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14.23. Evolver and Solver Compared

Applies to: Evolver 6.x/7.x

How does Evolver compare to Excel's Solver?  Can Evolver do anything that Excel Solver cannot?

Evolver offers functionality similar to that of the Solver add-in included with Excel 2010 and higher, but Evolver has a few important advantages.  Both products offer local optimization (single "hill" in the function graph) and global optimization (multiple "hills"), with smooth and non-smooth functions.  For the special case of linear optimization problems (constraints and target/objective function linear), they both offer Linear Programming methods.  (Excel 2007 and lower also include the Solver add-in, but the Solver that comes with those versions does not handle global optimization or non-smooth functions.)

Even though Solver is available to every Excel user, Evolver is more convenient to use and will find solutions to many problems that Solver will not be able to solve:

Last edited: 2015-07-23

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