| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Physics Simulation Software | 8.6 (#12) | 8.1 (#28) |
| Authoring tools | Yes | Yes |
| Data export | Yes | Yes |
| Delivery mode | desktop | hybrid |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Installation | The maker provides a pip installation command and an editable installation path for development. | PySDM is available from PyPI and can be installed with pip; the documentation also gives instructions for installing from a local Git checkout. |
| Intended users | The project describes FDTDX as freely usable for research, development, and commercial work involving photonic nanostructures. | The package is intended as a building block for simulation systems involving dispersed phases, with development focused on atmospheric cloud physics applications. |
| Lesson library | No | Yes |
| Purpose | FDTDX is an open-source Python package for simulating and designing three-dimensional photonic nanostructures with the Finite-Difference Time-Domain method. | PySDM simulates particle populations undergoing diffusional and collisional growth and breakage, with a focus on atmospheric cloud physics and aerosol, cloud, and rain microphysics. |
| Support | The FAQ invites users to open GitHub discussions for unanswered questions and issues for suspected bugs, and says the maintainers regularly check discussions. | The project recommends GitHub Discussions for help understanding, using, and extending PySDM, and its GitHub issue tracker for reporting incorrect or undocumented behavior. |