--- title: OpenSim Reviews meta_title: 'OpenSim Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features | G2' meta_description: Filter 22 reviews by the users' company size, role or industry to find out how OpenSim works for a business like yours. aggregate_rating: rating_value: 4.2 review_count: 22 scale: '5' date_modified: '2026-07-07' parent_category: name: CAD & PLM url: https://www.g2.com/categories/cad-plm --- # OpenSim Reviews **Vendor:** OpenSim Project **Category:** [Simulation & CAE Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/simulation-cae) **Average Rating:** 4.2/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 22 ## About OpenSim OpenSim is an open-source software system for biomechanical modeling. ## OpenSim Reviews ### 1. Opensim review **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Higher Education | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 28, 2020 **What do you like best about OpenSim?** I like how easy it is to use and customize the models within the software making it ideal for beginner and experienced users **What do you dislike about OpenSim?** I dont like how specific the file formats need to be in order to make the software be able to run the analysis **Recommendations to others considering OpenSim:** The great thing about the software being open source is that help for it too can easily be found online either through the forums or others sharing their work online. **What problems is OpenSim solving and how is that benefiting you?** I am using the software to run motion analysis comparing how locking and unlocking joints of the lower extremities affects joint kinetics and joint contact forces. The software has helped in realizing how small changes affect the rest of the system. ### 2. Powerful Application with a Steep Learning Curve **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Hospital & Health Care | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** October 15, 2021 **What do you like best about OpenSim?** OpenSim is very capable for complex modeling and ties in well with our 3D motion camera system. **What do you dislike about OpenSim?** OpenSim interface is a bit clunky and can be challenging to navigate during the learning curve. Once you understand the fundamentals of the process, there are still certain steps in analyzing motion capture data that are hard to find the buttons for. It's definitely a program that requires some 1:1 coaching to learn. **What problems is OpenSim solving and how is that benefiting you?** OpenSim allows our lab team to analyze raw motion capture data and transform it into meaningful anatomical information with joint angles, speed, acceleration, and other parameters. ### 3. Biomechanics of Standing Wheelchair & Gait analysis. **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Manideep G. | PHD Student, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 16, 2020 **What do you like best about OpenSim?** Visualisation of various muscle activations, while a person is standing in a wheelchair. The tug of war competition to get used to the interface and to know all the controls. I attended a very useful webinar that explains the principles behind each operation. Being an open Source product, It is helpful to know about what others are using the software for. This not only keeps you updated with research trends but also gives the opportunity to know people who are working in similar research areas. **What do you dislike about OpenSim?** I started using Opensim while it is transiting from 3.0 to 4.0. It took me a while to get accustomed to the newer version. I would recommend not to release a newer version until it is completely upgraded. This avoids a lot of confusion among users. **Recommendations to others considering OpenSim:** This OpenSim software is easy to learn, well documented to learn quickly. **What problems is OpenSim solving and how is that benefiting you?** I used it to solve inverse kinematic problems. I got the range of motion of various joints using IK operation from data collected in our lab. It reduced my computational time and is open-source, I could easily change the generic models according to my requirement. I used it to develop a module in MATLAB using OpenSim. This takes kinematic data from a novel sensor to visualise the human movement. I also used it as a tool to complete my course project regarding Gait Analysis. ### 4. I use OpenSim for musculoskeletal and biomechanical simulations. **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Dali A. | Engineer II, Operations Integrator, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 05, 2021 **What do you like best about OpenSim?** The Program OpenSim is a great tool that is able to be used to teach others about Biomechanics of the body and it is very fun and easy to use! You must have true understanding of the musculoskeletal system in order to have a successful open simulation. This makes it an even greater learning tool to motivate people to learn about the body through a fun and visual process. The software has a good layout and helps me teach others about how the musculoskeletal system operates. It is easy to use and quick to learn and understand. **What do you dislike about OpenSim?** Sometimes little adjustments can make a huge difference so in the beginning it can take a lot of trial and error. But after you learn the layout, you can quickly create and recreate simulations with ease. I think the most time takes the initial learning and then a lot of tweaking and understanding what effects what **Recommendations to others considering OpenSim:** Opensim is great for academics, learning, and virtual simulation of the body and mechanics. It is a great way to help teach others about the human body. **What problems is OpenSim solving and how is that benefiting you?** I used the OpenSim Program to solve problems and evaluate different simulations. These simulations included models for biomechanics of the human musculoskeletal system with various movements of the body. I have seen benefits in my own learning of the human body and knowledge of the interconnectivity of musculoskeletal biomechanics. I have also seen benefits for teaching others about the body. It is a great tool to teach others about the body and functions of the muscles and how they affect movement. ### 5. Cerebral Palsy Gait Correction **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Adrian B. | Clinical Support Engineer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 27, 2021 **What do you like best about OpenSim?** It was helpful to be able to run two different gait cycles at once to compare defects in muscle activation. The coded models on SimTK were certainly helpful because it allows you to apply already coded models for your specific experiment. **What do you dislike about OpenSim?** I wish there was more help available when downloading and applying coded models. I had issues when downloading some of the models. **What problems is OpenSim solving and how is that benefiting you?** I used OpenSim with my senior design project where my team and I were developing a lower extremity exoskeleton to correct the gait of Cerebral Palsy patients. It was very helpful during the research phase of the project because I was able to get force values and physically see the muscles used in normal gait and compare them to the force values for a person with different classes of Cerebral Palsy. ### 6. Detailed and useful software with cumbersome UI **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Kathan S. | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 09, 2020 **What do you like best about OpenSim?** The degree to which the software can simulate and gather data regarding different muscles in the body and the ability of the software to simulate very complex real-life situations to gather data is impressive. Alos the tutorial provided along with the software are easy to catch up and give a basic gist of operating the software at a novice level. **What do you dislike about OpenSim?** The software needs to have an extensive library of samples for ease of learning and usage. It is difficult for someone not knowing programming to add customized actuators, models and other important part s needed for a customized simulation. The existing library for the software is too narrow and it is difficult to find instances which are really similar and useful, without extra work. This makes the software difficult and cumbersome to use for people not knowing to program. **Recommendations to others considering OpenSim:** Learn HTML and other programming languages properly. Learn a little bit of software development to simulate custom scenes and test cases. Also, go through the given tutorials thoroughly and practice them step by step, understanding each step simultaneously to avoid confusion and mistakes at a later stage. **What problems is OpenSim solving and how is that benefiting you?** I am simulating an exoskeleton actuator that I am creating on the software to replace the soleus muscle on the leg. The major benefit of the software is that it avails the benefits of important data regarding muscles and its actuation which helps in designing and simulating exoskeletons which would be otherwise difficult to obtain with such cost-effectiveness. ### 7. Well structured models for analyzing and simulating human movements with real time data **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Mechanical or Industrial Engineering | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 04, 2020 **What do you like best about OpenSim?** I have used OpenSim for many applications. I was successfully able to integrate the real-time motion with open sim models. That is pretty cool and it helped many people to detect some unusual behaviors. Apart from that, I have used cerebral palsy children's model, tendon transfer surgery simulation, and etc as teaching materials. I am still using it for my research purposes. **What do you dislike about OpenSim?** I didn't quite capture downgrades or dislikes yet but I would like to suggest to implement more models. It will help the community to research more aspects of biomechanics. **What problems is OpenSim solving and how is that benefiting you?** I used it to identify different walking patterns of humans in real-time data. Results are affected to change those incorrect patterns with easy validation proof. I am using models as teaching materials for biomedical students as it helped to investigate more biomechanical movements. Demonstrations with these modules are a lot simpler than explaining. Explaining the procedure in tendon transfer surgery is more helpful with the models. The cerebral palsy children's model is helpful to investigate more on that issue while simulating with real-time data. More biomedical researches can be done through this platform. ### 8. Modeling, Evaluation, and Control Optimization of Exoskeletons with OpenSim **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Prudhvi Tej C. | Senior Research Scientist, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 12, 2020 **What do you like best about OpenSim?** Intuitive musculoskeletal models for running simulations to evaluate the effectiveness of the wearable devices on the walking. It is useful to optimize the design parameters and control strategies of the exoskeleton by analyzing metrics related to metabolic cost and muscle activity. This is the best tool available to run simulations before running real world experiments. **What do you dislike about OpenSim?** It is difficult to integrate custom built objects for new models with already existing musculoskeletal models in the Opensim. For instance, a custom built object for muscle activation is difficult to integrate. However, currently efforts are put to improve this feature. **What problems is OpenSim solving and how is that benefiting you?** Running simulations to evaluate the effectiveness of the wearable knee assistive device on the reduction of metabolic cost and knee muscle activity. These simulations helped to gain insights regarding optimizing the design parameters and control strategies of the knee exoskeleton to improve assistance performance. ### 9. Delineating abnormal coordination patterns in post-stroke gait **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Mechanical or Industrial Engineering | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 05, 2021 **What do you like best about OpenSim?** The most helpful side of OpenSim is its open-source nature. On one hand, this provides a suitable environment for users of the program who have limited experience with coding and software engineering to be able to run simulations using their experimental data, on the other hand, it provides a platform for software developers and advanced users with a variety of capabilities (i.e. physics-based modeling, optimization and customized dynamic simulations) . The other advantage of the OpenSim is the website and the forum which provides access to all the projects developed by other users (mostly open source) and a platform enabling communication for the issues or challenges regarding to individual project. **What do you dislike about OpenSim?** The main downside is the steep learning curve between transitioning from a user to an advanced user/project developer position. It requires a considerable amount of work to develop/customize a simulation framework based on the specific project needs, however, this issue has been addressed over the new versions of the program and become more user-friendly for those with less experience in programming. **What problems is OpenSim solving and how is that benefiting you?** I have used OpenSim for the following objectives: - To understand the abnormal neuromuscular mechanisms observed in post-stroke walking with descriptive simulations generated from the previously collected experimental measures (i.e. motion capture, instrumented treadmill) using the resulting muscle states from the simulations - Running restricted forward simulations with virtual assistive joint torques to assess impairment-specific assistance profiles to avoid abnormal neuromuscular reactions during post-stroke gait. ### 10. use OpenSim to inform design and control of robots that interact with human **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Mechanical or Industrial Engineering | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 22, 2020 **What do you like best about OpenSim?** open source, large community support, allowing developer to make changes for their applications. **What do you dislike about OpenSim?** Sometimes bugs occur with no immediate known reasons. It also requires better configuration of a computer hardware as the visual rendering is quite computationally expensive. The interface with Matlab is very useful but sometimes causes unknown crashes of Matlab. **What problems is OpenSim solving and how is that benefiting you?** I use OpenSim to inform design and control of robots that interact with human. It helps me design, for example, a spine exoskeleton in the past where I used OpenSim to figure out the optimal loading onto the human back during sagittal-plane lifting. I have also used it to test evolutionary algorithm to perform forward biomechanical simulations. ### 11. OpenSim review from a researcher with a PhD in Biomechanics and Soft Robotics **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Biotechnology | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 05, 2021 **What do you like best about OpenSim?** Opensource musculoskeletal models Easy editing and combining the musculoskeletal models using XML and the scripting Fast static optimization Great view and easy interaction **What do you dislike about OpenSim?** Difficult to troubleshoot XML models. New tools should be included for this purpose Slow dynamic optimization such as computed muscle control (CMC) **What problems is OpenSim solving and how is that benefiting you?** Modelling, simulation and analysis of assistive suits for the human body. I use Opensim to assess the assistance capabilities and safe application of the soft suit design using a series of biomechanical models of the designs united with human musculoskeletal models. ### 12. Simple but poweful software for modelling **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Cian W. | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 04, 2021 **What do you like best about OpenSim?** OpenSim is a powerful tool for modeling of bio mechanics in various situations. Provides good insight and tutorials. Easy to use once used to software. **What do you dislike about OpenSim?** Difficult to find online help. Long learning curve for what is ultimately an easy to use software **Recommendations to others considering OpenSim:** Try to understand how to use the software (both theoretically and practically) prior to attempting to solve your problem. **What problems is OpenSim solving and how is that benefiting you?** Modelling of the dynamics of a rugby tackle. Insight into the internal loading of the player. Has comparison with inverse dynamics modelling. ### 13. OpenSim software for my Ph.D. thesis **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Eswara Sai Kumar K. | Institute Pre-doctoral scholar, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 04, 2020 **What do you like best about OpenSim?** Help documentation of OpenSim is well described. **What do you dislike about OpenSim?** The OpenSim models which are freely available on the website do not provide all supporting documents. **Recommendations to others considering OpenSim:** Please allow the users to download all the supporting files along with the model. **What problems is OpenSim solving and how is that benefiting you?** I have used OpenSim to calculate the muscle forces on pelvic bone. ### 14. Great tool for the right application **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Mechanical or Industrial Engineering | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 07, 2020 **What do you like best about OpenSim?** The open source platform and community are the best features. Everyone is willing to help and share ideas and knowledge learned over the years. **What do you dislike about OpenSim?** There can be a steep learning curve to learn the software if you’ve never used it before and don’t have someone to show you. Also difficult to learn new applications unless you have help from the open source community **Recommendations to others considering OpenSim:** Learn from someone who has experience! **What problems is OpenSim solving and how is that benefiting you?** I was studying muscle activation patterns and joint loading during running. ### 15. A very good simulation tool for forward dynamic optimizations **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Nithin K. | Computer Vision Engineer, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 08, 2021 **What do you like best about OpenSim?** The open-source 3D models and the simulation platform, kinematic and kinetic simulations. Also the optimizations tools available. **What do you dislike about OpenSim?** For developers, the coding part might be challenging if not using the user interface. **Recommendations to others considering OpenSim:** Nice tool if you are working in biomechanics field. **What problems is OpenSim solving and how is that benefiting you?** I used openSim to make 3D forward dynamic simulations along with optimizations. Also used to determine muscle activations and related muscle forces. ### 16. estimation of inverse dynamics from C3d data using Opensim **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Research | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 02, 2021 **What do you like best about OpenSim?** Being OpenSim and easy to edit XML code makes it very easy to edit and a lot of data that is in OpenSim page is quite useful **What do you dislike about OpenSim?** It is not possible to add any solid work file as such in Opensim. If this feature is provided it will be helpful to analyse the inverse dynamics when any assistive device is worn by the subject **What problems is OpenSim solving and how is that benefiting you?** I have tried to use opensim to calculate inverse dynamics from c3d data without writing any code . I am using opensim to validate the results with Gait lab ### 17. A awesome platform to simulate Neuro Muscular models **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** DIBYANARAYAN H. | Technical Support Engineer, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 27, 2020 **What do you like best about OpenSim?** Adaptability and development model guidelines are the best. **What do you dislike about OpenSim?** Still searching for it. Actually there is nothing at this moment as of my work and my group work concern. **Recommendations to others considering OpenSim:** It is very helpful biomedical product simulation. **What problems is OpenSim solving and how is that benefiting you?** I was modelling cerebral palsy children's model to analysis GRF and other muscle force during Gait and compare that with real life data. The main aim to develop a robotic assistance gait trainer. ### 18. OpenSim for biomechanical modelling **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Raman S. | Data Analyst, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 08, 2020 **What do you like best about OpenSim?** Widely available musculoskeletal model in opensim **What do you dislike about OpenSim?** Customisation of musculoskeletal model could have been better and proper documentation **Recommendations to others considering OpenSim:** Please read documentation first and refer some paper before using opensim **What problems is OpenSim solving and how is that benefiting you?** Modelling of human arm for point to point motion ### 19. I used in few of my courses and it was a good experience, but it crashed few times while using it. **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Medical Devices | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 26, 2020 **What do you like best about OpenSim?** It is specialized for biomechanics field. **What do you dislike about OpenSim?** Crashes many times while using it which makes redoing the work very likely to happen. **Recommendations to others considering OpenSim:** Try to learn about the software and the different commands before starting solving your problem because it would be confusing the find the commands sometimes. **What problems is OpenSim solving and how is that benefiting you?** I used it in my biomechanics courses and it helped in simulating and analyzing human movement. We had to compare its results with matlab simulations, and OpenSim was easier to use. ### 20. It's the best musculoskeletal simulator for human bodies. **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Alternative Medicine | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 21, 2020 **What do you like best about OpenSim?** There are plenty of plugins that could be used. Inverse dynamics , scale the model, display 2 kinematics. **What do you dislike about OpenSim?** The Graphical User Interface doesn't work for the linux distributions and i should create windows environment on virtual box **What problems is OpenSim solving and how is that benefiting you?** Modeling pathological gait resulting from motor impairment ### 21. OpenSim for biomechanical analysis **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Higher Education | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 17, 2018 **What do you like best about OpenSim?** The clear visuals on the model that allow you to see real time effects. **What do you dislike about OpenSim?** Some of the different commands are confusing to find in the menu, I had to look up where to find them in online tutorials. **What problems is OpenSim solving and how is that benefiting you?** I have been able to successfully model mechanical movements of large areas of the body like hips, legs, and knees. ### 22. OpenSim is Opensource **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Avinash K. | FEA Specialist, Mechanical or Industrial Engineering, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 19, 2017 **What do you like best about OpenSim?** I have used this modeling the MEM which are tiny in size and needs to be properly analyses to get the most out of the design. OpenSim enables a wide range of studies including surgical procedures and joint loads. **What do you dislike about OpenSim?** The interface isn't quite slick and seems dated. It will updated and I am waiting to try. **What problems is OpenSim solving and how is that benefiting you?** Used OpenSim to simulate micro electro mechanical device for biomedical application. ## OpenSim Discussions - [kjkjhkjhj](https://www.g2.com/discussions/35492-kjkjhkjhj) - 1 comment, 1 upvote - [Can I use it for developing a new software?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/34968-can-i-use-it-for-developing-a-new-software) - 1 comment, 1 upvote - [What is the easiest was to scale a model?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/34764-what-is-the-easiest-was-to-scale-a-model) - 1 comment, 1 upvote - [View OpenSim pricing details and edition comparison](https://www.g2.com/products/opensim/reviews?section=pricing&secure%5Bexpires_at%5D=2026-07-08+16%3A48%3A35+-0500&secure%5Bsession_id%5D=8013e814-50f8-4531-b3aa-0413cead8968&secure%5Btoken%5D=794104e8590b50ba889b1d65f531a91e5d678a9ac17c35651df4bd4e62b3537e&format=llm_user) ## OpenSim Features **Design** - 3D/solid modeling Tools - Drawing Tools - Editing Tools - Rendering tools **Tools** - Fluid analysis - Finite element analysis - Multibody dynamics **Work** - Discrete event modeling - Continuous event modeling - Mechanical event simulation - Manufacturing process simulation - Integrate **Environment** - Hardware support - Task - Manage Multiple Profiles - Command Clarity ## Top OpenSim Alternatives - [MATLAB](https://www.g2.com/products/matlab/reviews) - 4.5/5.0 (749 reviews) - [SOLIDWORKS](https://www.g2.com/products/solidworks/reviews) - 4.5/5.0 (628 reviews) - [Inventor](https://www.g2.com/products/inventor/reviews) - 4.4/5.0 (423 reviews)