List of finite element software packages
This is a list of notable software packages that implement the finite element method for solving partial differential equations.
| Software | Features | Developer | Version | Released | License | Price | Platform |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| agros | Multiplatform open source application for the solution of physical problems based on the deal.II library | University of West Bohemia | 2025 | 2025-06-06 | GNU GPL | Free | Linux, Windows |
| CalculiX | It is an Open Source FEA project. The solver uses a partially compatible ABAQUS file format. The pre/post-processor generates input data for many FEA and CFD applications | Guido Dhondt, Klaus Wittig | 2.20 | 2022-08-01 | GNU GPL | Free | Linux, Windows |
| DIANA FEA | General purpose finite element package utilised by civil, structural and geotechnical engineers. | DIANA FEA BV, The Netherlands | 10.1 | 2016-11-14 | Proprietary commercial software | Paid | Windows, Linux |
| deal.II | Comprehensive set of tools for finite element codes, scaling from laptops to clusters with 100,000+ cores. Written in C++, it supports all widely used finite element types, serial and parallel meshes, and h and hp adaptivity. | deal.II developer team | 9.7 | 2025-07-22 | LGPL | Free | Linux, Unix, Mac OS X, Windows |
| DUNE | Distributed and Unified Numerics Environment, written in C++ | DUNE Developer team | 2.4.1 | 2016-02-29 | GPL Version 2 with Run-Time Exception | Free | Linux, Unix, Mac OS X |
| Elmer FEM | Open source multiphysical simulation software developed by Finnish Ministry of Education's CSC, written primarily in Fortran (written in Fortran90, C and C++) | CSC | 8.2 | 2021-03-04 | GPL | Free | Linux, Mac OS X, Windows |
| FEBio | Finite Elements for Biomechanics | University of Utah (MRL), Columbia University (MBL) | 3.7 | June, 2022 | MIT | Free | Linux, Mac OS X, Windows |
| FEniCS Project | Software package developed by American and European researchers with the goal to enable automated solution of differential equations | FEniCS Team | 1.6.0 | 2015-07-29 | LGPL (Core) & GPL/LGPL (Non-Core) | Free | Linux, Unix, Mac OS X, Windows |
| FEATool Multiphysics | MATLAB FEM and PDE multiphysics simulation toolbox | Precise Simulation | 1.10 | 2019-05-17 | Proprietary EULA | Free for personal use | Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Unix |
| Flexcom | FEA software used in offshore oil and gas and offshore wind energy | John Wood Group plc | 2025.1.2 | March 2025 | Proprietary commercial software | Free student edition available | Windows |
| FreeFEM | FreeFEM is a free and open-source parallel FEA software for multiphysics simulations. The problems are defined in terms of their variational formulation and can be easily implemented using FreeFEM language. Written in C++. | Sorbonne University and Jacques-Louis Lions Laboratory | 4.2.1 | 2019-06-06 | LGPL | Free | Linux, MacOS, Windows, Solaris |
| GOMA | GOMA is an open-source, parallel, and scalable multiphysics software package for modeling and simulation of real-life physical processes, with a basis in computational fluid dynamics for problems with evolving geometry. | Sandia National Laboratories, University of New Mexico | 6.1 | Aug 28, 2015 | GPL Version 2 | Free | Linux |
| GetFEM++ | A generic finite element library written in C++ with interfaces for Python, Matlab and Scilab. It focuses on modeling of contact mechanics and discontinuities (e.g. cracks). | Yves Renard, Julien Pommier | 5.4.2 | 2022-07 | LGPL | Free | Unix, Mac OS X, Windows |
| Hermes Project | Modular C/C++ library for rapid development of space- and space-time adaptive hp-FEM solvers | hp-FEM group | 3.0 | 2014-03-01 | LGPL | Free | Linux, Unix, Mac OS X, Windows |
| Mathematica | General purpose computation software. | Wolfram Research | 14.3.0 (August 5, 2025) [±] | Regularly | Proprietary | Linux, Mac OS X, Windows, Raspbian, Online service. | |
| MATLAB Partial Differential Equation Toolbox | MATLAB Toolbox for solving structural, thermal, electromagnetics, and other general PDEs | MathWorks | 3.3 (R2019b) | 2019-09-11 | Proprietary commercial software | Linux, Mac OS X, Windows | |
| MFEM | MFEM is a free, lightweight, scalable C++ library for finite element methods that features arbitrary high-order finite element meshes and spaces, support for a wide variety of discretizations, and emphasis on usability, generality, and high-performance computing efficiency. | MFEM team | 4.9 | 2025-12-11 | BSD | Free | Linux, Unix, Mac OS X, Windows |
| MoFEM JosePH | Mesh Oriented hp-FE code, written in C++ | University of Glasgow | 0.6.8 | 2017-11-16 | LGPL | Free | Unix, Mac OS X |
| MOOSE | Object Oriented FE framework, written in C++ | Idaho National Laboratory | regularly | LGPL | Free | Unix, Mac OS X | |
| OOFEM | Object Oriented Finite EleMent solver, written in C++ | Bořek Patzák | 2.5 | 2017-12-30 | GPL Version 2 | Free | Unix, Windows |
| OpenSees | Open System for Earthquake Engineering Simulation | 3.3.0 | 2021-05-24 | Non Commercial | Free | Unix, Linux, Windows, Mac OS X | |
| SESAM (FEM) | Software suite for structural and hydrodynamic analysis of ships and offshore structures | DNV GL | regularly | Proprietary, SaaS | Windows, Web browser | ||
| Z88/Z88Aurora | Freeware finite element package; The present version Z88Aurora V5 offers, in addition to static strength analysis modules such as non-linear strength calculations (large displacements), simulations with non-linear materials, natural frequency, static thermal analysis and a contact module. | Frank Rieg | Z88 V15, Z88Aurora V5 | 2017-07-17, 2019-04-01 | GNU GPL, Custom | Free | Linux, Windows, Mac OS X |
| Abaqus | Advanced Franco-USA software from SIMULIA, owned by Dassault Systèmes | Abaqus Inc. | 2023 | 2022-11 | Proprietary commercial software | Free learning edition available, up to 1000 nodes | Linux, Windows |
| CONSELF | CAE simulation from your browser | CONSELF SRL | 2.9 | 2015-10 | SaaS | Freemium | Web browser |
| FreeCAD | Parametric 3D modeler with a FEM workbench allowing it to use external solvers like CalculiX, Z88, Elmer, and OpenFOAM | FreeCAD Team | 0.20.1 | 10 August 2022 | LGPL 2 | Free | Linux, Windows, Mac OS X |
| ADINA | Finite element software for structural, fluid, heat transfer, electromagnetic, and multiphysics problems, including fluid-structure interaction and thermo-mechanical coupling | Adina R&D | Proprietary commercial software | ||||
| Autodesk Simulation | Finite Element software of Autodesk | Autodesk | Proprietary commercial software | Windows | |||
| ANSYS | US-based and -developed full CAE software package | Ansys Inc. | 2022 R2 | 2022-07-28 | Proprietary commercial software | Free student version available, up to 32,000 nodes/elements | Windows, Linux |
| COMSOL Multiphysics | COMSOL Multiphysics Finite Element Analysis Software (formerly FEMLAB) | COMSOL Inc. | 6.1 | 2022-11-01 | Proprietary EULA | Linux, Mac OS X, Windows, Web browser | |
| CosmosWorks | Part of SolidWorks | Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp. | Proprietary commercial software | Windows | |||
| Quickfield | EM, Heat Transfer and Stress Analysis | Tera Analysis Ltd | 6.4 | 2020-04-17 | Proprietary EULA | Free Student Edition available | Windows |
| Pam Crash | Best used for explicit dynamics / crash analysis | ESI | 15.5.1 | 2020-03-05 | Proprietary commercial software | Linux, Windows | |
| LS-DYNA | Best known for explicit dynamics / crash analysis | LSTC - Livermore Software Technology Corporation | R10.1 | 2020 | Proprietary commercial software | Linux, Windows | |
| Mecway | Structural, heat transfer, electrostatic, acoustic | Mecway Limited | 20.0 | 2023-07 | Proprietary commercial software | Free edition available, up to 1000 nodes | Windows |
| Nastran | Originally developed for NASA, now available commercially from several software companies | MSC NASTRAN, Siemens PLM NX Nastran | 2014 | 2014 | Proprietary EULA | Linux, Mac OS X, Windows | |
| RFEM | 3D finite element analysis software | Dlubal Software | 6.04.0005 | 2023-10-30 | Proprietary commercial software | Free student license available | Windows |
| SimScale | German 100% web-based CAE platform | SimScale GmbH | 14 | 2013-07 | SaaS | Free community version available | Web browser |
| VisualFEA | Finite element software for structural, geotechnical, heat transfer and seepage analysis | Intuition Software | 5.11 | 2016-01 | Proprietary software | Free educational version available | Mac OS X, Windows |
| JCMsuite | Finite element software for the analysis of electromagnetic waves, elasticity and heat conduction | JCMwave GmbH | 5.4.3 | 2023-03-09 | Proprietary EULA | Linux, Windows | |
| Radioss | Best known for explicit dynamics simulations | Altair Engineering | Proprietary commercial software; OpenRadioss: AGPL-3.0 | Open-source version (OpenRadioss) available | Linux, Windows | ||
| JMAG | 2D and 3D finite element analysis software for electromagnetic field, thermal, structural | JSOL | 18.1 | 2019-06 | Proprietary commercial software | Education pack available | Linux, Windows, Web browser |