Abstract This study investigates the effect of transverse power distribution on the ONB (Onset of Nucleate Boiling) incipient. For this purpose, a subcooled boiling model with uniform and non-uniform heat flux distribution is simulated in a narrow vertical rectangular channel heated from both sides by applying a wide range of thermal power (8–16 kW). The simulations are performed using the CFX and TMAP codes. The CFX code incorporates both a two-fluid model and RPI wall boiling model to investigate coolant and wall temperature distributions along the heated channel. The TMAP code implements two different sets of heat transfer correlations to evaluate the wall temperature. The results obtained from the TMAP analyses show that the wall temperatures predicted by the Jo et al. heat transfer correlation are higher than the ones predicted by the Dittus and Boelter heat transfer correlation. The wall temperatures predicted by the CFX analyses lie between the predicted wall temperatures obtained by the TMAP analyses. Based on the superheated temperature on the heated surface, the ONB incipient is determined. The axial locations of the ONB incipient are predicted differently by the CFX and TMAP analyses. For uniform heating, the ONB incipient predicted by the CFX analysis occurs between the predictions made by the TMAP analyses. For non-uniform heating, the ONB incipient by the CFX analysis occurs at a higher power than the power required by the TMAP analyses.