With the Solver Add-on, created by Frontline Systems, developers of the Solver in Microsoft Excel, you can define and solve many types of optimization problems in Google Sheets, just as you can with the Excel Solver and with Frontline’s Solver App for Excel Online.

You can solve linear programming and mixed-integer programming problems with the Simplex LP Solver, nonlinear optimization problems with the GRG Nonlinear Solver, global optimization problems with the multistart method, and ‘arbitrary’ Sheets models containing any numeric formulas with the Evolutionary Solver.

You can use the Solver Add-on to find better ways to allocate scarce resources, maximize profits or minimize costs or risks, in a wide range of applications in finance and investment, marketing, manufacturing and production, distribution and logistics, purchasing, and human resources, as well as science and engineering. To see examples, visit https://www.solver.com. Many textbooks also include examples and discussions of Solver models -- some are listed on https://www.solver.com.

Problem size limits in the Solver Add-on are the same as in the Excel Solver (200 decision variables and 100 constraints in addition to bounds on the variables). There are no fixed limits on iterations or subproblems, but the backend server currently limits solving time to 30 seconds.

When you click the Solve button in the Add-on, your model is queued for solution by Frontline’s backend Solver Server. This server has a finite capacity, as currently provisioned (and paid for) by Frontline Systems. To solve larger models (up to hundreds of thousands or millions of variables), please contact Frontline Systems at info@solver.com or 775-831-0300.