Download Perl: ActivePerl
Download the trusted Perl distribution for Windows, Linux and Mac, pre-bundled with top Perl modules – free for development use.
Get ActivePerl Community Edition for Free
ActivePerl is free to use for development purposes. For use beyond development, or to get 32-bit and other older/legacy versions, see our plans and pricing details or contact us for a custom quote.
By downloading ActivePerl Community Edition, you agree to comply with the terms of use of the ActiveState Community License. Need help? Please refer to our documentation.
Try ActiveState’s latest Perl release – 5.32
With this experimental release, we’re reimagining how you work with Perl from ActiveState.
Build for Windows and Linux.
MacOS coming soon.
Why download Perl from ActiveState?
Because with ActiveState, you can build a custom Perl, tailored to your needs.
The ActiveState Platform makes it possible to automate your build engineering cycle, dependency management and check for threats and license compliance. With your Perl download, you also gain access to the ActiveState Platform. That means stable, reproducible and easy-to-deploy runtimes – for free!
- Download the Perl version you need and get notified of updates
- Customize Perl with only the packages you need
- Share your Perl runtime environment with your team
97% of Fortune 1000 Companies Rely On ActiveState
ActiveState’s enterprise offering includes extensive customization, premium support, and regularly scheduled builds, licensed for production use and redistribution.
Reduce Security Risks
Ensure security with the latest secure versions of Python packages (i.e. the latest OpenSSL patch) and timely updates for critical issues.
Indemnification and License Compliance
Comply with your organization’s open source policies against GPL and GNU licensing, and reduce risk with legal indemnification.
Commercial Support & Maintenance
Keep your IP out of public forums and get faster, more reliable help with guaranteed response times and Service-Level Agreements.
Enforce Code Consistency
Maintain consistency from desktop to production – Windows, macOS, Linux and big iron (AIX, Solaris).
Avoid Lock-In with Open Source
100% compatible with open source Python so you can recruit skilled staff, ramp up faster and avoid vendor lock-in.
Accelerate Time to Market
Spend less time setting things up and more time getting things done, with the top Python packages precompiled and ready to go.
Perl becomes less secure and more costly to maintain over time. See how ActiveState can help.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. ActivePerl Community Edition is free to use in development. Paid licensing is required for use beyond development, which is any time ActivePerl is used to run completed scripts or applications that are executed outside of a developer’s workstation. For more information, see the ActiveState Community Edition License Agreement.
Perl 5.32 is an exception to this. Perl 5.32 distributions built on the ActiveState Platform are distributed solely under the original open source licenses for Perl and any included modules. Typically this means that these distributions can be used, copied, and modified without fee for any purpose. Learn more about Perl 5.32 by ActiveState.
ActivePerl Community Edition for Windows, Linux and macOS can be downloaded via the links above. Click the button for the ActivePerl version and operating system of your choice. You will be prompted to create a free ActiveState Platform account. Once created, the download dialog box should appear automatically. You can also click the “Download Builds” tab at that point to download the installer. Download ActivePerl Community Edition.
Alternatively, follow the link to Perl 5.32 to install ActiveState’s Perl 5.32 version and the modules of your choice via command line.
Perl is a great general purpose scripting language which excels at text manipulation, and used for system administration, network programming, GUI development and more. ActivePerl is used to develop both commercial and non-commercial applications, scripts, APIs and other code for individual developers and organizations in a wide range of industries. Learn more about ActivePerl.
32-bit and older/legacy versions of ActivePerl are available with Team tier or above licensing of the ActiveState Platform. See our Plans & Pricing for more information.