Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Autodesk Fluid Flow VS OpenFOAM

Compare Autodesk Fluid Flow VS OpenFOAM and see what are their differences

Autodesk Fluid Flow logo Autodesk Fluid Flow

Autodesk Fluid Flow is an industry-leading fluid dynamics software that helps to enhance product performance and reliability.

OpenFOAM logo OpenFOAM

OpenFOAM® - Official home of The Open Source Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Toolbox.
  • Autodesk Fluid Flow Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-08-01
  • OpenFOAM Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-08-02

Autodesk Fluid Flow features and specs

  • Advanced Simulation Capabilities
    Autodesk Fluid Flow provides advanced tools for simulating fluid dynamics, thermal, and turbulence effects with precision, allowing for detailed analysis in engineering projects.
  • Cloud-Based Access
    Being cloud-based, it enables users to access high-performance computational resources without the need for expensive local hardware setups, facilitating collaboration and scalability.
  • User-Friendly Interface
    The software is designed with an intuitive interface that reduces the learning curve, making it accessible to both new and experienced engineers.
  • Integration with Autodesk Portfolio
    Seamless integration with other Autodesk products allows for a smooth workflow and efficient data exchange across different stages of design and analysis.

Possible disadvantages of Autodesk Fluid Flow

  • Subscription Cost
    The subscription-based pricing model might be costly for small businesses or individual users compared to one-time purchase options of competing software.
  • Internet Dependency
    As a cloud-based solution, it requires a stable internet connection to function, which could be a limitation in areas with poor connectivity.
  • Complexity for Beginners
    Despite a user-friendly interface, the complexity of some advanced features can still be overwhelming for beginners without proper training.
  • Limited Offline Capabilities
    Since it relies heavily on cloud infrastructure, its offline capabilities are limited, which could hinder work in remote or restricted-access environments.

OpenFOAM features and specs

  • Open Source
    OpenFOAM is free to use and its source code is openly available under the GPL license, allowing for extensive customization and transparency in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations.
  • Extensibility
    Users can extend and modify the functionality of OpenFOAM to suit specific needs or integrate new algorithms, making it highly adaptable to various projects and research requirements.
  • Community and Support
    A robust community of users and developers contributes to forums, documentation, and collaboration, providing substantial peer support and shared knowledge.
  • Versatility
    OpenFOAM supports a wide range of physical models and simulation types, from simple incompressible flow to complex multiphase flows and chemical reactions, making it suitable for diverse applications.
  • Parallel Computing
    Optimized for parallel processing, OpenFOAM can run efficiently on high-performance computing systems, thereby handling large-scale simulations effectively.

Possible disadvantages of OpenFOAM

  • Steep Learning Curve
    OpenFOAM requires a significant investment of time to learn and master, as it involves understanding complex physics, programming concepts, and software-specific syntaxes.
  • Limited GUI
    Unlike some commercial CFD software, OpenFOAM lacks a sophisticated graphical user interface (GUI), necessitating users to rely on command-line input and scripting for setup and execution of simulations.
  • Documentation Quality
    Although community-driven, the documentation can sometimes be incomplete or outdated, making it challenging for new users to find reliable and up-to-date instructions and tutorials.
  • Performance Variation
    Performance and stability can vary depending on the specific simulation setup and hardware used, which may require users to conduct extensive testing and optimization.
  • Dependency Management
    Installing and maintaining OpenFOAM and its dependencies can be complex, often requiring specific versions of libraries and compilers to ensure compatibility and optimal performance.

Autodesk Fluid Flow videos

No Autodesk Fluid Flow videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

Add video

OpenFOAM videos

What is OpenFoam? | Skill-Lync

More videos:

  • Tutorial - How to run your first simulation in OpenFOAM® - Part 1 - tutorial
  • Tutorial - CFD tutorial for beginners | What is OpenFOAM? | SKILL-LYNC

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Autodesk Fluid Flow and OpenFOAM)
Technical Computing
32 32%
68% 68
Numerical Computation
31 31%
69% 69
Simulation Software
47 47%
53% 53
CFD
26 26%
74% 74

User comments

Share your experience with using Autodesk Fluid Flow and OpenFOAM. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, OpenFOAM seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 19 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Autodesk Fluid Flow mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Autodesk Fluid Flow yet. Tracking of Autodesk Fluid Flow recommendations started around Aug 2021.

OpenFOAM mentions (19)

  • OpenFOAM on Debian 12
    In openfoam.org, there is not compiled binaries for Debian (any version). So one should install it using docker (I prefer to do not use it) or by compiling the code from the source. I consider compiling from source, but I do prefer binaries. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Please help me get running OpenFOAM
    Hello I am a mechanical engineering student in my last year. So I made the wisest decision to learn OpenFOAM. But there is the catch. I have no idea how to use Linux or how to emulate Linux on Windows 10. I found a lot of videos on Youtube how to download an start OpenFOAM but every one of them was using different methods each time so I got confused. Can anyone please help or direct me? Thank you for your answers... Source: about 2 years ago
  • Step by Step (Written not Video) Tutorial for FEM with Air
    As far as air flow simulation, I got slightly farther with Open Foam than I did in FreeCAD directly. Still, I got in way over my skill level and stopped before getting anything useful. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Open source FEA tools instead of ANSYS Workbench and APDL
    There are two versions of openfoam, one closed source (which is the one I linked to in my original comment, my apologies about that) and the open source version. But what you're describing makes it sound like fenics might be your best option. Source: over 2 years ago
  • command not found and looping
    I suggest you install per the instructions at openfoam.com or openfoam.org instead of using apt. Source: over 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Autodesk Fluid Flow and OpenFOAM, you can also consider the following products

ANSYS Fluent - ANSYS engineering simulation and 3D design software delivers product modeling solutions with unmatched scalability and a comprehensive multiphysics foundation.

Simscale CFD - SimScale CFD is a cloud-based leading CAE platform that offers access to CFD, FEA, and thermodynamics simulation capabilities 100% via a standard web browser.

MATLAB - A high-level language and interactive environment for numerical computation, visualization, and programming

FEATool Multiphysics - FEATool Multiphysics is a fully integrated Finite Element FEM CAE simulation toolbox for Matlab.

Wolfram Mathematica - Mathematica has characterized the cutting edge in specialized processing—and gave the chief calculation environment to a large number of pioneers, instructors, understudies, and others around the globe.

CFDTool - An Easy to Use MATLAB Computational Fluid Dynamics CFD Simulation GUI Toolbox