HOOPS Exchange vs meshio

HOOPS Exchange is a C++ SDK for adding 2D and 3D CAD import and export to applications through one API. It gives development teams access to B-REP geometry, PMI, model trees, views, persistent IDs, styles, construction geometry, and visualization data. The product lists more than 30 import formats and more than 10 export formats, including CATIA, NX, SOLIDWORKS, Revit, IFC, JT, STEP, STL, and FBX. HOOPS Exchange uses PRC for data access and says it preserves geometry accuracy and data integrity; the maker says files can be compressed up to 100 times smaller than the original CAD files. The SDK integrates with Parasolid and lists connections to ACIS, Open Cascade, Polygonica, HOOPS Visualize, OpenGL, DirectX, Vulkan, Unity, and Unreal. APIs are available for C, C++, and C#. Windows, Linux, and macOS are listed, with limited functionality on iOS and Android. A free 60-day evaluation offers full access and technical expert support, but evaluation keys expire at the end of the period and cannot be used for production software.

meshio is free, MIT-licensed software for reading and writing unstructured mesh files and converting among supported formats. Its format coverage includes Abaqus, ANSYS msh, CGNS, Gmsh, STL, VTK, VTU, and XDMF. A Python API reads meshes, exposes points and cells, and writes them in a selected format. The command-line tool converts, inspects, compresses, decompresses, and switches files between ASCII and binary forms. XDMF support handles time series that use one shared mesh. A ParaView plugin opens meshio-supported files after installation when ParaView uses the matching Python major version. Installation is documented through pip and conda-forge. Some formats need optional netCDF4 and h5py dependencies from the all extra. meshio specifies Python 3.8 or later and supports Windows, macOS, and Linux. Project metadata targets science, engineering, and scientific research.