HELYX vs M-Star CFD

HELYX—Visit M-Star CFD—Visit

HELYX #7 in CFD software —/10 Pricing on request ✓ 2 of 3 features Contact ENGYS

vs

M-Star CFD #8 in CFD software —/10 Pricing on request ✓ 3 of 3 features Visit M-Star CFD

• HELYX fits best

  Teams wanting flexible OpenFOAM-based CFD

• M-Star CFD fits best

  Teams modeling coupled fluids, heat, and particles

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Side by side

Feature	HELYX —/10 Visit ↗	M-Star CFD —/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	—	—
Ranking	#7 in CFD software	#8 in CFD software
Best for	Teams wanting flexible OpenFOAM-based CFD	Teams modeling coupled fluids, heat, and particles
Pricing model	Paid	Paid
Starting price	Not published	Not published
Free plan	—	—
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud, Self-hosted	Desktop, Self-hosted
Platforms	Windows, Linux	Windows, Linux
Support	Email	Email
Built for	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features HELYX 2/3 · M-Star CFD 3/3
Multiphysics solver	✓	✓
Built-in meshing	✓	✓
CAD import	Not published	✓ (best)
Specs
Deployment	Hybrid	Desktop
Parallel cores	Not published	Not published
Operating systems	Linux, Windows	Windows 10, Windows 11, Windows Server 2016+, Redhat 7/8/9, Ubuntu 18/20/22, Debian 10/11
Our review
Pros	Covers compressible and incompressible flows, turbulence, and multiphase simulation Includes mesh generation, moving meshes, and conjugate heat transfer Client-server operation supports local, remote, and cloud computing	Combines fluid flow, heat transfer, reactions, and particle dynamics Imports CAD geometry and generates surface meshes Python API automates preprocessing and model setup
Cons	The HELYX package is commercial, despite its open-source HELYX-Core engine Pricing requires contacting ENGYS rather than choosing a published plan The listed desktop operating systems are limited to Windows and Linux	Pricing requires contacting sales Runs on user-managed desktop or server resources No time-unlimited free plan
Our verdict	HELYX is a general-purpose computational fluid dynamics package from ENGYS, combining a graphical interface with HELYX-Core, an open-source simulation engine, for finite-volume engineering analysis. Its scope suits engineering teams and… Read the review →	M-Star CFD is a computational fluid dynamics package for engineers, scientists, and researchers modeling interacting physical processes. Its workflow spans graphical preprocessing, a solver, and post-processing, with applications including… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• HELYX — where it wins

  • Covers compressible and incompressible flows, turbulence, and multiphase simulation
  • Includes mesh generation, moving meshes, and conjugate heat transfer
  • Client-server operation supports local, remote, and cloud computing

  Where it doesn't

  • The HELYX package is commercial, despite its open-source HELYX-Core engine
  • Pricing requires contacting ENGYS rather than choosing a published plan
  • The listed desktop operating systems are limited to Windows and Linux

• M-Star CFD — where it wins

  • Combines fluid flow, heat transfer, reactions, and particle dynamics
  • Imports CAD geometry and generates surface meshes
  • Python API automates preprocessing and model setup

  Where it doesn't

  • Pricing requires contacting sales
  • Runs on user-managed desktop or server resources
  • No time-unlimited free plan

• HELYX—/10 · Pricing on request

  A commercial OpenFOAM-based CFD package with meshing and broad flow-simulation capabilities.

  Contact ENGYSFull verdict →
• M-Star CFD—/10 · Pricing on request

  A multiphysics CFD package for teams modeling flow, heat, reactions, and particles.

  Visit M-Star CFDFull verdict →