H5Workbench — Native HDF5 Viewer
A native desktop application for browsing, inspecting, and validating HDF5 files — no Java runtime required. A clean, responsive interface on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Actively maintained by the engineers who build it.
See it in action
What is an HDF5 file?
HDF5 (Hierarchical Data Format version 5) is a binary container format used across scientific computing for storing large, multidimensional datasets. H5Workbench lets you open these files and inspect their internal hierarchy — groups, datasets, attributes, and metadata — without writing code.
H5Workbench reads any file that uses the HDF5 binary format. That includes the standard .h5, .hdf5, and .he5 extensions, as well as MATLAB v7.3 .mat files and NetCDF-4 datasets, both of which are HDF5-based under the hood. Many machine-learning checkpoint formats — PyTorch, TensorFlow/Keras .h5 weights — are also HDF5 files that H5Workbench can browse.
Unlike HDFView, the long-standing reference viewer from the HDF Group, H5Workbench is a native desktop application — there’s no Java runtime required.
What you can do with H5Workbench
No Java required
H5Workbench is a native application — install it like any other app. No JRE, no classpath, no IT tickets.
Actively maintained
Bug reports get responses, not silence. Fixes ship in days, not years. Early adopters get direct input on the roadmap.
Visual HDF5 hierarchy browser
Navigate large datasets with a familiar tree view.
Inline dataset inspection
View datasets as images, spreadsheets, or text — with color mapping, precision control, and selection statistics.
Attribute and metadata management
View attributes on groups, datasets, and the root. Editing support is coming in a near-term release.
Cross-platform
Native builds for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Consistent, modern UX across all three.
Early-adopter pricing
While we close the feature-parity gap with HDFView, early adopters get 50% off.
H5Workbench is a native application — no Java runtime, no IT approval hassle, no classpath debugging. It doesn't yet match every HDFView feature (see the side-by-side comparison), but it's actively maintained, ships fixes quickly, and you get direct input on the roadmap. While we close the feature gap during v1.x, early adopters pay $30/year instead of the regular $60/year.
Introductory pricing remains in effect through v1.x and moves to full price with the v2.0 release.
Frequently asked questions
What is H5Workbench?
How is H5Workbench different from HDFView?
What HDF5 file formats does H5Workbench support?
.h5, .hdf5, and .he5 extensions, as well as MATLAB v7.3 .mat files and NetCDF-4 datasets, both of which are HDF5-based under the hood.