Structural Analysis Software Recommendation (Space Gass vs Skyciv)

[VincentW]

Looking for some feedback/recommendation between Space Gass vs Skyciv. We are a small multi-discipline engineering firm. In this particular case, we are looking for software for analysing 2D steel frames and some 3d modelling.

I've taken a look at the demo for both Space Gass and Skyciv. Functionally, they both seem to meet our needs (at least for now), but I don't think we need both.

Internally, we have people who have used one or the other, but not both. So primarily looking for comments from people experienced in both software to point out any longer-term issues/considerations I should think about or differences that are perhaps not as obvious in a demo.

 

[skeletron]

SkyCIV is subscription based and easy to step into immediately. I'm not a long term user, but used it briefly and was impressed.

 

[phamENG]

I used SkyCiv for a while and it was a decent program. Their customer support was fantastic. I didn't like that they don't tell you what it doesn't do. There were several things that I would have expected it to do 'in the background' as a standard part of any analysis (stability checks, for instance) that it didn't do and didn't tell you it didn't do. The support staff were open and honest about it...if you knew what to ask.

This could have changed by now. It's been a little while since I've used it. SkyCiv used to have an account here; maybe they'll see this thread and chime in.

Never used SPACE GASS, but it looks like a more in depth program than SkyCiv. I imagine it's not as easy to pick up from scratch as Skeletron mentioned - SkyCiv is very intuitive and easy to use.

 

[VincentW]

Sounds like Space Gass is not as popular on this forum. Not sure if it is a reflection of the software itself or some other reason.

@skeletron, @phamENG many thanks for the input.