Comparison › Solutions › openEMS
openEMS
Free and open-source FDTD electromagnetic solver. The model, mesh and post-processing are written as MATLAB/Octave or Python scripts.
| Vendor | Open source (GPL) · website |
|---|---|
| Method | FDTD |
| Geometry | 3D |
| Platforms | Windows, Linux, macOS |
| GPU | No (multi-threaded CPU) |
| Board import | Via scripts or third-party converters |
| Price | Free |
| Free option | Yes |
| Best for | Engineers comfortable with scripting (MATLAB/Octave or Python) who want a free, accurate 3D solver |
Strengths
- Free and open source
- Accurate 3D full-wave FDTD
- Large community and many examples
Limits
- No graphical model editor: everything is a script
- Mesh must be designed by hand
- No board import out of the box
Compare with
LW RF Studio · Ansys HFSS · CST Studio Suite · Altair Feko · Keysight ADS (Momentum, RFPro) · Cadence AWR Microwave Office (AXIEM) · Sonnet Suites · COMSOL Multiphysics (RF Module) · MATLAB Antenna Toolbox · 4nec2 (NEC-2) · MEEP