Comparison of agent-based modeling software

In the last few years, 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

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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 September 24, 2021[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 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; 17 months 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 Academic Free License (open source) 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 GPL NetLogo Cross-platform Documentation; FAQ; selected references; tutorials; third party extensions; defect list; mailing lists Yes Yes September 29, 2022 (Version 6.3.0) [7]
Repast Social 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 December 22, 2022 (Version 2.10.0) [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 GPL Java; Objective-C Cross-platform Wiki; tutorials; examples; documentation; FAQ; selected publications; mailing lists Un­known Un­known 2005 [11]
Vahana.jl General purpose with focus on network dynamics Zuse Institut Berlin; Germany MIT Julia Cross-plattform tutorials; examples; documentation; email support No: only via additional packages Yes: support of n-dimensional rasters, no support for continuous space August 27, 2024 (Version 1.2) [12]

References

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  1. ^ "Altreva - Stock market forecasting software using agent-based market simulation models". www.altreva.com. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  2. ^ (Version 8.7.7) "AnyLogic latest version - 8.7.7". www.anylogic.com. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  3. ^ "Anylogic changes history". Anylogic. Archived from the original on 8 December 2018. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  4. ^ History framsticks.com
  5. ^ "Releases · gama-platform/Gama". GitHub.
  6. ^ "Releases · eclab/Mason". GitHub.
  7. ^ "Releases · NetLogo/NetLogo". GitHub.
  8. ^ "Releases · Repast/Repast.simphony". GitHub.
  9. ^ "Releases · SoarGroup/Soar". GitHub.
  10. ^ "Welcome".
  11. ^ "Swarm:Stable release - Swarm".
  12. ^ "Releases · Vahana.jl".