The Flip Fluids addon is arguably the number one Water Simulation tool for Blender (see footnotes below for more context).
The “FLIP” technology
FLIP stands for Fluid-Implicit-Particle. It is a "hybrid" simulation method that combines particles (good for detailed sprays and splashes) with a grid‑based pressure solve (calculates pressure and ensures the fluid doesn’t lose volume). This ensures that the liquid motion stays energetic and splashy while still staying stable even in longer shots.
APIC technology
The “Flip” technology is considered the industry-standard for fluid simulation. However, it also has its weaknesses. That is why the Flip Fluids addon also offers an additional solver called APIC (Affine Particle-In-Cell) which is better for smaller scale simulation, viscous fluids, etc.
FLIP Fluids Addon vs. Mantaflow (Blender’s built in fluid solver)
Blender comes with its own fluid solver called Mantaflow built on the same Flip technology. While Mantaflow is a capable solver, especially considering it is free and bundled with Blender, the Flip Fluids addon generally offers a better user experience, and superior performance and stability which has made it extremely popular in the Blender community.
It is important to note that Mantaflow is a gas, smoke and liquid simulator, where as Flip Fluids has been laser focused on liquids. So for gas and smoke, you should choose Mantaflow or some of the other Fire & Smoke addons.
Some of the strengths of Flip Fluids over Mantaflow:
- stability and reliability: the addon crashes less and has the ability to pause a simulation or resume it after a crash
- Specialized Whitewater System: the addon features a robust system for foam, bubbles, and spray
- Viscosity: Mantaflow is capable of creating viscous materials but the system in Flip Fluids is easier to art direct.
- Workflow and UX: the addon is designed specifically for a liquid-only workflow. It includes built-in presets for common materials (beer, oil, honey) and a dedicated sidebar that provides real-time statistics and debugging tools, such as visualizing the "effective" resolution of your collision objects.
CGDive Review
This article is marked as “Reviewed by CGDive”. Usually that means that there is a video about the addon on the CGDive YouTube channel. In this case, there is no dedicated video, however I have used the addon professionally with good results.
*Note about “the number one Water Simulation tool for Blender”.
The statement above is based on the fact that the Flip Fluids has currently sold over 17,700 copies on Super Hive alone which is significantly more than any other water/liquid addon. In fact it is one of the top 10 addons in ALL categories based on number of sales.