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Altair

Altair, now part of Siemens, develops simulation, high-performance computing, data analytics and AI software, including the HyperWorks suite. Most of its software is licensed through Altair Units, a units-based subscription model in which users draw units from a shared pool.

Licensing at a Glance

  • Subscription
  • Floating / network
  • Capacity (data, assets, nodes)

  1. Altair has been acquired by Siemens and its portfolio forms part of the Siemens Xcelerator platform.[1]

  2. Altair Units is described as a patented, units-based subscription licensing model giving customers access to every Altair and Altair Partner product: customers buy a pool of shareable units, users draw units to run products, and units return to the pool after use.[2]

  3. Users can run several applications at once on one machine while drawing units only for the most valuable product.[3]

  4. Each Altair Unit purchased equals 1,000 license features in the licence file, and units-based licensing requires managed licensing or an on-premises licence server rather than node-locked licences.[4]

  5. Altair offers a cloud-based licence server option, managed Altair Licensing via Altair One, as an alternative to a traditional on-premises licence server.[5]

Products

References

  1. Altair Units | Siemens · siemens.com · retrieved 2026-09-27
  2. Altair Units | Siemens · siemens.com · retrieved 2026-09-27
  3. Altair Units | Siemens · siemens.com · retrieved 2026-09-27
  4. Altair Units Licensing · help.altair.com · retrieved 2026-09-27
  5. Altair Units Licensing · help.altair.com · retrieved 2026-09-27

Product History

All acquisitions
  1. Siemens Digital Industries Software acquired AltairAnnounced 2024-10-30 · Closed 2025-03-26 · USD 113 per share in cash, enterprise value of about USD 10 billion (as announced)

    Siemens acquired Altair Engineering, a provider of simulation, high-performance computing, data analytics and AI software, and added its technology to the Siemens Xcelerator platform. Altair continues to use its own brand and the Altair Units licensing model.

    Legacy productBecame
    Altair HyperWorks platformMerged into Simcenter simulation and test portfolio · software integrated into Simcenter per Siemens
    Altair HPCWorksRenamed HPCWorks · HPC and cloud products now listed under HPCWorks
    Altair RapidMinerRenamed Rapidminer · data analytics, AI and machine learning solutions
    Altair UnitsKept Altair Units · licensing system remains available
    Licensing impact
    • Siemens states that Altair's support services have transitioned to the Siemens Support Center, with resources available through the Siemens Customer Center portal.[4]
    • The Altair Units licensing system, in which a pool of shareable units is drawn on by users across products, remains available, and Altair One is used for cloud-based license management.[4][5]
    • Siemens states that the software within the Altair HyperWorks platform has been integrated into the Simcenter portfolio, and that HPCWorks and RapidMiner products were moved to the names HPCWorks and Rapidminer.[4]
    Sources and full product history
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