RSoft’s philosophy centers on the physics of the individual device. It excels at solving complex electromagnetic problems for isolated components—waveguides, splitters, gratings, and fibers. The environment is built to give the user granular control over the simulation domain, often appealing to users who prefer a script-heavy, parameterized approach to geometry construction.
| Aspect | RSoft | Lumerical | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | | Annual floating license | Annual node-locked or floating | | Academic Pricing | Moderate discount (~40%) | Deep academic discounts (~70% off) | | Commercial cost (est.) | $25k–$50k per module per year | $18k–$40k per module per year | | Support responsiveness | Slow (corporate email only) | Fast (forum + web tickets) | | Training resources | Paid training only | Free webinars, MOOC, KB articles | rsoft vs lumerical
The core difference lies in the primary solvers. Lumerical’s flagship is the method. FDTD solves Maxwell's equations across a grid of Yee cells, calculating fields in both space and time. This provides broadband results from a single simulation (via Fourier transform) and handles complex geometries, resonances, and nonlinear effects with high fidelity. However, FDTD is computationally expensive, requiring fine meshing and long simulation times to achieve convergence. RSoft’s philosophy centers on the physics of the
Choose if your work involves long-range propagation, fiber optics, or if your company is already deep in the Synopsys EDA ecosystem. | Aspect | RSoft | Lumerical | |