ROBOT SIMULATORS
Free Robot Programming Simulators: RobotStudio, RoboDK, URSim and ROS 2
Every robot simulator says free somewhere. Here is exactly what is free in RobotStudio, RoboDK, URSim and ROS 2 with Gazebo, where the limits bite, and which to install first.
The best free robot programming simulator depends on the robot you will program. ABB RobotStudio runs free in a basic Freemium mode with a one-time 30-day Premium trial, URSim is a download from Universal Robots, RoboDK gives a 30-day trial and then a limited free mode, and ROS 2 with Gazebo is open source with no licence fee.
Checked 26 September 2026. Every limit below comes from the vendor's own page or manual on that date, listed under Sources.
Offline programming in one paragraph
A robot simulator runs a virtual copy of the robot controller on your PC. You build a cell (robot, gripper, fixtures, parts), teach targets, write the program and run it, watching for reach problems, collisions and cycle time. Offline programming goes one step further: the program you write in the simulator is loaded onto the real robot, with only a few points touched up on site. Both are how you learn robot programming without a robot, and both are daily work for integrators.
Terms you will meet in every simulator
- Virtual controller: software that behaves like the robot's real controller, running the same program language. Vendor tools (RobotStudio, URSim) have one; multi-brand tools such as RoboDK generate programs for the real controller instead.
- Station or cell: the 3D scene with the robot, tools, fixtures and parts.
- Target: a taught position and orientation for the tool.
- Tool centre point (TCP): the point on the gripper or torch that the robot moves to each target.
- Work object or user frame: a coordinate system on the fixture, so a moved fixture means re-teaching one frame, not every target.
- Post-processor: in a multi-brand tool, the part that translates the simulated program into one brand's language.
- Reach and singularity: the limits of where and how the arm can move; a simulator shows both before they stop a real cell.
ABB RobotStudio
RobotStudio is ABB's own tool, so the virtual controller runs the same RobotWare and RAPID as the real one. ABB's RobotStudio operating manual splits the features into two levels.
Freemium (free, no activation). Configure, program and run a virtual controller. It includes the tools needed for commissioning a real or virtual robot, such as System Builder, the Configuration Editor, the RAPID editor, backup and restore and the I/O window, plus the elementary offline features: open a station, Unpack and Work, run a simulation, robot jogging tools and ABB's library of robots.
Premium (licence or trial). Graphical programming, saving a station, Pack and Go, importing and exporting geometry, AutoPath, collision-free paths and productivity tools such as RAPID Watch, breakpoints and the Signal Analyzer.
The honest limit: in Freemium you cannot save a station. ABB's 30-day trial gives full Premium access on the device where you activate it, needs an ABB Robotics account, and cannot be repeated for the same user or the same device. Plan it: learn the interface and RAPID in Freemium first, then start the trial when you can study most days for a month.
Schools and training centres can apply for RobotStudio for Education, which ABB offers at no cost to qualified educational institutions.
The free ABB RobotStudio and RAPID course is built around this split.
RoboDK
RoboDK supports a very large range of robot brands in one tool, which is why integrators like it for mixed cells. RoboDK's pricing page states:
- Trial: simulation and offline programming for 30 days.
- After 30 days: basic functionality, with program generation limited to 50 instructions.
- Education licence: €145 for one year, for students and teachers, with programs up to 1,000 instructions.
- Professional licence: €3,995 for permanent access with unlimited program generation.
Fifty instructions is enough for small exercises, not for a real palletising program. Use the 30-day trial for the course, and keep the basic mode for practising after. The free RoboDK offline programming course needs no knowledge of any particular brand.
URSim for Universal Robots
URSim runs the same PolyScope interface as a UR cobot's teach pendant, so everything you learn transfers directly. Universal Robots publishes it on its download pages with no price shown; you need to sign in with a UR account to download the files. For Windows and macOS users, UR packages it as a Linux virtual machine. The download page notes that VirtualBox is freeware and that VMware Player is free for non-commercial use, with a fee for commercial use, so choose the player that fits how you will use it.
The free Universal Robots cobot course runs every exercise in URSim.
ROS 2 and Gazebo
ROS 2 is not a vendor simulator. It is an open-source framework for robot software, and Gazebo is the open-source simulator most often used with it. Both publish their code under the Apache License 2.0, so there is no licence fee and commercial use is allowed. The cost is skill rather than money: you work on Ubuntu (natively, through WSL2 or in Docker), in Python or C++, from a terminal.
ROS 2 is the right choice for mobile robots, research and robot software jobs. It is not how a FANUC or ABB arm on a car line is programmed day to day. The free ROS 2 robot programming course is intermediate and assumes basic Python.
What a simulator teaches, and what it cannot
A simulator is where you learn almost all of robot programming. It is honest to be clear about the parts it does not teach.
What you can practise properly in simulation:
- Jogging in every coordinate system, and teaching targets.
- Tool and work-object frames, and seeing exactly what a wrong frame does.
- Motion instructions, speeds, zones and approach points.
- Program structure: procedures, loops, conditions and variables.
- Digital I/O logic, including a simulated gripper and sensors.
- Reach checks, collision checks and cycle-time estimates.
What needs a real robot:
- The feel of the enabling device and the discipline of working inside a guarded cell.
- Touching up points on real parts that are never quite where the CAD model says.
- Payload, vibration and real gripper timing.
- Fault recovery on a physical controller, backups to a USB stick, and working alongside operators.
So learn in the simulator until the programming is second nature, then treat real-robot time as the finishing step.
Setting up your PC
Robot simulators are heavier than most engineering software. A few practical points save time:
- Windows 11 for RobotStudio. ABB's manual lists Windows 11 64-bit and a DirectX 11 compatible graphics card. Check RoboDK's own download page for the systems it supports.
- Virtualisation for URSim. On Windows or macOS you run URSim inside a virtual machine, so enable hardware virtualisation in your PC's firmware settings and leave several gigabytes of disk free.
- Linux for ROS 2. Ubuntu natively is simplest. WSL2 on Windows or Docker also work, and the free ROS 2 course shows all three.
- One trial at a time. Do not start the RobotStudio Premium and RoboDK trials in the same month unless you can use both every day.
Which one first?
Start from the job, not the tool.
If you are unsure, start with RobotStudio Freemium. It costs nothing, it has no time limit, and the ideas (frames, targets, motion types, zones, I/O) carry to every other brand. The industrial robotics path orders the robot courses, and the free robot courses page lists them all.
The free courses and the certificate
Every EDWartens robotics course is free in full: video lessons by independent YouTube creators (credited on each course page), written notes with worked examples, a practice task per module and one final assessment. The assessment has 15 questions from the whole course, a 60% pass mark and three attempts, then a 24-hour wait and a fresh paper. A free account keeps your progress. No card, no trial.
The optional EDWartens Certificate of Completion is the only paid item. For beginner courses (RobotStudio, RoboDK, Universal Robots) it costs from US$2.99, and checkout shows your price. The intermediate ROS 2 course costs a little more. Each certificate carries a code and QR code that anyone can check at edwartens.com/verification. It is not an ABB, RoboDK, Universal Robots or Open Robotics certification, and it is not accredited.
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Questions
What is the best free robot programming simulator?
For ABB robots, RobotStudio in its free Freemium mode. For Universal Robots, URSim. For open-source mobile robotics, ROS 2 with Gazebo. RoboDK supports many brands but its free mode after the 30-day trial limits generated programs to 50 instructions.
Is RobotStudio free forever?
The Freemium mode is free and needs no activation, and ABB's manual says it lets you configure, program and run a virtual controller. Saving stations and other Premium features need a paid licence or the 30-day trial, which ABB allows once per user or machine.
What happens when the RoboDK trial ends?
RoboDK's pricing page says you keep basic functionality after 30 days, with program generation limited to 50 instructions. RoboDK sells an education licence at €145 a year that raises the limit to 1,000 instructions.
Is URSim free?
Universal Robots publishes URSim on its download pages with no price shown; you sign in with a UR account to download it. On Windows and macOS it runs as a Linux virtual machine.
Are ROS 2 and Gazebo free for commercial use?
Their code is published under the Apache License 2.0, a permissive open-source licence that allows commercial use. There is no licence fee.
Sources
- ABB: Operating manual, RobotStudio 2026.3 (Freemium and Premium features)
- ABB: New RobotStudio licensing model
- RoboDK: Pricing
- Universal Robots: URSim offline simulator download
- ROS 2: rclpy licence (Apache 2.0)
- Gazebo: gz-sim licence (Apache 2.0)
Written by the EDWartens engineering team for general education. Product names are trademarks of their owners; mentioning them does not imply endorsement. Prices and terms of other providers were checked on the date shown and can change.
