An honest, factual side-by-side — not a sales pitch. Structural analysis first; unlock the rest below.
All four handle real projects — the difference is workflow fit, ecosystem, and local support.
| Product | Vendor | Best for | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| STAAD.Pro | Bentley Systems | General-purpose analysis — buildings, bridges, towers, offshore & industrial structures | 90+ international design codes including IS codes; licensed & supported in India through C-Soft |
| ETABS | Computers & Structures, Inc. (CSI) | Multi-story building analysis, seismic-heavy projects | Strong building-specific workflow; separate ecosystem from Bentley's BIM tools |
| SAP2000 | Computers & Structures, Inc. (CSI) | General-purpose FEA — buildings, bridges, stadiums, industrial structures | Broad structural-type coverage; also a CSI product |
| Robot Structural Analysis | Autodesk | Analysis inside a Revit/BIM-centric workflow | Tightly coupled to Autodesk's ecosystem rather than Bentley's |
We license and support STAAD.Pro directly — training, renewals, and a local team who picks up the phone.
RC detailing, water/wastewater modeling, pipe stress analysis, and CAD & drafting tools — enter your email to unlock the full page and get a copy sent to your inbox.
| Product | Vendor | Best for | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| STAAD Advanced Concrete Design (RCDC) | Bentley Systems | Automated RC detailing directly from a STAAD.Pro analysis model | Cuts manual detailing time on repetitive column/beam/footing elements |
| Manual / generic CAD detailing | — | One-off or highly custom detailing | No automated link back to the analysis model; every revision is manual |
| Product | Vendor | Best for | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| WaterGEMS / SewerGEMS | Bentley Systems | GIS-integrated water distribution & sewer/stormwater modeling | Runs standalone or inside ArcGIS/AutoCAD; scales to utility-sized networks |
| EPANET | U.S. EPA (free, open-source) | Teaching, research, lightweight studies | No official commercial support, GIS integration, or vendor training |
| InfoWater | Autodesk (Innovyze) | GIS-based modeling, ArcGIS-native workflow | Comparable scope to WaterGEMS, different vendor ecosystem |
| Product | Vendor | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| AutoPIPE | Bentley Systems | Process & power piping stress analysis |
| CAESAR II | Hexagon | Widely used alternative in oil & gas / process piping |
| Product | Vendor | Typical fit |
|---|---|---|
| AutoCAD | Autodesk | Firms standardized on Autodesk/DWG workflows; broadest plugin ecosystem |
| ARES Commander | Graebert | Budget-conscious teams needing true DWG compatibility; native macOS/Linux |
| SketchUp Studio | Trimble | Fast 3D conceptual modeling & visualization, not precision drafting |
Tell us your workflow and budget — we'll point to the right one, not the most expensive one.
Tell us what you're building and we'll match it to a product and a quote.