Design Materials vs Quickfem
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Design Materials
This app serves as an offline reference guide for various design materials, including polymers and metals. It allows users to manage their own material data, view 3D models, and capture objects with their device's camera. Ideal for professionals and hobbyists involved in product design and 3D printing.
- Offline material reference guide
- Custom material and resin management
- 3D model viewer and import/export
- Object capture via device camera
- Favorites and notes section
- Cross-device compatibility (iOS, macOS)
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Design Materials is an offline material reference guide trusted by hundreds of Engineers, Architects and Designers all over the World. The App was created to be a personal tool to help me take design decisions during the concept ideation of industrial products, in particular for 3D printing. Due to high demand, I decided to make it public and share it's information and power. Basically, it provides the fundamentals for most design/engineer materials on the market, based on reliable and curated academic sources. In addition, you can now create and manager your own Material, Resin or Filament data. Finally, the App features Apple Intelligence (AI) with a pair of Entity Masters in material engineering and STEM: HAL 9000 and Elemento, which can be accessed 24/7 while being on or offline (no internet). The guide contains material categories such as polymers, metals, naturals and more. All of these include synthetic, organic, bio-degradable, plastic, and much more subcategories. Each material contains information such as: About, Properties, Tags, Applications, Types and Photos. HAL 9000 & Elemento (AI entities): The legend of HAL is back. Ask anything from space to robotics or biology, HAL and Elemento are Gods of material engineering and science. HAL does precise flawless analysis while Elemento brings fresh human creativity with an attitude. In addition, you can choose the Tone of AI: Formal, Friendly, Direct or Arrogant. Both AI Entities work offline 24/7. Other features includes: • AI Chat with HAL 9000 or Elemento • Material Packs (subscribers) • 3D-model viewer/import/export • Object Capture: Scan Objects • Favorites section • Offline reference (no Internet needed) • Long list of properties per material • Save Notes per material/resin/filament • Create Designs using Apple Pencil • Support for all iPhone screen sizes • Dark Mode • iPadOS support • MacOS support • Continuous Updates with New Content • UNIVERSAL PURCHASE - One Payment for all Devices New Pro version auto-renew subscriptions: - 1 year (Gold) | 3 month (Silver) | 1 month (Bronze) subscriptions* - Access to all material database ABOUT SUBSCRIPTIONS • Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. • Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. • Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal. • Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase. • Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable. • Terms of use (EULA): https://www.termsfeed.com/live/faff17b4-8765-4690-b57e-9aabde3d2950
Quickfem
This app provides 2D Finite Element Analysis (FEA) tools for engineers and students. It allows users to build and analyze structural models directly on their mobile devices, offering features for geometry creation, meshing, and result visualization to deepen understanding of structural mechanics.
- Automatic meshing
- 2D constant strain triangle FEM
- Up to 100,000 elements
- Axisymmetric FEA modelling
- Thermal mechanical analysis
- Complex geometry support
- Displacement and stress plots
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Quickfem, the 2D Finite Element Analysis App for Engineers and Students. FEA for Students Learn how finite elements and structural analysis works by starting out with simple models you can build directly on your phone or tablet. Play around with geometry, constraints, loads, materials and results to augment the theory. FEA for Engineers FEA is hard. Most problems are 3d and complex and require the major packages such as Ansys, Abacus, Patran, Nastran etc. But engineers have to know what to expect from these models and this insight stems from the understanding of simple mechanisms and effects. With Quickfem, you have the most convenient FEA modeller imaginable in your back pocket! Simple touch geometry creation, automatic meshing, quick mesh refinement, simple constant strain elements, and near solution instant feedback creates the tight iteration loops necessary for rapid discovery. Running on your mobile device, Quickfem gives you the freedom to create and understand structural models wherever and whenever inspiration strikes. Know what to expect. Featuring - Automatic meshing - 2D constant strain triangle FEM - Up to 100,000 elements - 3D view and edit mode - Axisymmetric FEA modelling - Plane stress and plane strain - Thermal mechanical (thermomechanical) analysis - Complex geometry, arcs, fillets, holes - Fastener representations, grounded or connected to 1 or more plates - Convergence checking through user defined mesh size - Displacements fringe and deformation plots - Strain and stress fringe plots - Equivalent and principal stress fringe plots - Maxima and minima - Unit systems, SI, US, none or custom - Default and customer material definitions - Customisable modelling environment, materials, loads, units, precision, feature thickness, mesh sizes - Example models Go to www.quickfem.com for more
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Design Materials at Free against Quickfem's $4.99. Design Materials also leads on rating (4.5 vs 4.3). Quickfem's advantage is review sentiment (71% vs 33%) and ratings volume (6 vs 2). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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
Design Materials is free to download; Quickfem costs $4.99 up front. Design Materials sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month and Quickfem sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Design Materials holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 6 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 33% of Design Materials's written reviews are positive against 71% of Quickfem's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Design Materials ships an update every 3 months, Quickfem every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on July 23, 2026 and August 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Design Materials | Quickfem |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $4.99 |
| Rating | 4.5 (2 ratings) — better | 4.3 (6 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 33.3% of reviews | 71.4% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 6 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | 12.2 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 28 MB | 61 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Chrystian Enriquez | Finite Elephants |
Customer experience
Design Materials
Quickfem
In-app purchases
Design Materials
- Bronze member$7.991 Month
- Silver member$17.993 Months
- Gold member$49.991 Year
Quickfem
- Quickfem Solver$3.99
Questions
Is Design Materials free?
Is Quickfem free?
Which has better reviews, Design Materials or Quickfem?
Do Design Materials or Quickfem have ads?
Which is updated more often, Design Materials or Quickfem?
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