Atlas capability 9

Model, Simulate, and Experiment

Help me ask, What happens if...?

Represent a system, change assumptions, run experiments, observe feedback, and learn where a model helps—or misleads.

The participant should be able to distinguish the simulated world, what an observer could see, what an agent believes, and what the modeler concludes.

What this can include

  • Represent actors, rules, resources, constraints, and environments.
  • Generate scenarios or synthetic populations.
  • Change assumptions and run repeated experiments.
  • Visualize outcomes and compare strategies.
  • Explore feedback loops, tradeoffs, and unintended effects.
  • Build traffic, ecological, social, physical, or imagined simulations.
01

See It

Change one assumption in a tiny visible model and watch the outcome shift.

02

Try It

Run a prepared simulation, record observations, and identify which conclusions the model cannot support.

03

Build It

Create a deterministic or stochastic model with explicit ground truth, observation, assumptions, validation, and replay.

Current tool map · checked August 13, 2026

Tools that may help

These are representative options, not rankings or endorsements. Prices are dated United States dollar orientations; open the official page before choosing or paying.

Airtable

Airtable

A collaborative relational database and low-code platform for organizing records, views, forms, and automations.

Cost snapshot
Free plan; a stable public USD paid entry price was not confirmed.
Good fit
guided beginner; See It, Try It, Build It
Access
web, desktop, mobile, api

AnyLogic

AnyLogic PLE

A free learning edition of a multi-method simulation environment for discrete-event, agent-based, and system-dynamics models.

Cost snapshot
Personal Learning Edition is free; commercial pricing was not confirmed.
Good fit
technical; See It, Try It, Build It
Access
desktop, local

Arduino

Arduino

An open hardware and software ecosystem for sensors, electronics, robotics, and physical computing.

Cost snapshot
Arduino IDE software is free; boards, components, and cloud services add separate costs.
Good fit
technical; See It, Try It, Build It
Access
desktop, local, hardware

Base44

Base44

A prompt-driven application builder with hosted data, authentication, integrations, and deployment.

Cost snapshot
Free plan shown; a stable public USD paid entry price was not confirmed.
Good fit
beginner; See It, Try It, Build It
Access
web

Blender Foundation

Blender

A complete open-source 3D suite for modeling, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing, and video.

Cost snapshot
Free and open source under the GNU GPL.
Good fit
technical; See It, Try It, Build It
Access
desktop, local

OpenAI

ChatGPT

A general multimodal assistant for questions, sources, writing, images, data, voice, and connected work.

Cost snapshot
Free tier; Go $8/month in the US, Plus $20/month, and Pro $200/month. API usage is separate.
Good fit
beginner; See It, Try It, Build It
Access
web, desktop, mobile, api

Anthropic

Claude

A general assistant for source work, analysis, writing, coding, and long-form collaboration.

Cost snapshot
Free tier; Pro $20/month, Max 5x $100/month, and Max 20x $200/month. API billing is separate.
Good fit
beginner; See It, Try It, Build It
Access
web, desktop, mobile, api

Anthropic

Claude Code

A terminal and IDE coding agent for inspecting repositories, writing code, and running tools.

Cost snapshot
Available through Claude Pro from $20/month, Max plans, or separately metered API use.
Good fit
technical; See It, Try It, Build It
Access
desktop, api

OpenAI

Codex

An agentic coding environment that can create, inspect, test, and revise software.

Cost snapshot
Included with eligible ChatGPT plans; additional usage is credit- or API-metered. No stable standalone seat price confirmed.
Good fit
technical; See It, Try It, Build It
Access
web, desktop, api

Cursor

Cursor

An AI-native desktop code editor with codebase chat, completion, and agentic editing.

Cost snapshot
Free plan shown; a stable public USD paid entry price was not confirmed.
Good fit
technical; See It, Try It, Build It
Access
desktop, local, api

Flourish

Flourish

A browser tool for creating interactive data visualizations, maps, scrollytelling, and presentations.

Cost snapshot
Free public tier; a stable public USD paid entry price was not confirmed.
Good fit
guided beginner; See It, Try It, Build It
Access
web

Google

Gemini

Google’s multimodal assistant for questions, research, creation, code, and Workspace-connected tasks.

Cost snapshot
Free tier; paid consumer plan price was not confirmed from the public first-party page during this pass.
Good fit
beginner; See It, Try It, Build It
Access
web, mobile, api

Google

Google AI Studio

A browser workbench for experimenting with Gemini models and turning prompts into API prototypes.

Cost snapshot
Free development allowance plus model-, token-, and media-metered Gemini API pricing.
Good fit
guided beginner; See It, Try It, Build It
Access
web, api

xAI

Grok

xAI’s assistant for conversation, reasoning, current public conversation, images, voice, and API work.

Cost snapshot
Free access appears available; a stable first-party consumer USD entry price was not confirmed. API pricing is model-specific.
Good fit
beginner; See It, Try It, Build It
Access
web, mobile, api

LM Studio

LM Studio

A desktop application for downloading and running compatible language models locally with chat and a local API.

Cost snapshot
Free download shown; no paid entry price confirmed.
Good fit
technical; See It, Try It, Build It
Access
desktop, local, api

Lovable

Lovable

A prompt-driven web-app builder that generates editable applications from a conversational brief.

Cost snapshot
Free plan shown; a stable public USD paid entry price was not confirmed.
Good fit
beginner; See It, Try It, Build It
Access
web

NetLogo

NetLogo

A free agent-based modeling environment for building and exploring systems made of interacting actors.

Cost snapshot
Free open-source desktop software; NetLogo Web supports selected browser models.
Good fit
technical; See It, Try It, Build It
Access
desktop, web, local

Ollama

Ollama

A local model runner and API for downloading, serving, and integrating compatible language models.

Cost snapshot
Free open-source runner; hardware and model licenses are separate.
Good fit
technical; See It, Try It, Build It
Access
desktop, local, api

QGIS

QGIS

A free open-source geographic information system for mapping, spatial data, analysis, and publication.

Cost snapshot
Free open-source software.
Good fit
technical; See It, Try It, Build It
Access
desktop, local

Raspberry Pi

Raspberry Pi

A family of small computers for learning, sensors, media, servers, robotics, and local AI experiments.

Cost snapshot
Software is generally free; hardware prices depend on model, retailer, region, storage, power supply, and accessories.
Good fit
technical; See It, Try It, Build It
Access
local, hardware

Replit

Replit

A browser coding, agent, hosting, and collaboration environment for building and publishing applications.

Cost snapshot
Free tier shown; a stable public USD paid entry price was not confirmed.
Good fit
guided beginner; See It, Try It, Build It
Access
web, mobile

Stellarium

Stellarium

A free open-source planetarium that renders the sky for a chosen place, date, time, and equipment view.

Cost snapshot
Free open-source desktop software; mobile variants may differ.
Good fit
beginner; See It, Try It, Build It
Access
desktop, web, mobile, local

Unity

Unity

A real-time 2D and 3D engine for games, simulations, interactive experiences, and spatial applications.

Cost snapshot
Unity Personal is free for eligible users; current paid plan price was not confirmed.
Good fit
technical; See It, Try It, Build It
Access
desktop, local

Epic Games

Unreal Engine

A high-end real-time 3D engine for games, virtual production, visualization, simulation, and spatial work.

Cost snapshot
Free download; royalties, seats, and commercial terms depend on the license route and project.
Good fit
technical; See It, Try It, Build It
Access
desktop, local

Wolfram

Wolfram|Alpha

A computational knowledge engine for calculations, data, formulas, and structured factual queries.

Cost snapshot
Free basic access and paid Pro; a stable public USD entry price was not confirmed.
Good fit
guided beginner; See It, Try It, Build It
Access
web, mobile, api

Run this even when the list looks current

Find current tools and prices

Product names, access, plans, and limits change. Copy this prompt into an assistant with current web access.

I want to model a bounded system and help me experiment with assumptions while separating model output from evidence or real-world prediction for a curiosity event or learning project. Find useful tools that are available today. Assume I may not be technically experienced. Prefer official product, documentation, and pricing pages. For each tool include a plain-language description, the easiest first step, access method, required account or installation, free plan or trial, current consumer subscription price, current API or credit cost, important limits, privacy and data-use considerations, output ownership, and direct official links. Separate subscriptions from usage pricing. Show United States dollar prices, state the date checked, label anything unconfirmed instead of guessing, and remind me to verify the official pricing page before spending money.

Trust boundary

Human judgment remains in charge.

A simulation is an argument made executable. Its assumptions, resolution, observations, and failure modes must remain inspectable.

Mashup starters

  • What-If Machine
  • Traffic Puzzle
  • Ecosystem Sandbox
  • Policy Tradeoff Explorer
Open the Mashup Workshop →

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