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Ansys Student vs PrePoMax: catalog facts
Ansys Student	PrePoMax
Best for: Engineering students learning finite element and fluid simulation	Best for: Engineers and students running structural FEM simulations with CalculiX
Free Student licenses are provided free of charge.	Free Free and open source.
Windows	Windows
Free access to professional engineering simulation software Covers structural, fluid and electronics analysis All 3 strengths for Ansys Student Free access to professional engineering simulation software Covers structural, fluid and electronics analysis Backed by free courses, tutorials and a learning forum	Graphical front end for the CalculiX solver Imports CAD exchange formats and STL files All 4 strengths for PrePoMax Graphical front end for the CalculiX solver Imports CAD exchange formats and STL files Netgen and Gmsh meshing, including hexahedral elements Animated 3D result fields and 2D history plots
Intended for students and learning, not commercial projects Student editions are more limited than the commercial products	Limited to the CalculiX solver Requires knowledge of finite element analysis
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Not open source	Open source
License: Proprietary	License not stated
Not stated if an account is needed	Not stated if an account is needed
Not stated if it works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Sources for Ansys Student ansys.synopsys.com/academic/students Catalog checked October 2, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Sources for PrePoMax prepomax.fs.um.si Catalog checked October 1, 2026

“Not stated” means we have not confirmed it. Features can vary by device and plan.