfer Analysis: Analyze thermal effects through conduction, convection, and radiation to predict temperature distributions and thermal stresses. - Fatigue Analysis: Determine the durability of structures under repeated loading, including low- and high-cycle fatigue. - Impact and Drop Test Simulation: Model and analyze the effects of impacts and drops to ensure product resilience. - Advanced Material Models: Utilize a variety of material models, including those for metals, rubber, and soft tissues, to achieve accurate simulation results. Primary Value and User Solutions: By integrating advanced simulation tools directly into the CAD environment, Inventor Nastran enables users to perform in-depth analyses without leaving their design workspace. This seamless integration facilitates early detection of potential design issues, reduces the reliance on physical prototypes, and accelerates the product development process. Ultimately, it empowers engineers to enhance product performance, ensure structural integrity, and bring innovative solutions to market more efficiently.

Categories in common with SolidWorks Simulation:

By MathWorks

Product Description

MATLAB is a high-level programming and numeric computing environment widely utilized by engineers and scientists for data analysis, algorithm development, and system modeling. It offers a desktop environment optimized for iterative analysis and design processes, coupled with a programming language that directly expresses matrix and array mathematics. The Live Editor feature enables users to create scripts that integrate code, output, and formatted text within an executable notebook. Key Features and Functionality: - Data Analysis: Tools for exploring, modeling, and analyzing data. - Graphics: Functions for visualizing and exploring data through various plots and charts. - Programming: Capabilities to create scripts, functions, and classes for customized workflows. - App Building: Facilities to develop desktop and web applications. - External Language Interfaces: Integration with languages such as Python, C/C++, Fortran, and Java. - Hardware Connectivity: Support for connecting MATLAB to various hardware platforms. - Parallel Computing: Ability to perform large-scale computations and parallelize simulations using multicore desktops, GPUs, clusters, and cloud resources. - Deployment: Options to share MATLAB programs and deploy them to enterprise applications, embedded devices, and cloud environments. Primary Value and User Solutions: MATLAB streamlines complex mathematical computations and data analysis tasks, enabling users to develop algorithms and models efficiently. Its comprehensive toolboxes and interactive apps facilitate rapid prototyping and iterative design, reducing development time. The platform's scalability allows for seamless transition from research to production, supporting deployment on various systems without extensive code modifications. By integrating with multiple programming languages and hardware platforms, MATLAB provides a versatile environment that addresses the diverse needs of engineers and scientists across industries.

Reviewers say compared to SolidWorks Simulation, MATLAB is:

More expensive

Better at meeting requirements

Better at support

Categories in common with SolidWorks Simulation:

Simulation & CAE