Ansys licensing is the set of models and terms under which ANSYS, Inc. licenses its engineering simulation software. Ansys describes its offer as follows. It offers “concurrent licensing on an annual or perpetual basis for customers that will use Ansys software frequently and consistently”. It also offers Shared Web, Named User and Elastic licensing, which are web-based and can be accessed from both on-premises and cloud computing resources.[1] Elastic is described as “a flexible, pay-per-use licensing model that enables usage-based licensing for software, computing power, and Ansys Cloud hardware”.[1] Parallel solving is licensed separately through Ansys HPC, HPC Pack and HPC Workgroup licences.[9] Ansys uses the FlexNet license manager for all its licensed products.[6] For the general models, see concurrent and device licensing and subscription and consumption licensing.
Ansys is now part of Synopsys. The deal is recorded on the acquisitions page as “Synopsys acquires Ansys”. Synopsys states that from 2025-12-08 licence files for Ansys Semiconductor products are delivered through Synopsys SmartKeys. Other Ansys licences are still available through the Ansys Licensing Portal, and both types of file run on the Ansys License Manager (ansyslmd).[8] Catalog: Ansys Semiconductor licence files come from Synopsys SmartKeys from 2025-12-08.
Editions
Ansys does not sell a single suite with fixed editions. Each Program on an Order Form carries Ansys Product Codes (APCs), three-letter designators that set its licence type, its geography and any special rights.[4] The main licence types are:
| Licence type (APC) | What it allows | Catalog |
|---|---|---|
| Standard License (STL) | Simultaneous tasks or active processes on the Designated Network[4] | Simultaneous task |
| Named User License (NUL) | The number of named Users in the Order Form, assigned by e-mail or username[4] | Named User |
| Ansys Elastic Currency (AEC) | Use up to the purchased credits at the consumption-table rate[4] | Ansys Elastic Currency |
| Monthly Active User (MAU) | One user per licence for the rest of the calendar month after checkout[4] | Monthly Active User |
| Node-locked License (NLL) | One designated computer, identified by host ID[4] | Node-locked License |
| Discovery Activation License (DAL) | Named Users of Ansys Discovery, each on up to two computers[4] | Discovery Activation License |
| Flexible Spending Account (FSA) | A lease drawn down against a prepaid amount at FSA table prices[4] | FSA |
| Academic and student (ATE, ARL, AAS, ACS, SDL) | Teaching, research and student use only[4] | Academic |
If the Order Form gives no code, a Program managed through a License Key is an STL with LAN geography. A Program managed through individual User login is a NUL with Global WAN geography.[3] Catalog: Default licence type and geography: STL on LAN, or NUL on global WAN. The product names themselves (Mechanical Enterprise, CFD Enterprise, HFSS and so on) are what appear in the Elastic rate table. In table v9, for example, Ansys Mechanical Enterprise Solver and Ansys CFD Enterprise Solver each cost 29.0 AEC per hour.[7]
Metrics
The core counting unit is the task. A Standard License lets the customer use the Program on the Designated Network for the number of simultaneous tasks or active processes in the Order Form.[4] The 2021 Software License Agreement used the same measure and added user-host-display (UHD) counting for some components. Such a component may be used by one simultaneous user on one computer and one display, for as many instances as that user can run.[5] Ansys Common Licensing implements this sharing and also shares checkouts across a parent and child process tree.[6] Catalog: UHD counted component; UHD-counted components: one licence per user, computer and display.
Parallel capacity is counted separately. Most applications allow four CPU cores without HPC licences. Ansys HPC licences add cores, GPUs or GPU compute units (GCUs), and HPC Packs combine to enable larger runs.[6] See Ansys HPC licensing.
Counting / floors
Lease and paid-up. A Paid-up License is a perpetual licence that can only be terminated under the agreement. A Lease License has a fixed term.[3] TECS (Technical Enhancements and Customer Support) is included with Lease Licenses and must be bought separately for Paid-up Licenses.[3] Under the 2021 Software License Agreement, Lease Licenses are non-cancelable and renew automatically unless notice is given. Not issuing a purchase order before expiry counts as the licensee’s notice not to renew.[5] Catalog: Lease Licenses are non-cancelable and renew automatically (2021 SLA).
Named Users. A named User may not share the licence with anyone. Named Users may reasonably be changed during a Lease License, and for a Paid-up License that is on current TECS.[4] Catalog: Named Users may not share licences; changes allowed on lease or current TECS.
Borrowing. Where borrowing is offered, licensed tasks may be borrowed for temporary remote use of up to 30 continuous days and 90 days a year.[3] Catalog: Borrowing is limited to 30 continuous days and 90 days a year.
Floors. Ansys publishes no minimum quantities. Elastic Currency and FSA amounts are prepaid, and any balance unused at the end of the term is forfeited.[12][4] Catalog: Unused Elastic Currency is forfeited; customer must track its own use; FSA amounts unused at term end are forfeited.
Virtualization & partitioning
Ansys licences are not counted by processor for the base product. Location rules take the place of partitioning rules. A LAN licence under the current product codes covers Users within 50 miles (80 km) of the Designated Site. The 2021 agreement used a 25-mile (40-km) radius.[4][5] Wider use needs Extended LAN (the same country), Site-based WAN, Regional WAN (one of four regions) or Global WAN.[4] For HPC, a hyperthread core counts as a physical core.[6] Catalog: LAN licences cover users within 50 miles (80 km) of the Designated Site; WAN geographies: Extended LAN, Site-based, Regional and Global WAN; Hyperthread cores count as cores; GPU partitions count as GPUs. See virtualization and partitioning.
Cloud / BYOL
Ansys’s web licences need no customer license server and can be used from on-premises and cloud resources.[1] For cloud-hosted Ansys deployments, Ansys states that its cloud-hosting partners support both bring-your-own-licence and pay-per-use (Elastic) models.[9] Use must stay within Internal Business Purposes. These may include value-added services to third parties, but not data processing services, acting as an application service provider or batch processing services.[3] Catalog: Internal Business Purposes: consulting allowed, ASP and data processing services not. See Ansys Elastic and web licensing.
Programs
- Lease and Paid-up Licenses with TECS. TECS covers only the two most recent releases. Reinstating lapsed TECS costs the then-current reinstatement fee.[3]
- Shared Web Licensing. Ansys operates the license server, so the customer does not run one.[4]
- Ansys Elastic Licensing. Prepaid currency consumed per hour at rate-table prices.[12]
- Flexible Spending Account. A prepaid lease drawdown against a price table.[4]
- Academic licences. Non-proprietary work only, with no benchmarking or commercial use.[10]
- Ansys Student. A free Workbench-based bundle for educational use, limited to 128K nodes/elements for structural physics and 1 million cells/nodes for fluids.[11]
- Collaboration Pool License and Evaluation License. Free licences with reporting or use restrictions.[4]
Contract terms
New orders are governed by the Ansys General Terms and Conditions (AGTC), the Additional Terms for the offering (for software, the License Terms) and the Ansys Product Codes on the Order Form. In a conflict, the APC prevails, then any cloud services description, then the Additional Terms, then the AGTC.[2] Ansys may refuse licences and TECS to Affiliates that join the customer after the agreement, for example through an acquisition.[3] The documents are compared in Ansys agreements and product codes. Catalog: Order of precedence: Product Code, cloud services description, Additional Terms, AGTC; Ansys may deny use by Affiliates acquired after the agreement.
Audits and compliance
The License Terms give Ansys an annual audit right. On 15 days’ notice, and no more than once a year, Ansys may examine licence usage, either with its own staff or through an independent firm. Non-compliant use is paid at the then-current list price plus damages. If its list value is 5% or more of the current contract year’s value, the customer also pays the audit costs, including attorneys’ fees.[3] For licences usable at several sites, the customer must on request send an annual usage report from the license manager.[3] Ansys may also embed anti-piracy technology that reports when programs or licence keys have been tampered with.[3] Catalog: Audit once a year on 15 days' notice; costs shift at 5% of contract year; Multi-site licences: annual usage report within 20 days of request; Anti-piracy technology reports tampering with programs or licence keys. See software license audit and license compliance.
Out of scope
- Prices and discounts. Ansys publishes only the Elastic consumption rates.
- Signed enterprise agreements and channel partner terms that override the published texts.
- Synopsys’s own (non-Ansys) licensing, and Ansys products divested to Keysight as a condition of the acquisition.
- Product-specific licensing for Granta MI, SCADE and STK beyond what the product codes state.