> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://anaconda.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# What is Anaconda?

Anaconda helps millions of data scientists, engineers, and researchers go from idea to result faster. Whether you're training models, exploring datasets, automating pipelines, or teaching a class, Anaconda gives you a trusted foundation of curated packages, reproducible environments, and tools that work together out of the box.

At the core of Anaconda is [conda](https://anaconda.com/docs/getting-started/concepts/what-is-conda.md), an open-source package and environment manager. Conda handles installing software, resolving dependencies, and keeping your projects isolated from each other so that updating one project never breaks another.

> [accordion] Is Anaconda free for me?
>
> For details on Anaconda Distribution, Miniconda, and Anaconda's Terms of Service, see our [Terms of Service](https://anaconda.com/legal).

## Anaconda installers

Anaconda provides two installers. Both include conda and full access to the [Anaconda package repository](https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/).

* **[Anaconda Distribution](https://anaconda.com/docs/getting-started/concepts/anaconda-or-miniconda.md#anaconda-distribution)** installs conda, Python, Anaconda Navigator, and hundreds of popular data science and machine learning packages in a pre-built `base` environment. It is designed for users who want a complete, ready-to-use environment on day one.
* **[Miniconda](https://anaconda.com/docs/getting-started/concepts/anaconda-or-miniconda.md#miniconda)** installs only conda, Python, and their dependencies in a minimal `base` environment. It is designed for users who know what they need and prefer to keep their installation minimal.

For a detailed comparison, see [Anaconda Distribution vs. Miniconda](https://anaconda.com/docs/getting-started/concepts/anaconda-or-miniconda.md).

> [!TIP]
>
> Want to start programming with no installation? Use [Anaconda Notebooks](https://anaconda.com/docs/anaconda-platform/notebooks/getting-started.md), our cloud-based JupyterLab environment.
>
> [Launch Anaconda Notebooks](https://nb.anaconda.com) to start programming now!