ONELAB vs Waves
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ONELAB
This application provides a finite element package for simulating multi-physics problems. It integrates with open-source tools for mesh generation and solving, offering ready-to-use examples for electromagnetics, thermics, and mechanics.
- Finite element package
- Multi-physic problem simulation
- Electromagnetics, thermics, mechanics
- Integrates with Gmsh and GetDP
- Ready-to-use examples
- Add new models via zip archives
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ONELAB (http://onelab.info) is a finite element package based on the open source mesh generator Gmsh (http://gmsh.info) and the solver GetDP (http://getdp.info). It can be used to simulate a wide variety of multi-physic problems: electromagnetics, thermics, mechanics... ONELAB comes packaged with a selection of ready-to-use examples. New models can be added simply by opening the corresponding zip archive (in Safari, iCloud, Dropbox, etc.).
Waves
Explore graphical solutions to partial differential equations with interactive activities. Visualize Fourier series and solutions to heat and wave equations, with options to customize conditions and save your work.
- Interactive PDE exploration
- Fourier series plotting
- Heat equation solutions
- Wave equation solutions
- Customizable boundary/initial conditions
- Save and analyze work
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Waves is an interactive environment for exploring graphical solutions to partial differential equations. Waves currently consists of three activities that explore Fourier series as well as series solutions to the heat and wave equations. Fourier is a tool for plotting a Fourier series that best approximates a periodic function. Diffusion plots solutions to the one-dimensional heat equation in space and animates the time evolution. Waves plots solutions to the one-dimensional wave equation in space and allows. In each of these activities you can specify the appropriate boundary and/or initial conditions. The app contains built-in examples as well as the option to save your work for future analysis. You can use Waves for homework, in-class activities or a new research project.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: ONELAB at 100% against Waves's 50%. ONELAB also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.8) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 11.4). Waves's advantage is ratings volume (16 vs 1). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
ONELAB holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Waves has 16 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of ONELAB's written reviews are positive against 50% of Waves's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on June 8, 2026 and June 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ONELAB | Waves |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | 4.8 (16 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 50.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 16 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 11.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 95 MB | 30 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Christophe Geuzaine | Tim Lucas |
Customer experience
ONELAB
Waves
In-app purchases
ONELAB
No in-app purchases
Waves
No in-app purchases
