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CAD · head to head

CATIA vs IBM Maximo Application Suite

CATIA logo

CATIA

CAD

World's leading solution for product design

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
IBM Maximo Application Suite logo

IBM Maximo Application Suite

Manufacturing

Enterprise asset management suite licensed by a shared pool of AppPoints rather than by named user

From
$3150/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: CATIA no public pricing available on vendor website; IBM Maximo Application Suite appPoints are consumed by users, applications and environments at once, so a routine decision like adding a test environment or enabling Health quietly eats pool capacity and can trigger a true-up nobody budgeted for.
  • They diverge on capability: CATIA covers Surface modeling, IBM Maximo Application Suite covers AppPoint pooling.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which CATIA and IBM Maximo Application Suite actually diverge.

Attributes where CATIA and IBM Maximo Application Suite differ
AttributeCATIAIBM Maximo Application Suite
Starting priceOn request$3150/month
Pricing modelquotePer year by AppPoint pool
PlatformsWindows, Linux (some)Web, Cloud, On-premise, iOS, Android, Linux
CategoryCADManufacturing
Founded1981Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in CATIA

  • Surface modeling
  • Class A surfacing
  • Systems engineering
  • Simulation
  • Composites design
  • Electrical design
  • Knowledge-based engineering
  • ENOVIA PLM

Only in IBM Maximo Application Suite

  • AppPoint pooling
  • Maximo Manage
  • Maximo Health and Predict
  • Maximo Visual Inspection
  • Industry solutions
  • OpenShift deployment

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

CATIA

  • 3D product designnot IBM Maximo Application Suite
  • Simulation and analysisnot IBM Maximo Application Suite
  • System design and developmentnot IBM Maximo Application Suite
  • Manufacturing engineeringnot IBM Maximo Application Suite
  • Advanced modelingnot IBM Maximo Application Suite

IBM Maximo Application Suite

  • A transmission utility managing hundreds of thousands of linear and point assets with regulatory reporting that a mid-market CMMS cannot producenot CATIA
  • An airline or rail operator needing configuration control and maintenance history depth that survives a regulator audit going back yearsnot CATIA
  • A manufacturer wanting condition-based maintenance and work order execution in the same system rather than integrating a predictive tool to a separate CMMSnot CATIA
  • A defence or nuclear estate where the industry solution and long-term vendor viability matter more than the licence costnot CATIA

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

CATIA

  • No public pricing available on vendor website
  • Requires direct contact with sales for quotes
  • Enterprise-grade CAD software likely requires substantial investment

IBM Maximo Application Suite

  • AppPoints are consumed by users, applications and environments at once, so a routine decision like adding a test environment or enabling Health quietly eats pool capacity and can trigger a true-up nobody budgeted for.
  • Pools are commonly sized from headcount rather than concurrency and application mix, and licence reviews frequently find them over-provisioned by a large margin, meaning organisations pay for entitlement they never consume.
  • Implementation, data migration, customisation and integrator fees routinely cost two to three times the first-year licence, so a business case built on the subscription figure will be materially wrong.
  • MAS requires Red Hat OpenShift, which for a customer-hosted deployment adds a container platform, its licensing and the specialist administration skills to run it, none of which the previous standalone Maximo needed.
  • Maximo is deep and slow to change; configuration is a specialist skill, upgrades are projects rather than updates, and organisations without a dedicated Maximo team end up permanently dependent on an implementation partner.

Pricing, plan by plan

CATIA

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the CATIA review.

IBM Maximo Application Suite

$3150/month
  • Essentials (SaaS)$3150/month
    • Entry SaaS tier for a small user population
    • One production environment
    • Core Manage functionality
  • Standard (SaaS)$undefined/month
    • Larger AppPoint pool
    • Additional applications and environments
    • Priced on application
  • Premium (SaaS)$undefined/month
    • Full application set including Predict and Visual Inspection
    • Multiple environments
    • Priced on application
  • Customer hosted$undefined/year
    • AppPoint entitlement bought outright and run on your own OpenShift cluster
    • Infrastructure, OpenShift and administration costs are yours
    • Annual support and subscription contract required

Which should you pick?

Choose CATIA if

  • You need surface modeling.
  • You work on Windows, Linux (some).
  • You also want class a surfacing.
CATIA review

Choose IBM Maximo Application Suite if

  • You need apppoint pooling.
  • You work on Web, Cloud, On-premise, iOS, Android, Linux.
  • You also want maximo manage.
IBM Maximo Application Suite review

Questions people ask

Is CATIA or IBM Maximo Application Suite better?
Neither clearly leads. CATIA starts at On request and IBM Maximo Application Suite at $3150/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, CATIA or IBM Maximo Application Suite?
CATIA starts at On request and IBM Maximo Application Suite at $3150/month.
Does CATIA or IBM Maximo Application Suite run on more platforms?
CATIA runs on Windows, Linux (some). IBM Maximo Application Suite runs on Web, Cloud, On-premise, iOS, Android, Linux.
What is CATIA best used for?
CATIA is most often used for 3d product design, simulation and analysis, system design and development, manufacturing engineering. Of those, 3d product design and simulation and analysis are not what IBM Maximo Application Suite is typically brought in for.
What can CATIA do that IBM Maximo Application Suite cannot?
CATIA covers Surface modeling, Class A surfacing, Systems engineering, Simulation. IBM Maximo Application Suite covers AppPoint pooling, Maximo Manage, Maximo Health and Predict, Maximo Visual Inspection.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

CATIA: How much does CATIA cost?

Pricing is not publicly displayed on CATIA's product page. Customers must contact Dassault Systèmes directly or visit user communities to obtain pricing information for CATIA licenses and subscriptions.

Source
IBM Maximo Application Suite: Is Maximo still sold per user?

No. The Maximo Application Suite licenses a shared AppPoint pool consumed by users, applications and environments. Per-seat Maximo is the old model.

CATIA: Is there a free version of CATIA?

No free version or trial is mentioned on CATIA's product page. CATIA is described as a comprehensive commercial solution for product innovation, and no freemium option is referenced.

Source
IBM Maximo Application Suite: What does the entry SaaS tier cost?

The Essentials package starts around $3,150 per month for a small user population and one production environment. Larger tiers are quoted.

IBM Maximo Application Suite: Do non-production environments cost AppPoints?

Yes. Development, test and training environments draw from the same pool, which is the most common sizing surprise.

IBM Maximo Application Suite: Can I run MAS without OpenShift?

No. OpenShift is the deployment platform whether you host it yourself or consume MAS as a service from IBM.

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