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Manufacturing · head to head

LabVIEW vs Materialise Magics

LabVIEW logo

LabVIEW

Manufacturing

Graphical dataflow programming for automated test, measurement and instrument control

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Materialise Magics logo

Materialise Magics

Manufacturing

Industrial build preparation and data repair for metal and polymer additive manufacturing

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: LabVIEW nI is now part of Emerson, completing in 2023, so LabVIEW sits inside an industrial automation conglomerate rather than being the flagship of a dedicated test company; roadmap priorities and support pricing follow the parent, not the user base.; Materialise Magics new seats and modules have been subscription only since 15 May 2024, so the perpetual purchase route is closed and existing perpetual holders are on a shrinking island.
  • They diverge on capability: LabVIEW covers Graphical dataflow programming, Materialise Magics covers Mesh repair.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which LabVIEW and Materialise Magics actually diverge.

Attributes where LabVIEW and Materialise Magics differ
AttributeLabVIEWMaterialise Magics
PlatformsWindows, Linux, macOSWindows

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Manufacturing).

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 LabVIEW

  • Graphical dataflow programming
  • Front panels
  • Instrument driver library
  • Hardware integration
  • Real-time and FPGA targets
  • Analysis and signal processing
  • Application builder
  • Nigel AI assistant

Only in Materialise Magics

  • Mesh repair
  • Part orientation and nesting
  • Support generation
  • Build Processors
  • Simulation module
  • Structures module
  • Reporting and traceability

What people use each for

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

LabVIEW

  • An automotive supplier building an end-of-line test rig that must drive a power supply, read a scope and log pass/fail against a serial numbernot Materialise Magics
  • A semiconductor lab characterising devices across a PXI chassis where deterministic timing between instruments mattersnot Materialise Magics
  • A medical device manufacturer needing a validated, documented test system with an operator front panel a technician can run unsupervisednot Materialise Magics
  • A research group prototyping a control loop on CompactRIO where part of the logic must compile down to an FPGAnot Materialise Magics

Materialise Magics

  • A service bureau running several brands of metal printer that wants one preparation environment instead of five vendor slicersnot LabVIEW
  • Repairing badly formed STL or scan-derived meshes that a machine slicer will not acceptnot LabVIEW
  • Automating support generation on metal parts where manual support editing is the bottleneck in the processnot LabVIEW
  • Simulating and compensating for build distortion before committing an expensive metal buildnot LabVIEW

Where each one falls short

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

LabVIEW

  • NI is now part of Emerson, completing in 2023, so LabVIEW sits inside an industrial automation conglomerate rather than being the flagship of a dedicated test company; roadmap priorities and support pricing follow the parent, not the user base.
  • No prices appear anywhere on the NI site for commercial editions; Base, Full, Professional and the LabVIEW+ suite are all quoted through NI or a reseller, so a buyer cannot compare cost against a Python-plus-PyVISA alternative without opening a sales conversation.
  • Graphical source code diffs badly. Merging two engineers’ changes to the same virtual instrument in git is impractical without NI’s own comparison tools, so team development on LabVIEW is slower and more serialised than on text-based languages.
  • The pool of engineers who write LabVIEW is small and ageing relative to the pool who write Python, so hiring a replacement for the person who built your test rig is materially harder and more expensive than replacing a general software engineer.
  • The environment pulls you toward NI hardware and NI add-on toolkits, and licences for real-time, FPGA and vision modules are sold separately on top of the base edition, so the quoted LabVIEW price is rarely the delivered cost of a working test system.

Materialise Magics

  • New seats and modules have been subscription only since 15 May 2024, so the perpetual purchase route is closed and existing perpetual holders are on a shrinking island.
  • Build Processors are licensed separately per machine family, so adding a new printer brand adds a licence line as well as capital cost, and a mixed fleet multiplies the software bill.
  • The modules that deliver the biggest labour saving, notably e-Stage automated support generation, are paid extras, so the base seat alone leaves you doing manual support work.
  • Materialise publishes no prices anywhere, and quotes vary by region and reseller, so two similar bureaus can pay materially different amounts for the same configuration.
  • It is Windows only and remains a desktop application, which sits awkwardly with the cloud direction of Materialise CO-AM and means preparation capacity is tied to specific workstations and licence seats.

Pricing, plan by plan

LabVIEW

On request
  • LabVIEW Community EditionFree
    • Free for personal, non-commercial use only
    • Full LabVIEW feature set for hobbyists
    • No commercial deployment rights
  • LabVIEW Base$undefined/year
    • Core acquisition, control and user interface capability
    • Suited to simple test and measurement applications
    • Available as subscription or perpetual licence
  • LabVIEW Full$undefined/year
    • Adds advanced analysis and signal processing
    • Recommended where mathematics and filtering are required
    • Available as subscription or perpetual licence
  • LabVIEW Professional$undefined/year
    • Adds application builder, source control and deployment tooling
    • Includes the Nigel AI assistant
    • Available as subscription or perpetual licence

Materialise Magics

On request
  • Magics Essentials$undefined/year
    • Mesh repair and editing
    • Part orientation and platform placement
    • Basic support generation
  • Magics with modules$undefined/year
    • Everything in Essentials
    • e-Stage automated supports, Simulation, Structures priced individually
    • Build Processors licensed per machine family

Which should you pick?

Choose LabVIEW if

  • You need graphical dataflow programming.
  • You work on Windows, Linux, macOS.
  • You also want front panels.
LabVIEW review

Choose Materialise Magics if

  • You need mesh repair.
  • You work on Windows.
  • You also want part orientation and nesting.
Materialise Magics review

Questions people ask

Is LabVIEW or Materialise Magics better?
Neither clearly leads. LabVIEW starts at On request and Materialise Magics at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, LabVIEW or Materialise Magics?
LabVIEW starts at On request and Materialise Magics at On request.
Does LabVIEW or Materialise Magics run on more platforms?
LabVIEW runs on Windows, Linux, macOS. Materialise Magics runs on Windows.
What is LabVIEW best used for?
LabVIEW is most often used for an automotive supplier building an end-of-line test rig that must drive a power supply, read a scope and log pass/fail against a serial number, a semiconductor lab characterising devices across a pxi chassis where deterministic timing between instruments matters, a medical device manufacturer needing a validated, documented test system with an operator front panel a technician can run unsupervised, a research group prototyping a control loop on compactrio where part of the logic must compile down to an fpga. Of those, an automotive supplier building an end-of-line test rig that must drive a power supply, read a scope and log pass/fail against a serial number and a semiconductor lab characterising devices across a pxi chassis where deterministic timing between instruments matters are not what Materialise Magics is typically brought in for.
What can LabVIEW do that Materialise Magics cannot?
LabVIEW covers Graphical dataflow programming, Front panels, Instrument driver library, Hardware integration. Materialise Magics covers Mesh repair, Part orientation and nesting, Support generation, Build Processors.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

LabVIEW: Who owns LabVIEW now?

NI, formerly National Instruments, was acquired by Emerson in an acquisition that completed in 2023. LabVIEW is now an Emerson product.

Materialise Magics: Can I still buy a perpetual Magics licence?

No. Since 15 May 2024 Materialise sells new seats and new modules on subscription only. Existing perpetual licences continue to work but new capacity is subscription.

LabVIEW: Can I still buy a perpetual licence?

Yes. NI offers both subscription and perpetual licences and states there are no functional or feature-level differences between them.

Materialise Magics: Do I need a separate Build Processor for each printer?

You need one per machine family, licensed separately from the Magics seat. Budget for it before you buy the printer.

LabVIEW: Is there a free version?

LabVIEW Community Edition is free for personal, non-commercial use. It carries no commercial deployment rights.

Materialise Magics: Is Magics the same as CO-AM?

No. Magics is desktop build preparation. CO-AM is the Materialise cloud platform for AM workflow and production management, which absorbed the former Link3D product.

LabVIEW: How much does it cost?

NI does not publish commercial edition prices. Base, Full, Professional and LabVIEW+ are all quoted through NI or a reseller.

Materialise Magics: Does Magics slice?

It prepares and supports the build and hands off through a Build Processor, which produces the machine-ready file. The machine-specific processing lives in the Build Processor.

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