Optimal Methods is a vendor focused on nonlinear optimization software, with core products including LSGRG2, SQP, SLP, and MSNLP. The most significant historical endorsement of its technology is that an older version of LSGRG2 has been used in Microsoft Excel Solver since 1991, handling nonlinear solving functions when "assume linear model" is not selected. According to the website, its software is also used by enterprises, universities, and industrial systems for internal optimization and resale systems.
LSGRG2 uses the Generalized Reduced Gradient algorithm to solve smooth nonlinear programming of any form and supports large-scale sparse problems; objective and constraint functions are calculated by user-defined routines, and first-order partial derivatives are required but can also be approximated by built-in finite differences. SQP is designed for smooth nonlinear programming and can be faster than LSGRG2 when function evaluations are time-consuming, commonly seen in real-time optimization in oil, gas, and chemical industries. SLP solves problems through successive linear programming approximations, suitable for large-scale models that are "mostly linear." MSNLP employs a multistart strategy to find the global optimum; its built-in local solver is LSGRG2, which can be replaced, and it provides a GAMS interface.
From a developer's perspective, it leans towards the traditional engineering computing ecosystem: LSGRG2 has Fortran and C versions, SQP is primarily Fortran, and MSNLP is a C-callable program. The text does not specify an open-source license; although it mentions source code availability, the overall model is commercial licensing. A single PC license is about $1,500-$2,000, a workstation license is about $2,000-$4,500, and a host license can reach $15,000; leasing, network licenses, maintenance fees, and unlimited-use negotiations are also supported.
Pros include a long algorithmic history, numerous industrial use cases, and suitability for embedding into local systems, especially in oil and gas, chemical engineering, engineering design, production planning, and scientific modeling. Cons are also obvious: the website information is outdated, with no modern package managers, REST APIs, online examples, or complete development documentation; the licensing pricing and integration methods are more suited for teams with numerical optimization experience rather than general Web/app developers.
Access in China cannot be determined from the text. If a team needs to purchase, they may also need to confirm international payment, contract licensing, and technical support processes. For alternatives, consider the GAMS ecosystem, Excel Solver, IPOPT, NLopt, SciPy Optimize, as well as commercial or open-source optimization tools like AMPL/Gurobi.
β This review is compiled from public sources and does not constitute a purchase recommendation. Verify all facts on the vendor's official site. Verify on optimalmeth.com official site.
optimalmeth.com is an United States Dev Tools provider. TG4G tracks its product information, an overall rating of 5.0/10, and a China-accessibility score of Workable. Click "Visit Official Site" to reach optimalmeth.com directly.