Two systems, not one
The plugins bring ADMS directly into the CAD tool you already use: Rhino, Grasshopper, Autodesk Fusion, or nTop. You license the plugin for that environment and generate structures inside your existing workflow.
sphereneNXT is the browser-based platform. Nothing to install, works on any operating system, and it accepts files from any CAD tool. Instead of a flat license, NXT runs on credits: you spend credits when you compute, simulate, or export, and browsing, importing, and visualizing are always free.
Because the two work so differently, they are priced and structured differently, and their plans do not map onto each other.
Plugin licenses
Plugin access is organized into license types that unlock the software inside your CAD environment. From entry level upward, these are Trial, Student, Faculty, Core, PRO, HEX, and Infinity. Trial and Student are free, Core and Faculty are self-serve paid licenses you can buy directly, and PRO, HEX, and Infinity are enterprise licenses arranged by quote. Each one governs what you can do with the plugin itself, per CAD tool.
sphereneNXT tiers
The platform gives you a Trial to start with, then five ongoing tiers: Student, Faculty, Maker, Professional, and Enterprise. The Trial is a short, time-limited way to explore sphereneNXT before committing to a plan. The five tiers control how you access NXT, things like seats, access to HPC compute, report watermarks, and On-Premises deployment. They also differ in how credits behave: the Student plan is the one that rolls over, while the others do not. Students and educators get generous free or discounted access, Maker is the pay-as-you-go entry point for individuals, Professional is built for engineering teams, and Enterprise is the contracted tier for large organizations with formal procurement, security, and deployment needs.
Why the names look similar but are not the same
Note: The only subscription that rolls over is the Student one. Students may use the same login email as in the plugin and don’t need to register into sphereneNXT, simply use the login page, unless you registered before May 2026.
This is the part worth reading twice. Both systems have a "Student" plan and a "Faculty" plan, and the plugins have a "PRO" license while NXT has a "Professional" tier. The names rhyme, but they belong to different systems and grant different things.
A plugin PRO license is not a sphereneNXT Professional plan. A plugin Student license is not a sphereneNXT Student tier. One unlocks software inside your CAD tool, the other governs credit-based access to the web platform. If you hold a plugin license, the license entitlement does not carry over to NXT, and vice versa.
How to think about which you need
If you want ADMS to live inside the CAD tool you already design in, you are looking at a plugin license. If you want to work in the browser, import from any tool, simulate, and send straight to print without installing anything, you are looking at a sphereneNXT tier.
Many teams will use both, and that is fine: just remember you are choosing within two independent plan systems, not one.
Both routes let you start without commitment. The plugins offer a free trial, and sphereneNXT gives you a trial to explore the platform before you buy any credits.