Is SimHub free? What the licence actually unlocks
Last updated · SimHub 9.11.22
SimHub is free and fully functional — there is no trial, no feature paywall on dashboards, and no watermark. The optional licence is pay-what-you-want with preset tiers of €30, €20, €15, €10 and €8, it is perpetual rather than a subscription, and it raises hardware update rates from 10FPS to 60FPS while adding automatic game switching, start-minimised and the removal of nag screens. If you only use dashboards on a screen you will barely notice the difference; if you drive LEDs, bass shakers or Arduino hardware, 60FPS is the reason to buy it.
This page also disambiguates, because the search results for "sim hub" are polluted: SimHub the telemetry application is not Thrustmaster's "TM Sim Hub" hardware, and not the eSIM app of a similar name.
The short answer
Yes, SimHub is free. Not free-with-limits in the way that phrase usually means — the free version reads telemetry from all 112 supported games, builds and runs unlimited dashboards, drives Arduino hardware, runs bass shakers and wind, and exports nothing with a watermark on it.
What you are paying for, if you choose to, is rate and convenience. Not features.
It is pay-what-you-want and perpetual.You pick your own price from the preset tiers, and the licence does not expire or renew. There is no subscription anywhere in SimHub.
What it costs
| Tier | Notes |
|---|---|
| €30 | The top preset |
| €20 | |
| €15 | |
| €10 | |
| €8 | The lowest preset — the same licence |
Every tier buys the same licence. The tiers are a way of letting people pay what the software is worth to them, not a feature ladder — this is worth stating plainly because the pricing table looks like a feature ladder and it is not.
Bulk quantities are supported for anyone licensing several machines. Payment goes through card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, WeChat or PayPal, and the licence arrives by email — usually within minutes, occasionally up to 24 hours.
The Motion Addon is separate. It is €34.99 as an add-on for existing licence holders, or €44.99 as a "Full Pack" for new users. It offers time-limited trial sessions without a licence, specifically so you can confirm your motion hardware works before paying.
What the licence unlocks
Four things, quoted from the official page:
- 60FPS instead of 10FPS
- "Drive all your arduinos, displays and shakers to up to 60FPS instead of 10FPS." This is the substantive one and it is covered in detail below.
- Automatic game switching
- SimHub changes profile as you change game, rather than you doing it.
- Start minimised
- It goes to the tray rather than opening a window every boot.
- No nag screens
- The reminders to buy a licence stop.
What 10FPS actually feels like
This is the question the community asks constantly and nobody has answered properly, so here is what the number means in practice.
10FPS means your hardware receives an update ten times a second — once every 100 milliseconds. For anything that changes slowly, that is imperceptible. A fuel readout, a lap counter, a position indicator: no human can tell.
For anything that changes fast, 100ms is a long time:
- Shift lights. An engine sweeping to the redline crosses the whole LED bar in well under a second. At 10 updates a second the bar moves in visible steps and the redline flash lands late. This is the most commonly noticed one, and it is noticed precisely at the moment you care about it most.
- Bass shakers. Effects lose definition. A kerb strike is a sharp transient; sampled ten times a second it becomes a mushier, less locatable thump. It still works — it just carries less information.
- Gear indicators. Up to a tenth of a second of lag between the shift and the digit changing. Small, but visible when you are looking at it.
- Anything smooth. Sweeping needles and gradient fills are what stepping is most visible on.
Custom Serial Devices are separately capped at 10Hz on the free version, which is worth knowing if you are building something that talks to SimHub over a custom serial protocol rather than through the standard firmware.
What nobody can tell you, including us.There is no official document listing exactly which subsystems are FPS-throttled and which are not. The unlock text says "arduinos, displays and shakers", which is broad. We are not going to invent a precise list — everything above is either from the official wording or from what the rate limit necessarily implies. If you need certainty for a specific device, the free version is fully functional, so try it.
Should you buy it?
| What you use SimHub for | Does 60FPS matter? |
|---|---|
| A dashboard on a monitor, phone or tablet | Barely. The browser renders at its own rate; the throttle is on hardware output. |
| Shift lights or an RGB rev bar | Yes. This is the clearest case — stepping at the redline is visible. |
| Bass shakers or tactile transducers | Yes. Transient definition improves noticeably. |
| A USB or Arduino-driven display | Yes for anything fast-changing; no for lap and fuel data. |
| Wind simulator fans | Not really. Fan speed changes slowly by nature. |
| Motion | Different product — the Motion Addon is a separate purchase. |
The honest summary: if SimHub is driving physical hardware that represents something fast, buy the licence. If it is drawing a screen, the free version is all of it — and given it is pay-what-you-want with an €8 floor, most people who use SimHub regularly end up buying it as a thank-you rather than as an upgrade.
The gotcha nobody warns you about
Your licence file lives in %localappdata%, and one of the repair options deletes it.SimHub's repair ladder has a Local User Settings Reset step that clears that folder. It is a normal thing to be told to try when something is broken, and it takes your licence with it. Back that folder up now, while nothing is wrong.
Keep the licence email too. It is the other way back.
Which SimHub is this?
Three unrelated things share this name and they pollute each other's search results badly enough to be worth stating outright.
- SimHub — this one
- Windows telemetry software by an independent developer known as Wotever. Dashboards, LEDs, haptics, motion. Free, with an optional licence.
- Thrustmaster "TM Sim Hub"
- A hardware product from Thrustmaster. Nothing to do with this software, and the source of most console-related confusion.
- SimHub eSIM apps
- Mobile data/eSIM services using the same word. Entirely unrelated.
Common questions
Is SimHub really free, or is it a trial?
Free, and not a trial. There is no time limit, no feature paywall on dashboards, and no watermark. The optional licence changes hardware update rates and adds conveniences — it does not unlock features that were withheld.
How much does the SimHub licence cost?
It is pay-what-you-want with preset tiers of €30, €20, €15, €10 and €8. Every tier grants the same licence. It is perpetual, not a subscription.
What is the difference between 10FPS and 60FPS in SimHub?
It is how often SimHub updates connected hardware — ten times a second on the free version, up to sixty with a licence. It is invisible on slow-changing data like fuel or lap times, and visible on fast-changing output like shift lights sweeping to the redline or the transient definition of bass-shaker effects.
Do I need a licence to use bass shakers?
No. ShakeIt works fully on the free version. The licence raises the update rate, which sharpens the definition of short transient effects like kerb strikes and impacts. It is one of the clearer cases for buying, but it is not a gate.
Is the Motion Addon included in the licence?
No, it is a separate purchase — €34.99 as an add-on for existing licence holders, or €44.99 as a Full Pack for new users. It offers time-limited trial sessions without a licence so you can verify your motion hardware first.
Can I move my licence to a new PC?
The licence file lives in %localappdata%. Back that folder up before rebuilding a machine, and keep the original licence email — that is the other route back if the file is lost.
Is this the same as Thrustmaster's Sim Hub?
No. Thrustmaster's "TM Sim Hub" is a hardware product. SimHub here is independent Windows telemetry software by a developer known as Wotever. The name collision causes real confusion, especially on console-related searches.
Sources
Related guides
- Installing SimHubDownload, SmartScreen, the .NET requirement and the reset ladder that eats your licence.
- ShakeIt hapticsBass shakers and motors — the subsystem where the update-rate difference is most audible.
- SimHub on PS5 and XboxThe other page where the Thrustmaster name collision causes real confusion.
SimHub is developed independently by Wotever and is not affiliated with oesimracing. This page was checked against SimHub 9.11.22 on 4 August 2026; where the interface has moved on since, the version stamp tells you how far. More on what SimHub is and what it costs.