AMPL for Students & Independent Learners
AMPL has been used by thousands to learn about optimization and to apply optimization in class projects and personal education.
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Explore the ways for students and independent learners to use AMPL for free.
Students have a range of options available to get started with AMPL, including free educational materials on learning optimization.
Community Edition License
The AMPL Community Edition is our newest and most robust offering. This license is free to download, requires no direct contact or payments with AMPL and allows you get started right away. Your downloaded license will have open source solvers included, and the ability to activate 30-day free trials of commercial solvers including Gurobi, Xpress, and CPLEX.
Create a free AMPL account.
Download AMPL and solvers for your operating system.
Download your Community Edition license file.
Optionally, start commercial solver trials.
Free Runs on the NEOS Server
We have made AMPL and solver resources available online in collaboration with the NEOS Server project. AMPL users can interact with the NEOS server by either requesting execution of both AMPL and solvers at a remote site; or by using a local AMPL session to send optimization problems to remote solvers.
Download the free size-limited AMPL Demo Version
Our free AMPL demo is limited to 500 variables and constraints for linear problems (300 for nonlinear problems, and fewer for certain solvers). This version offers a way to get started fast and is particularly convenient for trying out some of the examples in the AMPL book.
Free 30-day Trial Licenses
You can request a free trial licence for AMPL and the solvers that we sell. The trial license works on one specified computer, and is good for 30 days beginning with the date of issue.
This license can also be used for very short-term class projects, but only one trial license per year is available to any one student or for use on any one computer.
The AMPL Book
Now available as a FREE PDF download! A comprehensive guide to building optimization models, for beginning or experienced users.
Written by the creators of AMPL, this book is a complete guide for modelers at all levels of experience. Much more than a user’s manual, it begins with a tutorial on widely used linear programming models and proceeds through a more detailed tutorial exposition of all AMPL’s features. Extensive examples show how each feature is used in meaningful contexts.
Advanced chapters cover network, nonlinear, piecewise-linear, and integer programming; database and spreadsheet interactions; and command scripts. Most chapters include exercises for study or classroom use.
Learning Resources
AMPL strongly supports students learning mathematical optimization through supporting materials listed below. Explore the example files from the latest edition of the AMPL book, our new model repository, and our extensive documentation across multiple sites.
Example Files
All examples from the AMPL book are available as downloadable model, data, and script files that can be used to experiment with any installation of AMPL and solvers.
Models
AMPL has newly added many open models for your free use to help you get started.
Documentation
AMPL's development team has created extensive documentation for your use. Find more on github.com/ampl and dev.ampl.com
Bring AMPL to your classroom and career
AMPL has multiple ways to bring a license into any modeling situation from course bundles, to our new graduate program, and purchase discounts for academic research.
AMPL for Courses
The AMPL for Courses program makes full-featured AMPL + solver packages available to all students in a listed course at a university or other academic institution.
AMPL for Courses cannot be requested by individual student. We encourage you to suggest AMPL for Courses to the person who is teaching your course.
Buy Discounted AMPL and Solvers
Purchased licenses are the best option for long-term academic research projects and for departmental computing facilities. There is no limitation on problem size, and the license does not expire.
Prices for non-commercial use at degree-awarding academic institutions are only 10% of the regular commercial prices. Also free 1-year licenses for several popular solvers are renewed as long as maintenance is current.
AMPL for New Graduates
Recent graduates with optimization experience are entitled to use AMPL and 9 solvers, free and fully-featured, for one year. You are welcome to these commercially and for research. We believe you will build great things! See our AMPL for New Graduates page for details.
How can we help you?
We support students, independent learners in their education of mathematical optimization. Contact us today and we will get you started using AMPL.