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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Solid Edge

    Score9.1 out of 10
    N/ASolid Edge is a software solutions for product development — 3D design, simulation, manufacturing, data management, and cloud collaboration. Solid Edge aims to combine the speed and simplicity of direct modeling with the flexibility and control of parametric design.

    $110

    per month

    SimScale

    Score8 out of 10
    N/ASimScale is an engineering simulation platform that aims to revolutionize the way engineers, designers, scientists, and students design products. The SimScale platform is fully cloud-based and is accessible completely via a standard web browser. The easy-to-use interface supports numerous simulation types including Structural Mechanics, Fluid Dynamics, Thermodynamics, and more. The vendor says that SimScale eliminates many of the hurdles that accompany traditional simulation tools: high…N/A
    Pricing
    Solid EdgeSimScale
    Editions & Modules
    Design and Drafting XaaS
    $110.00
    per month
    Foundation XaaS
    $267.00
    per month
    Classic XaaS
    $335.00
    per month
    Premium XaaS
    $481.00
    per month
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Solid EdgeSimScale
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Solid EdgeSimScale
    Considered Both Products
    Siemens AG
    Chose Solid Edge
    I've used both SOLIDWORKS and Solid Edge. I prefer Solid Edge over SOLIDWORKS due to the ease of use. They are pretty similar, but the performance is the same as long as you have a good workstation. The price is less since Siemens owns the Parasolid kernel. It may just be a …
    Incentivized
    SimScale GmbH
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    9 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    9 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    9 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    6 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    86%
    Implementation went as expected
    6 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Best Alternatives
    Solid EdgeSimScale
    Small Businesses
    Onshape
    Score6.4 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    Onshape
    Score6.4 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    Enterprises
    PTC Creo
    Score7.6 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Solid EdgeSimScale
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.1
    (16 ratings)
    8.5
    (4 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    -
    (0 ratings)
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    Usability
    5.3
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Solid EdgeSimScale
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Siemens AG
    Well Suited for:
    • Integrated designs performed by multiple designers simultaneously (designs requiring a Product Lifecycle Management system);
    • Designs requiring a high degree of parameterisation;
    • Large companies where specific standards and best practices are applied to all models and drawings created.
    Not Well Suited for:
    • Personal use in designing one-off models and drawings;
    • Small business use where very few of the expensive features are actually used.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SimScale GmbH
    For a small company, SimScale is a great fit. It allows me to gain the use and support of higher-end software analysis on demand without the traditional high cost. This is super convenient for a company that does occasional design and analysis. Since the computing is cloud-based it also allows me to process large and detailed models without the high hardware cost that can be required. One potential drawback is that the design information is stored on someone else's server. For some industries and companies this would be a deal-breaker.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Siemens AG
    • It has very good user interface in classic or ordered environment.
    • In 2D or drafting, you can give any Geometric tolerancing and symbols to any dimension. There is a wide range of options available.
    • You can convert any files in step file (.stp) and can open it in other designing applications easily.
    • After converting 3D drawings in 2D you can make changes in 2D drawing by converting it in the draft. You can also add details like cross-sections and detailed view.
    • You can directly make threads without creating holes.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SimScale GmbH
    • Material non-linear analysis.
    • Geometric non-linear analysis.
    • Meshing.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Siemens AG
    • Being used to 2-key and 3-key commands from the keyboard, it would be nice if this was more robust in Solid Edge. The capability of programming keystroke commands exists in Solid Edge, but it would be more user friendly in that regard.
    • Editing hatches can be a challenge.
    • I'm not a fan of the ribbon bar, but that seems to be a feature across software platforms in Windows.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SimScale GmbH
    • Learning from tutorials is great, but limiting. The online help is a must.
    • Some simulations take a lot of time, but at least it's not on your PC.
    • Sometimes the software times out due to the server.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Siemens AG
    No answers on this topic
    SimScale GmbH
    I had a great experience with SimScale but we only used the software for a short period of time to complete the current design requirements. It is not a software that we would continually subscribe to. Next subscription event would occur when there is a design requirement to do so.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Siemens AG
    As mentioned previously, Siemens Solid Edge is not the most user-friendly of products at all. It requires intense training to make sure that the basics are understood, and after that, there are numerous other training interventions needed to be able to perform expert-level CAD functions. The GUI is not intuitive, as many other packages are, and the features built-in are not well defined. The process to use many of these features is counter-intuitive and requires a mind-shift.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SimScale GmbH
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Siemens AG
    I have been involved with support and training of Solid Edge for 24 years. Given that I based my business model on support, and have been successful for all these years, I know excellent support. Siemens support for Solid Edge, "GTAC", is the definition of support for a product in every aspect.
    Read full review
    SimScale GmbH
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Siemens AG
    FreeCAD is often better than Solid Edge 2021 when converting files, but I hope this changes with 2023 NX is overall more powerful, but that is to be expected (and you cant add it above because it is too short for whatever reason).
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SimScale GmbH
    SimScale is much faster to spin up on than OpenFOAM. Ansys CFD tools are much more expensive! Both tools require expensive computing equipment to run, which SimScale does not!
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Siemens AG
    • It took about 20 hours of use to get the basics of Synchronous Technology, and with just a basic competency I was able to make useful changes to the design. One of those changes was impossible to do our other CAD program.
    • My use lately has mostly been on personal time and self-driven, so learning other aspects and features of Solid Edge has been slower. Creating a drawing for a part required a few hours to learn and do the first time, but luckily there were YouTube videos for examples. With practice, I would expect the time to reflect what it takes in SolidWorks (about 30 minutes).
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    SimScale GmbH
    • It has allowed us to increase our service offering which has lead to additional work.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    SimScale Screenshots

    Screenshot of Thermodynamics: Gearbox Thermal SimulationScreenshot of Finite Element Analysis (FEA): Gantry Crane Stress AnalysisScreenshot of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD): HVAC Internal Flow Analysis