Comparison of agent-based modeling software

The agent-based modeling (ABM) community has developed several practical agent based modeling toolkits that enable individuals to develop agent-based applications. More and more such toolkits are coming into existence, and each toolkit has a variety of characteristics. Several individuals have made attempts to compare toolkits to each other (see references). Below is a chart intended to capture many of the features that are important to ABM toolkit users.

Comparison of ABM Software

Agent Based Modeling Toolkit Comparison

Platform	Primary Domain	Supporting Organization	License	Programming Language	Operating System	User Support	GIS Capabilities	3D Capabilities	Last Update
Adaptive Modeler	Building agent-based market simulation models for price forecasting of real-world stocks and other securities	Altreva; Utrecht, Netherlands	Proprietary; free evaluation version available for research and experimentation (some limitations but no expiration)	No programming skills required. An adaptive form of genetic programming is used to create trading rules. Users can select functions to be used in the genetic programming engine.	Windows	FAQ, documentation, tutorial, examples, forum, email support	Un­known	Yes Up to 3 agent properties can be visualized in real-time using 2D graphics and color	July 20, 2020 (Version 1.6.0) [1]
AnyLogic	Agent-based general purpose; also supports discrete event and system dynamics simulations.	The AnyLogic Company; Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois, USA	Proprietary; Free Personal Learning Edition available	Java	Linux, macOS, Windows	Demos; training; online community; ask a question; online help; tutorials; consulting services	Yes: supports both tile maps from free online providers and shapefile-based maps	Yes	November 20, 2024[2][3]
Framsticks	2D/3D simulations of (evolving) multi-agent systems and artificial life	Poznan University of Technology, Poznan, Poland	Depends on module: GPL/LGPL/Proprietary	FramScript (similar to JavaScript)	Cross-platform	Email developer; tutorials; manual; FAQ; forums; API; documentation; selected publications; examples	Yes	Yes	July 14, 2015[4]
GAMA Platform	Modeling and simulation development environment for building spatially explicit agent-based simulations.	IRD/SU international research unit UMMISCO, France	GNU GPL v3.0	GAML (GAma Modeling Language) for simulations, Java for extensions	Windows; Linux; *nix; Mac OS X	tutorials; manual; FAQ; forums; documentation; selected publications; examples	Yes	Yes	April 15, 2023; 2 years ago (2023-04-15) (version 1.9.1) [5]
MASON	General purpose; social complexity, physical modeling, abstract modeling, AI/machine learning	George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, USA	Open source (Academic Free License)	Java	Cross-platform	Mailing list; documentation; Tutorials; third party extensions; reference papers; API	Yes	Yes	September 3, 2019 (Version 20)[6]
NetLogo	Social and natural sciences; Help beginning users get started authoring models	Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA	GNU GPL	NetLogo	Cross-platform	Documentation; FAQ; selected references; tutorials; third party extensions; defect list; mailing lists	Yes	Yes	November 17, 2023 (Version 6.4.0) [7]
Repast	Social and natural sciences	Argonne National Laboratory, University of Chicago; Lemont, Illinois, USA	BSD	Java (RepastS, RepastJ); Python (Repast4Py); Visual Basic, .Net, C++, J#, C# (Repast.net)	Cross-platform	Documentation; mailing list; defect list; reference papers; external tools; tutorials; FAQ; examples	Yes	Yes	July 2, 2024 (Version 2.11.0) [8]
Soar	General purpose AI; human performance modeling; learning (including explanation-based learning)	John E. Laird, Clare Bates Congdon, Mazin Assanie, Nate Derbinsky and Joseph Xu; Division of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA	BSD	Soar 1 to 5 in Lisp; Soar 6 in C; Java, C++, TCL	Cross-platform	Documentation; FAQ; selected publications; defect list; third party extensions; mailing list; contact authors; tutorial; examples; wiki	Un­known	Un­known	July 28, 2017 (Version 9.6.0) [9]
StarLogo	Social and natural sciences; Educators; for students to model the behavior of decentralized systems; user friendly for K–12 students	Mitchel Resnick, Eric Klopfer, and others at MIT Media Lab and The MIT Scheller Teacher Education Program, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Cambridge, MA, USA	Free (closed source) – Clearthought Software License, Version 1.0	StarLogo (an extension of Logo)	Cross-platform	Mailing list; tutorials; FAQ; bug list; documentation; developer contacts	Un­known	Un­known	November 27, 2018 [10]
Swarm	General purpose agent based	Swarm Development Group	GNU GPL	Java; Objective-C	Cross-platform	Wiki; tutorials; examples; documentation; FAQ; selected publications; mailing lists	Un­known	Un­known	2005 [11]