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