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Ansys Student - Free Software Download

Ansys Student offers free access to our Ansys Workbench-based bundle. This bundle includes Ansys Mechanical, Ansys CFD, Ansys Discovery, Ansys SPEOS, Ansys Zemax OpticStudio, Ansys Autodyn, Ansys optiSLang, Ansys Rocky, and much more (see “What’s Included” below for a complete list). Used by students across the globe, Ansys Student can be leveraged to enhance your skill set with some of our most-used products.

From 2025R2 on, Ansys Zemax OpticStudio is now included in Ansys Student. Ansys Zemax OpticStudio Student offers free access for students to gain hands-on experience in designing and analyzing optical systems, preparing them for future careers in optics. Students will have access to an intuitive interface and powerful tools with extensive materials and optical elements libraries, enabling them to simulate real-world scenarios accurately, aiding their understanding of optics fundamentals, and enhancing their problem-solving skills.

Terms of Use: Free student downloads are for educational use only and may only be used for self-learning, student instruction, student projects, and student demonstrations.

DOWNLOAD ANSYS STUDENT 2025 R2

(Built-in license valid until 07/31/2026)

For the free online simulation course from Cornell University, Ansys Student 2024 R2 is recommended.

Ansys Rocky Add-ins can be downloaded from here.

Check out Ansys LS-DYNA Student which works with this product

Learn More

Before Installing:

  • Ensure that your computer meets the technical requirements necessary to run the software. Please see the platform support document for details.
  • Ensure that you have administrator privileges for the computer on which you are installing this product.
  • Uninstall any existing Ansys products present on your computer. The Ansys Student installation will overwrite any existing installations.
  • Please visit our Ansys Learning Forum for additional assistance.

Installation steps for the Ansys Student products:

  • Extract (unzip) the downloaded installation files.
  • Right-click on setup.exe and select Run as Administrator. (This will run setup.exe from the extracted files.)
  • Read and accept the clickwrap to continue.
  • Click the right arrow button to accept the default values throughout the installation.
  • Click the exit button to close the installer.
  • The Ansys Student software is now installed. Congratulations!

Reboot your machine and then run the Ansys Student product from your Start menu by selecting Workbench.

Supported Platforms and Operating Systems:

  • Microsoft Windows 10 & 11, 64-bit

Minimum Hardware Requirements for Ansys Student Product Inclusions Except Ansys Discovery:

  • Processor(s): Workstation class
  • 4 GB RAM
  • 50 GB hard drive space
  • Computer must have a physical C:/” drive present
  • Graphics card and driver: Professional workstation class 3-D
  • OpenGL-capable

Minimum Hardware Requirements for Ansys Discovery

  • CPU: Pentium® 4 2.0 GHZ or Athlon® 2000+ or faster, 64-bit (x64) processor
  • 8 GB RAM
  • Ansys Discovery Student relies on the latest GPU technology to provide its computation and visual experience. To run the software, you will require:
    • Graphics Card: A dedicated NVIDIA GPU card (Quadro recommended) based on the Kepler, Maxwell or Pascal architecture. Maxwell 2000 or better is strongly recommended. Most dedicated NVIDIA GPU cards produced in 2013 or later will be based on one of these architectures.
    • At least 4GB of video RAM (8GB preferred) on the GPU. Please ensure that you have the latest driver for your graphics card, available from NVIDIA Driver Downloads. The Discovery Compatibility Utility can be used to determine if your current graphics hardware is capable of supporting Ansys Discovery. Performance of Discovery is less dependent on machine CPU and RAM. A recent generation 64-bit CPU running Windows, and at least 4GB of RAM will be sufficient. If you do not have a graphics card that meets these specifications, the software will not run.

Download Times and Supported Browsers:
These are large files. Your internet connection speed and connection overhead will determine how long the download will take. Here’s a rough guide:

Download Speed (Mbps)

Average Download Time for Ansys Student Product

Supported Internet Browsers

10 Mbps (10Base-T)

55 mins

  • If you are using Mozilla Firefox or Microsoft Internet Explorer (7 or higher), you will be given the option to download using a Download Manager that will appear as either a pop-up window or a new tab in your browser.
  • If you are using Google Chrome, the file will download directly, with no option to use a Download Manager.
  • Note that Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 (or earlier) and other browsers are not supported.

25.6 Mbps (ATM25)

25 mins

51 Mbps (OC1)

15 mins

  • No Geometry Export

Limits for Ansys Student and Discovery (Refine Mode)

  • Structural Physics: 128K nodes/elements
  • Fluid physics: 1 Million cells/nodes

Limits for Ansys SPEOS

  • Geometry: can support up to 50 bodies and 300 faces
  • Number of Triangles: 32K
  • No Live Preview, No GPU compute

Limits for Ansys Motion

  • 100K Nodes – Number of nodes for each flexible body
  • 25K Contacts – Number of triangular patches
  • 50 Rigid/Flex Bodies

Limits for Ansys Rocky

  • Particle Count limits DEM: maximum of 32K regardless of shape
  • SPH Elements limits: maximum of 128K
  • No GPU availability
  • Limited Rocky modules and scripts are available

Ansys HPC (High-Performance Computing):
Support up to four CPU cores of HPC solutions and 40 SMs of GPU computing on Fluent

Renewable, twelve-month lease from the date of release.

Bundled Applications & Features:

  • Ansys ACP Pre & Post
  • Aqwa
  • Ansys Autodyn
  • Ansys CFD (Ansys CFX and Ansys Fluent)
  • Ansys CFD-Post
  • Ansys Chemkin-Pro
  • Ansys DesignExplorer
  • Ansys DesignModeler
  • Ansys Discovery
  • Ansys EnSight
  • Ansys EnVision 
  • Ansys FENSAP-ICE
  • Ansys Forte
  • Ansys Mechanical APDL
  • Ansys Mechanical
  • Ansys Meshing and Extended Meshing
  • Ansys Motion (2024R2 only)
  • Ansys Multiphysics
  • Ansys optiSLang
  • Ansys Polyflow
  • Ansys Rocky
  • Ansys SpaceClaim
  • Ansys SPEOS
  • Ansys System Coupling
  • Ansys TurboGrid
  • Ansys Workbench
  • Ansys Zemax OpticStudio

Workbench Analysis Systems/Physics:

  • Couple Field Hormonic, Modal, Static & Transient
  • Eigenvalue Buckling
  • IC Engine
  • Structural Optimization (Topology)
  • Turbomachinery Fluid Flow
  • Design Assessment
  • Electric
  • Explicit Dynamics
  • Fluid Flow (CFX)
  • Fluid Flow (Fluent)
  • Harmonic Response
  • Linear Buckling
  • Magnetostatic
  • Modal
  • Random Vibration
  • Response Spectrum
  • Rigid Dynamics
  • Shape Optimization
  • Static Structural
  • Steady-State Thermal
  • Thermal-Electric
  • Transient Structural

Geometry Import:

  • Neutral format import IGES, STEP
  • Parasolid (native within Ansys DesignModeler)
DOWNLOAD ANSYS STUDENT 2025 R1

(Built-in license valid until 01/31/2026)

DOWNLOAD ANSYS STUDENT 2024 R2

(Built-in license valid until 01/31/2026)

Check out our other free student software downloads.  

ansys ls-dyna student
STUDENT SOFTWARE

Ansys LS-DYNA Student

Ansys LS-DYNA Student has a vast array of capabilities using its explicit solver, allowing the simulation of the response of materials to short periods of severe loading and extreme deformation. It can be used by students to examine materials failure and how failure progresses through a part or system. LS-DYNA Student is useful for applications in automotive, aerospace and more.

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ansys electronics desktop student
STUDENT SOFTWARE

Ansys Electronics Desktop Student

Ansys Electronics Desktop Student is our industry gold standard simulators for work with antenna, RF, Microwave, PCB, IC and IC package designs along with electromechanical devices such as electric motors and generators. Students will have access to Ansys HFSS, Ansys Maxwell, Ansys Q3D, and Ansys Icepak allowing design work a broad range of electrical and electro-mechanical systems.

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Ansys SCADE Student
STUDENT SOFTWARE

Ansys SCADE Student

Ansys SCADE Student is based on our unique qualified code-generation technology. It integrates the model-based design, simulation and code generation of embedded software. It features an adapted version of SCADE Suite used for industrial safety-critical embedded software as aircraft flight controllers or electric vehicle battery management systems.

Download Now

Courses to Get Started with Ansys Student

Ansys Student provides free access to Ansys Mechanical, Ansys Fluent, Ansys Discovery software, and more. Get started with these four introductory courses, designed to help you get up and running with simulation.

getting-started-with-ansys-mechanical.jpg

Getting Started with Ansys Mechanical

View Course
structural-simulation-ansys-discovery.jpg

Structural Simulation using Ansys Discovery

View Course
introduction-ansys-fluent.jpg

Introduction to Ansys Fluent

View Course
flluid-flow-simulation-ansys-discovery.jpg

Fluid Flow Simulation using Ansys Discovery

View Course

Getting Started with Ansys Student

Get started with Ansys’ free student products. Designed to help users of our Ansys Student product understand basic functionality and usage across products, this set of videos includes tutorials to support your learning across structural and fluid capabilities.

View Full Playlist

 

Let’s Get Started

If you're facing engineering challenges, our team is here to assist. With a wealth of experience and a commitment to innovation, we invite you to reach out to us. Let's collaborate to turn your engineering obstacles into opportunities for growth and success. Contact us today to start the conversation.

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