> ## 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?

export const BeginnerGlasses = () => {
  return <svg width="14" height="14" viewBox="0 0 640 640" fill="currentColor" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" aria-label="Beginner">
      <path d="M175.3 160C161.3 160 148.8 169.2 144.7 182.6L102.4 320L256 320C273.7 320 288 334.3 288 352L352 352C352 334.3 366.3 320 384 320L537.6 320L495.3 182.6C491.2 169.2 478.8 160 464.7 160L432 160C414.3 160 400 145.7 400 128C400 110.3 414.3 96 432 96L464.7 96C506.8 96 544.1 123.5 556.5 163.8L601.9 311.3C606 324.5 608 338.2 608 352L608 448C608 501 565 544 512 544L448 544C395 544 352 501 352 448L352 416L288 416L288 448C288 501 245 544 192 544L128 544C75 544 32 501 32 448L32 352C32 338.2 34.1 324.5 38.1 311.3L83.5 163.8C95.9 123.5 133.1 96 175.3 96L208 96C225.7 96 240 110.3 240 128C240 145.7 225.7 160 208 160L175.3 160zM96 384L96 448C96 465.7 110.3 480 128 480L192 480C209.7 480 224 465.7 224 448L224 384L96 384zM512 480C529.7 480 544 465.7 544 448L544 384L416 384L416 448C416 465.7 430.3 480 448 480L512 480z" />
    </svg>;
};

export const Beginner = ({children}) => {
  return <div class="callout my-4 px-5 py-4 overflow-hidden rounded-2xl flex gap-3 border beginner-admonition dark:beginner-admonition" data-callout-type="beginner">
      <div class="mt-0.5 w-4">
        <svg width="14" height="14" viewBox="0 0 640 640" fill="currentColor" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" class="w-4 h-4" aria-label="Beginner">
          <path d="M175.3 160C161.3 160 148.8 169.2 144.7 182.6L102.4 320L256 320C273.7 320 288 334.3 288 352L352 352C352 334.3 366.3 320 384 320L537.6 320L495.3 182.6C491.2 169.2 478.8 160 464.7 160L432 160C414.3 160 400 145.7 400 128C400 110.3 414.3 96 432 96L464.7 96C506.8 96 544.1 123.5 556.5 163.8L601.9 311.3C606 324.5 608 338.2 608 352L608 448C608 501 565 544 512 544L448 544C395 544 352 501 352 448L352 416L288 416L288 448C288 501 245 544 192 544L128 544C75 544 32 501 32 448L32 352C32 338.2 34.1 324.5 38.1 311.3L83.5 163.8C95.9 123.5 133.1 96 175.3 96L208 96C225.7 96 240 110.3 240 128C240 145.7 225.7 160 208 160L175.3 160zM96 384L96 448C96 465.7 110.3 480 128 480L192 480C209.7 480 224 465.7 224 448L224 384L96 384zM512 480C529.7 480 544 465.7 544 448L544 384L416 384L416 448C416 465.7 430.3 480 448 480L512 480z" />
        </svg>
      </div>
      <div class="text-sm prose min-w-0 w-full">
        {children}
      </div>
    </div>;
};

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](/getting-started/concepts/what-is-conda), 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 title="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).
</Accordion>

## Anaconda installers

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

* **[Anaconda Distribution](/getting-started/concepts/anaconda-or-miniconda#anaconda-distribution)** includes Anaconda Navigator and over 600 pre-installed packages for data science and AI workflows. It is designed for users who want a complete, ready-to-use environment on day one.
* **[Miniconda](/getting-started/concepts/anaconda-or-miniconda#miniconda)** includes only conda, Python, and a small set of essential packages. 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](/getting-started/concepts/anaconda-or-miniconda).

<Tip>
  Want to start programming with no installation? Use [Anaconda Notebooks](/anaconda-platform/notebooks/getting-started), our cloud-based JupyterLab environment.

  [Launch Anaconda Notebooks](https://nb.anaconda.com) to start programming now!
</Tip>