The free Academic License for Gurobi has all the features and performance of the full Gurobi Optimizer. A free Academic License has no limits on model size. The only restrictions on the use of these licenses are: (i) they can only be used by faculty, students, or staff of a degree-granting academic institution, (ii) they can only be used for research or educational purposes, and (iii) they must be validated from a recognized academic domain, as described below. They expire twelve (12) months after the date on which your license was generated, but eligible faculty, students, or staff can renew a license by repeating this process.

Obtaining a Free Academic License

To obtain a free Academic License for Gurobi, please follow these steps:

1. Login to your Gurobi Account. If you do not already have an account, then first Register for an Account.
2. On the Download > Gurobi Optimizer page select the version you want to download and click the 'Download' button. You should also download README.txt.
3. On the Download > Licenses page click on the 'Free Academic' menu option. Accept the End User License Agreement and the conditions for use of an academic license, then click on 'Request License'. This will create a new license.
4. Follow the instructions in README.txt to install the software.
5. Once the software has been installed, run 'grbgetkey' using the argument provided when you created your license (ex: grbgetkey ae36ac20-16e6-acd2-f242-4da6e765fa0a). The 'grbgetkey' program will retrieve your license key and prompt you to store it on your machine. It will also validate your academic license eligibility by confirming that you are connected to the Internet from a recognized academic domain (e.g., any '.edu' address). If you have trouble validating your academic license, please refer to our Academic Validation Troubleshooting instructions.

You are now ready to use the Gurobi Optimizer!

Note: There is no limit on the number of free Academic licenses that you can obtain. However, each such license must be generated individually.

Using a Free Academic License with Modeling Systems

You may use a free Academic License for Gurobi with an existing license for AIMMS, AMPL, GAMS or MPL. To do this, first follow the instructions above to install Gurobi Optimizer and obtain a free Academic License. Next, you will need to configure Gurobi as a solver for your modeling system. This may require you to install additional tools. For AMPL, detailed instructions can be found in the AMPL-Gurobi Guide. For GAMS, please see the instructions for OsiGurobi and the professional Gurobi link on the GAMS website. For AIMMS and MPL, the academic version already comes with the Gurobi solver installed, so no additional configuration steps are needed.

To purchase an academic license for AMPL, please see our price list, which can be found through your Gurobi Account. To purchase an academic license for GAMS, please contact GAMS directly. Free academic licenses for AIMMS and MPL are available; see the AIMMS Academic License and the MPL Academic Program for details.

Take Gurobi With You Program for New Graduates

Our goal is to help graduating students continue to use Gurobi as they move from their academic studies to a commercial environment. To help with this transition, we are happy to issue a commercial named-user license with an expiration date one year from the date of issue the recent graduate can use at their new employer. The only cost is the normal support fee, paid by the new employer.

Signing up is easy. Simply download the program request form which has the full details.

Technical Support

Gurobi academic licenses do not include technical support. To allow our users to discuss the product and to ask questions, we have set up a Gurobi discussion group. You can read current and past messages online, or subscribe to receive messages via email:

We encourage users to answer each others' questions; Gurobi staff members will monitor the group and answer questions as time permits.

Other Academic Licenses

In addition to the free Academic License for Gurobi, we also offer paid academic licenses. In particular, we offer a node license that has no periodic validation requirement, and we offer an unlimited network license. For details, please see our Price List.