The best free math, science and engineering software
Students, researchers and engineers can do serious numerical and symbolic work without paid licences. The free tools below cover a computer algebra system, a scientific plotting program, a professional CFD toolbox, a beginner-friendly pseudocode interpreter for learning algorithms and a library of technical-analysis indicators for financial data.
5 apps from our catalog
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A mature computer algebra system for symbolic integration, equation solving, matrices and more, descended from Macsyma.
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A scriptable command-line plotting tool for 2D and 3D graphs, used for decades in science and engineering.
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An open-source toolbox for computational fluid dynamics, from simple flows to complex industrial simulations.
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A teaching tool for writing and running algorithms in pseudocode, with flowcharts, popular in Spanish-speaking classrooms.
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Open Source
A library of technical-analysis indicators such as moving averages, RSI and MACD for financial market data.
Where to start
For algebra and calculus, Maxima gives you exact symbolic answers: integrate(x*sin(x), x); returns the antiderivative, and its wxMaxima interface makes it approachable. To turn data into figures, gnuplot reads text files and produces publication-quality plots from short scripts, for example plot "data.txt" using 1:2 with lines.
OpenFOAM is a professional tool with a steep learning curve; follow its tutorial cases before modelling your own geometry. PSeInt is the opposite: it is built to help beginners understand algorithms before they learn a real programming language.
Free alternatives to commercial packages
Maxima covers much of the symbolic work people use commercial computer algebra systems for, and gnuplot handles the plotting. They do not replicate every feature of commercial suites, but for coursework and many research tasks they are more than enough, and scripts written for them are easy to share and reproduce.
Reproducible work
A strength of these tools is that everything can be written down as a script: a Maxima session, a gnuplot file or an OpenFOAM case directory can be saved, versioned and rerun by colleagues to get the same results. Keep scripts and data together, note which version of each program you used and you will thank yourself when a reviewer or teacher asks how a figure was made.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free alternative to Mathematica or Maple?
Maxima is a free, open-source computer algebra system that handles symbolic math, though its interface and feature set differ from commercial products.
What is the best free plotting software?
gnuplot is a long-standing free choice for scripted 2D and 3D plots and works on Windows, macOS and Linux.
Does OpenFOAM run on Windows?
OpenFOAM is mainly developed for Linux. Windows builds and the Windows Subsystem for Linux are options; check the app page for the files offered.
Which programming languages can use TA-Lib?
TA-Lib is a C library, and wrappers exist for several languages, including Python. Check the project documentation for the wrapper you need.
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