FeenoX vs Open Source Physics
FeenoX
seamplex.comOpen Source Physics
compadre.orgSide by side
| Figure | FeenoX | Open Source Physics |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 2 | 0 |
| Spec score · Physics Simulation Software | 8.8 (#3) | 8.1 (#27) |
| Audience | Official pages present FeenoX for industry engineers, Unix hackers and academic professors, with advanced users as the target audience. | OSP describes its project as a group of physicists and educators providing computer-based curricular resources for students. |
| Authoring tools | Yes | Yes |
| Data export | Yes | Yes |
| Delivery mode | desktop | hybrid |
| Lesson library | No | Yes |
| License | FeenoX is distributed under the GNU General Public License version 3 or any later version, with freedom to use, modify and redistribute it under the license terms. | OSP source and compiled code may be used under GNU GPL version 2 or any later version; associated curricular narratives may have separate copyrights or licenses. |
| Offline access | Yes | Yes |
| Purpose | FeenoX is a cloud-first computational engineering tool for solving engineering problems with one or many computers in parallel. | The OSP Collection provides curriculum resources that engage students in physics, computation, and computer modeling. |
| Support | The project directs users to GitHub Discussions for help and GitHub Issues for bug reporting. | OSP directs users to its feedback form or [email protected] for staff contact, and lists a technical questions discussion link. |
| 3D visuals | Yes | Yes |
Plans
In their own words
FeenoX
FeenoX is free, open-source computational engineering software for solving mathematical and engineering problems, including work across computers in parallel. It handles ODEs and DAEs, along with finite-element problems such as heat conduction, thermo-mechanical analysis, modal analysis, neutron diffusion, and neutron transport. Users describe problems in self-descriptive, English-like plain-text input files, so changes do not require recompiling. FeenoX reads Gmsh meshes and writes results in Gmsh MSH or ParaView VTK/VTU formats. It uses GNU GSL, SUNDIALS, PETSc, and SLEPc for computational tasks, and supports MPI parallelization. Installation options include Debian or Ubuntu packages, source tarballs, the GitHub repository, and generic statically linked GNU/Linux binaries. Ubuntu packages are available from version 25.04 onward. The generic binaries omit MUMPS and MPI and use basic optimization flags. FeenoX has no graphical interface, targets GNU/Linux, and is not expected to run in Windows. Browser access is available through interfaces such as SunCAE and CAEplex.
Open Source Physics
Open Source Physics is a free, open-source resource for physics learning and teaching. It offers a lesson library and authoring tools, with 3D visuals, offline access, and data export. The combination supports both browsing learning materials and creating them. Its listed platforms are web, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android, and its delivery mode is hybrid. Offline access is specifically listed, alongside the web and desktop and mobile platforms. The project is listed as founded in 2002, as is its maker, Open Source Physics. The pricing model is free, and the pricing note identifies the resource as open source. Data export is included among its capabilities. Readers can weigh the library and authoring tools against its broad range of platform options when considering it for physics education.