EFDC+
Freemium
Open-source 3D hydrodynamics and water quality — the EFDC lineage modernised, with a commercial GUI option.
SWAT+
ActiveThe USDA watershed model for land use, sediment and nutrients — continuous simulation at catchment scale.
by USDA-ARS / Texas A&M AgriLife
- Pricing
- Open Source
- License
- Public domain (US Government) / open source
- Commercial use
- Permitted
- Ecosystem
- Fortran, Python, QGIS
- Platform
- Windows, Linux
About SWAT+
SWAT+ is the restructured successor to the Soil and Water Assessment Tool, the USDA-ARS/Texas A&M model that has become the world's most cited watershed simulator. It runs continuous simulation of hydrology, sediment, nutrients, pesticides and land-management practice at catchment to basin scale, with the landscape split into hydrologic response units.
SWAT+ is the right tool when land use and water quality questions meet: how conversion, conservation practice or climate scenarios change flows and loads. The QSWAT+ QGIS plugin handles delineation and model building, and SWAT+ Toolbox and swatplus-python support calibration and automation. Expect a real learning curve — and a vast literature to lean on.
Where it fits in the workflow
TerrainCatchmentRainfallRunoffRoutingHydraulicsMappingReporting
Alternatives to SWAT+
Ranked by the topics, categories and workflow stages they share with SWAT+.
WASP
Gov-Public
EPA's Water Quality Analysis Simulation Program — eutrophication, toxics and sediment in rivers and estuaries.
WEAP
Freemium
Integrated water resources planning and policy analysis framework for basin-scale supply and demand modeling.
BASINS
Gov-Public
EPA's watershed assessment suite — HSPF continuous watershed-quality modelling with GIS and data access built in.
HEC-HMS
FreeVerified
The US Army Corps standard for rainfall-runoff modelling — event and continuous simulation, free to use.
Visual OTTHYMO
Commercial
Hydrologic modeling software for urban and rural stormwater management, master drainage planning, and pond design.