OpenFOAM
Free, open source computational fluid dynamics software for simulating fluid flow, heat transfer, and related physics in product design and research.
What it does and how it connects
OpenFOAM is free, open source computational fluid dynamics software for simulating fluid flow, heat transfer, and related physics. It is written in C++, licensed under GPL v3, and distributed by The OpenFOAM Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation, with development by CFD Direct.
It calculates fluid motion and forces, heat transfer, thermodynamics, and chemistry in fluids and solids, as an alternative to experiments. It is used across chemical and process engineering, civil and environmental engineering, mechanical engineering including automotive, marine, and aerospace, and other fields including agriculture and mining.
The Foundation distribution is currently OpenFOAM v14, and the software runs natively on Linux, on Windows through the Windows Subsystem for Linux, and on macOS through Canonical Multipass, using Ubuntu packages. The GitHub repository used here is the Foundation development repository, which publishes no GitHub releases.
No GitHub releases exist, so latest release fields are null.
Alternatives
Compare side by side- FreeCAD
FreeCAD is a parametric 3D modeler with an experimental CFD workbench, rather than a dedicated computational fluid dynamics solver.
- LTspice
LTspice is a free SPICE simulator from Analog Devices for analog circuits, rather than a fluid dynamics solver.
- ngspice
ngspice is the open-source SPICE simulator for electric and electronic circuits, driven by netlists and the command line.
- Proteus
Proteus is a design suite from Labcenter that combines schematic capture and PCB layout with circuit and microcontroller simulation.
Sources
Not verified
- Real user voices: no real linked post read for this page; recent repository activity is contributor pull requests.
- Related Error Index entries: no entry with software OpenFOAM was verified.
Last verified November 6, 2026. Listings are informational. The evidence score measures public, verifiable evidence and is not an endorsement or a compatibility claim.