Recommended Chess Engines

Chess engines can be beneficial to players who aspire to become stronger. They provide analysis, recommend moves, show the most popular opening lines, etc. I have been thinking about getting an engine that is stronger than the one that I currently have (its maximum rating strength is approximately 2500.) Which chess engine is recommended for improving players? Also, which ones offer the most for their cost?

This is from a post of mine from last year.  These were my top 10 free chess engine recommendations at the time.  (as of 12/7/13)

Stockfish DD:  http://stockfishchess.org/
Komodo 5:  http://komodochess.com/
Houdini 1.5a:  http://www.cruxis.com/chess/houdini.htm
Critter 1.6a:  http://www.vlasak.biz/critter/
Gull 2.3:  http://sourceforge.net/projects/gullchess/
Bouquet 1.8:  https://sites.google.com/site/chessbouquet/
Rybka 2.3.2a:  http://www.rybkachess.com/
Strelka 5.5:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strelka_%28chess_engine%29
Protector 1.5:  http://sourceforge.net/projects/protector/
Crafty 23.8:  http://www.craftychess.com/

If you wish to purchase an engine, you probably can't go wrong with the latest versions of Houdini and Komodo. 

A list of the current strongest engines can be found here. 

Okay, thank you.

GM camberfoil 💎 wrote:

Stockfish is the best by far.