Explore optimization with AMPL – completely free
Learn AMPL, build optimization models and develop working prototypes with a free, self-serve license that does not expire.
Use the complete AMPL modeling language, connect your models with Python and solve unrestricted-size models with included open-source solvers.
*No payment information required.
Community Edition is designed for personal learning, experimentation, and commercial prototyping.
Continue with Community Edition ↓
AMPL for Academia provides broader solver access specifically for students, educators and academic researchers.
Get a commercial trial configured for an active business initiative, technical evaluation or potential deployment.
AMPL Community Edition is a free, self-service license for independent users who want to learn mathematical optimization, explore the AMPL ecosystem, or develop and test early-stage models and prototypes.
Create models without restrictions on the number of variables or constraints.
Create and use your Community Edition license without licensing fees or payment information. This license does not have an expiration date.
Use AMPL on supported operating systems or work through compatible notebook and cloud environments.
Find answers and participate in discussions through the AMPL Forum, where AMPL users and developers contribute as availability permits (discuss.ampl.com).
Access technical documentation, tutorials, example models, and practical notebooks (dev.ampl.com).
AMPL Community Edition provides the core tools needed to formulate optimization problems, connect data, work with Python, and test different solver approaches.
Build and maintain optimization models using a language designed specifically for mathematical optimization.
Develop, edit, and debug optimization models directly within Visual Studio Code using AMPL's dedicated extension.
AMPL's modern MP interfaces provide consistent access to both open-source and commercial optimization solvers.
Use amplpy to build, solve, and analyze AMPL models as part of a Python workflow.
Connect AMPL models with files, spreadsheets, databases, and application data.
Use supported open-source solvers without time restrictions.
Activate 30-day trials of commercial solvers to compare capabilities and test solver performance.
Use AMPL across desktop, cloud, notebook, and containerized environments with deployment options that fit your development workflow.
Yes. Community Edition is available without licensing fees or payment information. The license does not expire, although its cloud-based licensing mechanism requires an internet connection for activation and periodic authorization.
Community Edition does not limit the number of variables or constraints either within the AMPL language or open-souce solvers and commercial solver trials.
Community Edition is intended for non-academic educational use, personal and non-commercial projects, and commercial prototyping.
It is not intended for production deployment or ongoing operational use that generates business value. Those uses require an appropriate commercial license.
Community Edition is a permanent, self-service option for independent learning and prototyping with supported open-source solvers.
A commercial trial is intended for organizations actively assessing AMPL for a business initiative or deployment. It provides a time-bound evaluation environment with commercial-solver access and a more consultative evaluation process.
Use AMPL for Academia. It is designed specifically for coursework, teaching and scholarly research and provides academic access to many commercial solvers.
Community Edition includes supported open-source solvers distributed through AMPL. The current list includes but is not limited to, CBC, NVIDIA cuOpt, HiGHS, SCIP, GCG, IPOPT, Couenne, and many more. See our full list of open source solvers.
You may also activate one-time trials of all commercial solvers AMPL distributes (including Gurobi, CPLEX, Mosek, Xpress, COPT, Baron, LGO, CONOPT and more).
The available solver list may change as the AMPL ecosystem evolves.
Commercial-solver trials are intended for limited evaluation and benchmarking. When you are conducting an active organizational evaluation or require more time, request a commercial trial so AMPL can recommend the appropriate evaluation or licensing path.
Community Edition is supported through AMPL’s documentation, examples, tutorials and community forum. AMPL developers regularly participate in the forum, but responses are not guaranteed and Community Edition does not include priority email, phone or video support.
Community Edition works with the supported solver modules and trials made available for that license. Ongoing use of a separately purchased commercial solver generally requires an appropriate AMPL commercial license.
Contact the AMPL team before purchasing a solver to confirm the compatible AMPL licensing arrangement.
Community Edition is an individual license and should not be shared across a team. Each eligible user should create and activate their own license.
Organizations collaborating on an active business project should use an appropriate commercial licensing arrangement.
Create your free Community Edition license and begin building optimization models with AMPL, Python and included open-source solvers.
Visit our documentation site →
A (packed full) free license – perfect for learning and small projects.
Whether you’re a student, an academic, or just someone passionate about optimization, the Community Edition provides a robust platform to develop and test your models.
No credit cards, no fees. Free for educational, small projects, prototyping and solver testing.
Our active discussion forum is available for support from the dev team and the AMPL community.
The Community Edition operates on a cloud license, requiring an internet connection to function.
There are no restrictions on the number of variables or constraints you can use.
The Community Edition license offers you everything you need to fully learn and build full-scale optimization applications.
AMPL's intuitive and natural modeling language is specifically designed, maintained and supported for optimization.
Access a wide range of data sources seamlessly. Bring your data to AMPL from whatever source it is currently in.
Maintain your preferred general language for larger applications and other programming needs. AMPL's Python ecosystem allows you to leverage the power of AMPL without losing Python in the process.
Use open source solvers like HiGHS and CBC without time restrictions.
Test commercial solvers like Gurobi, Xpress, and Knitro for 30-days each- ideal for making informed purchasing decisions.
With the AMPL Community Edition, you have access to a variety of tools that can help you create, visualize, and optimize your models. Here are some exciting options to get you started:
Leverage the power of AI to brainstorm and refine your optimization models. Using ChatGPT, you can:
Streamlit offers an intuitive platform for creating interactive and visually appealing data applications. With Streamlit, you can:
Nextmv is a powerful tool for making real-time decisions based on your optimization models. It allows you to:
Google Colab provides a collaborative environment for modeling and experimenting with your AMPL models. Here’s how you can make the most of it:
This is the AMPL version of Hands-On Mathematical Optimization in Python. This resources is a compiling of notebooks introducing the concepts and tools of mathematical optimization with examples from a range of disciplines. The goals of these notebooks are to:
provide a foundation for hands-on learning of mathematical optimization;
demonstrate the tools and concepts of optimization with practical examples;
help learners to develop the practical skills needed to build models and solving problems using state-of-the-art solvers and modeling language.
Our commercial AMPL license and the AMPL Community Edition license are the same in terms of power – no limitations on number of variables and constraints. The main difference is that AMPL Community Edition can only be used for commercial-prototyping purposes. Moreover, AMPL Community Edition requires an internet connection, connects to commercial solvers for a 30-day trial period, and is supported by a community forum. The Commercial AMPL licenses have priority phone, email and video support included in the licensing fees.
Inside the license portal you can request an extension for your 30 day solver trial. This can often be extended to allow you to complete ongoing work or testing.
Our standard licenses have premium email, phone, and video support, while our Community Edition has basic email support and the user forum (where our development team frequently provides support).
As soon as you sign up through the license portal you can download your license and use it immediately. Your Community Edition license never expires.
No. If you need to use a commercial solver for more than 30 days and you do not qualify for a professional or academic discount, you will need to purchase a standard AMPL license and your preferred commercial solver license. Contact us to get started or for further support.
Get in touch for a more consultative approach to getting started with AMPL.
