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SALOME vs PrePoMax: catalog facts
SALOME	PrePoMax
Best for: Engineers preparing meshes and post-processing numerical simulations	Best for: Engineers and students running structural FEM simulations with CalculiX
Free Free and open source.	Free Free and open source.
Windows, Linux	Windows
Parametric geometry, meshing and visualization in one platform Interpolates fields between different meshes All 4 strengths for SALOME Parametric geometry, meshing and visualization in one platform Interpolates fields between different meshes Regular public releases from CEA, EDF and OPEN CASCADE Base for domain-specific simulation applications	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
Specialised for simulation work rather than general design Steep learning curve for newcomers to meshing and simulation	Limited to the CalculiX solver Requires knowledge of finite element analysis
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License not stated	License not stated
No account needed	Not stated if an account is needed
Offline features available	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Sources for SALOME salome-platform.org Catalog checked September 23, 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.