Netlogo
NetLogo is an open-source agent-based modeling platform developed at Northwestern University's Center for Connected Learning, enabling academic researchers, K-12 and university educators, and scientific researchers to simulate natural and social phenomena through programmable agents, distributed free under GPL with commercial licensing available for business use.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1999
- HeadquartersEvanston, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Netlogo does
NetLogo is an open-source agent-based modeling environment developed and maintained at the Center for Connected Learning and Computer-Based Modeling (CCL) at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. Originally created by Uri Wilensky in 1999 at Tufts University before the CCL relocated to Northwestern in 2000, the platform enables users to simulate natural and social phenomena by programming individual agents — representing people, cells, firms, animals, or other entities — that follow simple rules and interact to produce emergent system-level patterns. NetLogo is self-described as the world's most widely used agent-based modeling platform, with documented use in over 10,000 scientific publications spanning epidemiology, ecology, economics, social science, and physics, and adoption in thousands of classrooms globally across K-12 and higher education.
The product suite is composed of NetLogo Desktop (a Scala/Java desktop application with hybrid compiler-interpreter architecture and Java byte code generation), NetLogo Web (a JavaScript/HTML5 browser implementation code-named 'Tortoise'), HubNet (a multiuser participatory simulation environment), NetLogo 3D (a stereoscopic 3D modeling variant), NetTango (a block-based visual builder), and Turtle Universe (a mobile companion application on iOS/Android). Built-in tools include BehaviorSpace for parameterized experiment execution with parallel runs and headless command-line operation, and a Controlling API for Java-based automation. The platform ships with 20+ bundled extensions covering GIS, Arduino hardware integration, Python and R interoperability, network analysis, video recording, sound generation, and bitmap manipulation. The user interface is localized in six languages (English, Spanish, Chinese, Portuguese, Russian, Japanese).
The business model is a hybrid open-source structure: free under the GNU General Public License v2 or later for educational and academic users with no revenue generated from that segment; commercial licenses available for business use on a contact basis through Uri Wilensky at Northwestern; donations accepted through Northwestern with community-funded development priority voting; and the NetLogo Center established for long-term sustainability with initial funding from the National Science Foundation's Pathways to Open-Source Ecosystems (POSE) program, following two decades of prior NSF grant support (REC-9814682, REC-0126227, REC-0003285, REC-0115699, IIS-0713619, and others). The horizontal customer base is anchored by academic researchers, K-12 and university educators, and scientific researchers across disciplines, with limited documented use among policymakers and government analysts. Copyright (1999-2025) is held by Uri Wilensky, and the project operates under a parent relationship with Northwestern University's Center for Connected Learning rather than as an independent commercial entity.
Netlogo firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Netlogo
- Legal name
- NetLogo (Center for Connected Learning, Northwestern University)
- Website
- https://netlogo.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1999
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- NetLogo is an open-source agent-based modeling platform developed at Northwestern University's Center for Connected Learning, enabling academic researchers, K-12 and university educators, and scientific researchers to simulate natural and social phenomena through programmable agents, distributed free under GPL with commercial licensing available for business use.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Netlogo is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Evanston
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Netlogo business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Open Source Distribution (Education/Academic): Free distribution for educational and academic use under GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2 or later. No revenue generated from this segment.
- Commercial Licensing: Commercial licenses are available for purchase for business and commercial use cases. Contact Uri Wilensky for licensing inquiries.
- Donations: Community donations accepted and encouraged, processed through Northwestern University. Donors are invited to participate in development priority voting as part of community-supported funding experiments.
- NSF Grant Funding: Development historically funded by National Science Foundation grants including multiple awards over two decades for development, research, and educational initiatives.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Others | Free Educational/Academic License |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels9 records
Netlogo product offering
Product offeringCore offering
NetLogo is a programmable modeling environment and language for building agent-based simulations of natural and social phenomena, in which individual agents (people, cells, firms, animals) follow simple rules and interact to produce emergent patterns. Distributed free for educational and academic use under GPL and via commercial licenses for enterprise use, the platform spans a desktop application (Scala/Java), a browser-based version (JavaScript/HTML5), a multiuser participatory simulation tool, 3D and block-based builders, and a mobile companion app, supported by an extensive Models Library and 20+ bundled extensions.
Product overview
NetLogo is a programmable modeling environment for simulating natural and social phenomena, making it the world's most widely used agent-based modeling platform. The product suite consists of NetLogo Desktop (Java/Scala desktop application), NetLogo Web (JavaScript/HTML5 browser version), HubNet (multiuser participatory simulation), NetLogo 3D (3D modeling extension), NetTango (block-based builder), and Turtle Universe (mobile companion app). NetLogo also includes built-in tools like BehaviorSpace for experiment execution and a Controlling API for Java automation. The platform offers 20+ bundled extensions for specialized capabilities including GIS, Arduino/physical computing, Python/R integration, network analysis, video recording, and more.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- NetLogo Desktop: The desktop version of the NetLogo agent-based modeling environment.
- NetLogo Web
- HubNet
- NetTango
- NetLogo 3D
- Turtle Universe
Quantifiable outcome
- 10,000+ scientific publications using NetLogo
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Netlogo
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Netlogo technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature8 records
Netlogo partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and historical.
- Northwestern Institute On Complex Systems (NICO)coreNICO collaborates with the NetLogo Center on complexity research and innovation. Founded in 2004 with goals of uncovering fundamental principles governing complex systems in science, technology, and human behavior. NICO's mission to incubate innovative collaborations leveraging complexity and data science aligns with NetLogo's agent-based modeling capabilities.
- Center for Connected Learning (CCL)coreCCL is the home of NetLogo development at Northwestern University. Founded by Uri Wilensky, CCL develops computational tools for education and research, publishes the NetLogo User Manual, and maintains the NetLogo ecosystem including community resources and educational materials.
- Tufts UniversityhistoricalOriginal institutional home of NetLogo development. Created in 1999 by Uri Wilensky at CCL (then at Tufts) before the CCL moved to Northwestern University in 2000. NetLogo grew out of StarLogoT, which was authored by Wilensky at Tufts in 1997.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Netlogo competitors and assessment
Company assessmentOthers
- StarLogo: StarLogo is the MIT predecessor project from which NetLogo grew (via StarLogoT, authored by Uri Wilensky in 1997). It is thematically and historically related, targeting the same educational agent-based simulation audience but with a different development lineage.
Emerging players
- HASH: HASH is a modern web-based agent-based simulation platform that competes most directly with NetLogo Web, offering browser-native simulation, integrations, and a commercial product aimed at enterprise use cases that overlap with NetLogo's emerging commercial segment.
- FLAME GPU: FLAME GPU is a high-performance agent-based simulation framework leveraging GPU acceleration. It targets complex systems research use cases similar to NetLogo (epidemiology, biology, social simulation) but with a performance-focused positioning for large-scale models.
Broad incumbents
- Wolfram Mathematica: Wolfram Mathematica is a general-purpose computational platform that includes agent-based and system-dynamics modeling capabilities. It serves as a broad incumbent in academic and research computing with overlapping but more general-purpose positioning versus NetLogo's ABM specialization.
- Simulink (MathWorks): Simulink is MathWorks' general-purpose dynamic systems simulation platform used across engineering and research. It overlaps with NetLogo in simulation use cases but addresses a different primary audience (engineers vs. social/ecological science researchers) with a much broader commercial footprint.
Direct peers
- Repast: Repast is a family of open-source agent-based modeling toolkits (Repast Simphony, Repast for High Performance Computing) widely used in academic and social science research, positioning it as a close functional alternative to NetLogo in the ABM research community.
- AnyLogic: AnyLogic is a commercial multi-method simulation platform (ABM, discrete event, system dynamics) used in academic research and enterprise. It targets the same agent-based modeling customers as NetLogo but with a proprietary, paid licensing model and enterprise GTM.
- Mesa: Mesa is an open-source Python-based agent-based modeling framework with similar use cases to NetLogo (epidemiology, ecology, social simulation). It is the most direct Python-native competitor and benefits from integration with the broader data-science ecosystem.
- MASON: MASON is a Java-based fast agent-based simulation toolkit developed at George Mason University, targeting academic ABM researchers with similar use cases to NetLogo Desktop (multi-agent simulation, complex systems) but with a focus on high-performance simulation.
- GAMA Platform: GAMA is an open-source modeling and simulation platform with strong GIS and spatial-agent modeling capabilities. It targets the same agent-based modeling use cases (epidemiology, urban planning, ecology) and is positioned as a direct alternative for researchers needing spatial ABM.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Netlogo social profiles
Digital presenceNetlogo financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Netlogo leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Netlogo funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Netlogo M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Netlogo
What does Netlogo do?
NetLogo is a programmable modeling environment and language for building agent-based simulations of natural and social phenomena, in which individual agents (people, cells, firms, animals) follow simple rules and interact to produce emergent patterns. Distributed free for educational and academic use under GPL and via commercial licenses for enterprise use, the platform spans a desktop application (Scala/Java), a browser-based version (JavaScript/HTML5), a multiuser participatory simulation tool, 3D and block-based builders, and a mobile companion app, supported by an extensive Models Library and 20+ bundled extensions.
Is Netlogo a public or private company?
Netlogo is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Netlogo founded?
Netlogo was founded in 1999. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Netlogo based?
Netlogo is headquartered in Evanston, United States, in the North America region.
How does Netlogo make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Open Source Distribution (Education/Academic) is the primary driver. The others are commercial Licensing, donations and NSF Grant Funding.
Who are Netlogo's main competitors?
StarLogo is listed as an others. Emerging players are HASH and FLAME GPU. Broad incumbents are Wolfram Mathematica and Simulink (MathWorks). Direct peers are Repast, AnyLogic, Mesa, MASON and GAMA Platform.
Does Netlogo have an API?
Yes. The Controlling API allows Java developers to programmatically control NetLogo, enabling execution of experiments from custom Java code, headless model runs, and direct manipulation of NetLogo models. BehaviorSpace provides experiment execution capabilities through the GUI or command-line interface (NetLogo_Console --headless) with options for table output, spreadsheet output, list output, and statistical results.