FEATool Multiphysics vs FEST-3D
FEATool Multiphysics
featool.comFEST-3D
fest3d.github.ioSide by side
| Figure | FEATool Multiphysics | FEST-3D |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 3 | 1 |
| Spec score · Physics Simulation Software | 8.6 (#10) | 8.6 (#11) |
| Authoring tools | Yes | Yes |
| Data export | Yes | Yes |
| Delivery mode | desktop | desktop |
| Downloads | FEATool is available as a standalone Windows or Linux desktop app and as a MATLAB toolbox for Windows, Linux, and Intel Mac; standalone macOS is unavailable. | The solver source is available from GitHub, while tutorials are in a separate repository included as a submodule. |
| Intended users | The maker describes the product for engineers, researchers, teachers, and students in industry and academia. | The project describes its team as students from the Department of Aerospace Engineering at IIT Madras, and its tutorials are provided for learning and verification. |
| Lesson library | Yes | Yes |
| Purpose | FEATool Multiphysics is an engineering simulation toolbox for modeling and solving physics problems. | FEST-3D is a Fortran 90 finite-volume solver for Navier–Stokes equations on structured grids, developed for aerodynamic flow problems. |
| Support | Limited free help is available through the public community forum, with dedicated developer support available as an add-on. | The homepage lists [email protected] as the project contact email. |
| 3D visuals | Yes | Yes |
| Visualization | Results can be exported as interactive ParaView Glance and Plotly web models. | The solver writes VTK or Tecplot output, and the documentation names VisIt, ParaView, and Tecplot as tools for visualizing results. |
Plans
FEATool Multiphysics
- Default free trial licenseFree
- 1-Year licensePrice not published
- Perpetual licensePrice not published
In their own words
FEATool Multiphysics
FEATool Multiphysics is desktop software for engineering simulation, with tools to model and solve problems across heat transfer, mass transport, structural mechanics, fluid dynamics, and electromagnetics. Models can be built in 1D, 2D, or 3D, including axisymmetric configurations. Geometry tools support modeling and exchange in STEP, IGES, STL, and OBJ formats; meshes can be generated with built-in tools or Gmsh, Netgen, tetWild, and Triangle. FEATool connects its solvers with OpenFOAM, SU2, FEniCS, and redbKIT workflows. Interface actions map to MATLAB functions, and projects can be saved as MATLAB scripts or exported as Python scripts for FEniCS. Results can be exported to MATLAB, CSV, GMV, and VTK, or as interactive ParaView Glance and Plotly web models. It runs as a standalone app on Windows and Linux, or as a MATLAB toolbox on Windows, Linux, and Intel Mac; no standalone macOS app is available. A limited-functionality trial is offered, with full-feature trials requestable for 30 days.
FEST-3D
FEST-3D is a Fortran 90 finite-volume computational fluid dynamics solver for Navier–Stokes flow problems on structured grids, developed for aerodynamics. It handles incompressible and compressible flows, including inviscid, laminar, transitional and turbulent cases. Users can select among flux schemes, reconstruction methods, time-integration options, turbulence models and transition models. MPI distributes computations across processors on one or more machines. The solver is free and open source under the GNU General Public License version 3.0, with source available from GitHub. Its installation script supports Ubuntu/Debian, CentOS and macOS, while manual installation instructions cover Linux. Building requires a Fortran compiler, an MPI library, CMake and Make. Tutorials in a separate repository address verification cases such as a smooth bump, lid-driven cavity, flat plates and an airfoil. FEST-3D writes VTK or Tecplot output for separate visualization tools. Grid generation and post-processing are outside the solver, and the project notes its halt/stop condition does not work with MPI.