Editions
realvirtual comes in two editions, and everything in both is also in the public demo:
- Community (AGPL) is the open-source core, published on GitHub under AGPL-3.0. You can build it, host it and deliver it yourself; what AGPL asks of such a delivery is explained in Licensing the viewer. The “Powered by realvirtual WEB · AGPL-3.0” notice stays reasonably visible in the app, and if you deliver realvirtual to others, the recipients must be able to get the source of the delivered software under AGPL; your model data stays yours. See Handing over a model or a study.
- Commercial adds the authoring tools and the specialised calculation kernels on top of the same core, under a commercial licence, as source or as a hosted delivery.
- Public demo at web.realvirtual.io/demo runs every feature of both editions in your browser, with nothing to install. It is free for evaluation and non-commercial use only. Commercial projects need a realvirtual Commercial licence or a self-hosted Community (AGPL) installation. It comes without source code, without your own extensions, and without contractual support or a commitment to availability: it is provided as is. Automated bulk use (AI assistants through the MCP interface of realvirtual CONNECT within its limits remain allowed), reselling access and embedding it in your own commercial offering are not allowed, and the commercial modules in it may not be extracted or decompiled. The free CONNECT tier applies: 20 live signals, 25 MB per STEP file and 12 MB per JT file. On first use, the demo asks you to accept these terms once; when the terms change, it asks again.
Pages about a commercial or beta feature say so in a line under their title. This table is generated from the same feature catalog the product is built from. The industrial interfaces of realvirtual CONNECT are not split by edition. Every tier supports every protocol; the interface table shows signal and file-size limits instead.
- Included
- The feature is part of this edition.
- Not included
- Not included.
- Beta
- Works, but features and workflows may still change.
| Feature | Community (AGPL) | Commercial | Public demo |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3D viewer and HMI (GLB with rv_extras, panels, overlays, camera views, PDF links, machine information) Opens realvirtual GLB models in the browser and adds operator panels, overlays, camera views and documents linked to machine parts. Docs: 3D viewer and HMI (GLB with rv_extras, panels, overlays, camera views, PDF links, machine information) Try it: 3D viewer and HMI (GLB with rv_extras, panels, overlays, camera views, PDF links, machine information) in the public demo | Included | Included | Included |
| WebXR (VR/AR in the browser) Shows the twin in VR and AR on browsers and devices that support WebXR. | Included | Included | Included |
| Cinematic rendering and video recording Renders path-traced frames and records videos of the running twin. Docs: Cinematic rendering and video recording | Not included | Included | Included |
| Virtual camera displays Shows the live image of a camera placed in the scene on a display in the twin. | Not included | Included | Included |
| Stereo 3D Beta Shows the twin in side-by-side stereo on a compatible 3D display. Docs: Stereo 3D | Not included | Included | Included |
| Display walls Beta Renders calibrated views for LED walls and projectors with optional head tracking. Docs: Display walls | Not included | Included | Included |
| Flystick control Beta Uses an ART Flystick to point, select, move parts and navigate at a display wall. Docs: Flystick control | Not included | Included | Included |
| Ray-traced render mode Beta Lights the live twin with WebGPU ray tracing: bounced light, reflections, transparency and soft shadows. Docs: Ray-traced render mode | Not included | Included | Included |
| Guided maintenance (the machine follows the steps) Animates the machine through a step-by-step maintenance guide: doors open, housings turn transparent, coolant sprays, parts unscrew, and every step can be replayed backwards. Docs: Guided maintenance (the machine follows the steps) | Not included | Included | Included |
| Feature | Community (AGPL) | Commercial | Public demo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transport simulation (drives, sensors, conveyors, sources/sinks, grippers, LogicSteps) Simulates material flow in the browser at a fixed time step with drives, sensors, conveyors, sources, sinks, grippers and LogicStep sequences. Docs: Transport simulation (drives, sensors, conveyors, sources/sinks, grippers, LogicSteps) | Included | Included | Included |
| Collision detection Checks bodies with different collision roles against each other while the simulation runs. Docs: Collision detection | Included | Included | Included |
| Smooth drive motion Moves drives along jerk-limited motion profiles. | Not included | Included | Included |
| Physics Beta Simulates parts with rigid-body physics. Docs: Physics | Not included | Included | Included |
| Detail physics (MuJoCo) Beta Simulates contact, friction and force-limited axes in detail: a gripper that holds by contact and can slip, a part that jams in a fixture, a free body that gets shoved out of place. Docs: Detail physics (MuJoCo) Try it: Detail physics (MuJoCo) in the public demo | Not included | Included | Included |
| Discrete event simulation Runs event-driven material flow simulations much faster than real time, with statistics, snapshots and scripts. The experiment manager (variants, repeated runs, run comparison) is Commercial. Docs: Discrete event simulation Try it: Discrete event simulation in the public demo | Included | Included | Included |
| DES experiment manager Compares variants with replication matrices, batch runs, confidence intervals and experiment export/import. Docs: DES experiment manager Try it: DES experiment manager in the public demo | Not included | Included | Included |
| Machining simulation Beta Simulates material removal on a workpiece. Docs: Machining simulation | Not included | Included | Included |
| Virtual PLC (Structured Text in the browser) Programs and runs Structured Text PLC logic directly in the browser. Docs: Virtual PLC (Structured Text in the browser) Try it: Virtual PLC (Structured Text in the browser) in the public demo | Not included | Included | Included |
| Feature | Community (AGPL) | Commercial | Public demo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Layout planner Assembles factory layouts in the browser from library parts connected by snap points. Docs: Layout planner Try it: Layout planner in the public demo | Included | Included | Included |
| Asset and kinematics editor Groups parts, assigns materials, creates drives and saves the result as a GLB in the browser. Docs: Asset and kinematics editor | Not included | Included | Included |
| CAD import (STEP, JT, USD, FBX, Onshape, Unity Asset Manager) Imports CAD data from common formats and sources into the editor. Docs: CAD import (STEP, JT, USD, FBX, Onshape, Unity Asset Manager) | Not included | Included | Included |
| Robot inverse kinematics Beta Solves the joint positions of a robot for a target pose. | Not included | Included | Included |
| Kinematic mechanisms (cranks, couplers, parallel kinematics) Solves closed-loop mechanisms such as cranks, couplers and parallel kinematics. Docs: Kinematic mechanisms (cranks, couplers, parallel kinematics) Try it: Kinematic mechanisms (cranks, couplers, parallel kinematics) in the public demo | Not included | Included | Included |
| Feature | Community (AGPL) | Commercial | Public demo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Signals and PLC connectivity (WebSocket, MQTT, ctrlX, REST; drag-and-drop signal linking) Connects the twin to live PLC signals over WebSocket, MQTT, ctrlX and REST, with drag-and-drop signal linking. Docs: Signals and PLC connectivity (WebSocket, MQTT, ctrlX, REST; drag-and-drop signal linking) | Included | Included | Included |
| Multiuser sessions Beta Lets several people work in one twin at the same time with avatars and shared views. Docs: Multiuser sessions | Included | Included | Included |
| Feature | Community (AGPL) | Commercial | Public demo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Siemens (S7, PLCSIM Advanced) Couples S7-300/400/1200/1500 controllers over S7comm and PLCSIM Advanced instances through the native Siemens simulation API. Docs: Siemens (S7, PLCSIM Advanced) | Free tier: 20 signals | Unlimited* | Free tier: 20 signals |
| OPC UA, MQTT, Modbus TCP (client and server) Connects to any OPC UA server, to MQTT brokers (single values, Siemens process images), to SEW MOVI-C over MQTT JSON or UDP and to Modbus TCP devices, or acts as a Modbus TCP server for a PLC or SCADA system. Docs: OPC UA, MQTT, Modbus TCP (client and server) | Free tier: 20 signals | Unlimited* | Free tier: 20 signals |
| Controllers (Beckhoff TwinCAT ADS, EtherNet/IP for Allen-Bradley and Omron, B&R PVI, Mitsubishi MELSEC, Keba, Festo AX / PLCnext, Bosch Rexroth ctrlX) Reads and writes controller variables by symbol, tag or address; most controllers can be browsed, so signals are selected rather than typed. Docs: Controllers (Beckhoff TwinCAT ADS, EtherNet/IP for Allen-Bradley and Omron, B&R PVI, Mitsubishi MELSEC, Keba, Festo AX / PLCnext, Bosch Rexroth ctrlX) | Free tier: 20 signals | Unlimited* | Free tier: 20 signals |
| Robots (FANUC, KUKA, ABB, Universal Robots, Denso, igus, RoboDK, Wandelbots NOVA) Couples robot controllers and their virtual controllers (RoboGuide, OfficeLite, iiQKA/RSI, RobotStudio, URSim, WinCaps VRC) for IOs and joint positions. Docs: Robots (FANUC, KUKA, ABB, Universal Robots, Denso, igus, RoboDK, Wandelbots NOVA) | Free tier: 20 signals | Unlimited* | Free tier: 20 signals |
| Simulation and custom couplings (SIMIT, WINMOD, shared memory, UDP telegrams, WebSocket Realtime) Couples simulation tools on the same PC through shared memory, exchanges fixed binary UDP telegrams, and links realvirtual for Unity or another CONNECT over WebSocket. Docs: Simulation and custom couplings (SIMIT, WINMOD, shared memory, UDP telegrams, WebSocket Realtime) | Free tier: 20 signals | Unlimited* | Free tier: 20 signals |
| CAD conversion (STEP, JT) Converts large STEP and JT files to GLB on the gateway, for the CAD import of the asset editor. Docs: CAD conversion (STEP, JT) | Not included (CAD import is part of the editor) | Unlimited* | Free tier: 25 MB STEP / 12 MB JT |
* with a realvirtual CONNECT licence (annual or lifetime) or a licensed realvirtual site. Every tier supports every protocol.
| Feature | Community (AGPL) | Commercial | Public demo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plugin system and MCP bridge for AI assistants Extends the viewer with plugins and lets AI assistants inspect and operate the twin through MCP. Docs: Plugin system and MCP bridge for AI assistants | Included | Included | Included |
| USD live link to NVIDIA Isaac Sim (incl. Kit extension) Mirrors the running twin live into NVIDIA Isaac Sim through a Kit extension. Docs: USD live link to NVIDIA Isaac Sim (incl. Kit extension) | Included | Included | Included |
| USD export Exports the twin as USD including its realvirtual component data. Docs: USD export | Not included | Included | Included |
| Topic | Community (AGPL) | Commercial | Public demo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Licence | AGPL-3.0-only | Commercial licence | Free to use, provided as is |
| Get it | Source on GitHub | Pricing | Open the demo |
See also
Section titled “See also”- What You Get — the idea behind the split between open source and commercial
- Licensing the viewer — what AGPL requires of your own delivery
- CONNECT licensing — the gateway tiers behind the live-signal limit