Data Science Notebooks

Data science gets done in notebooks. This website exists to compare the features in different data science notebook tools.

Robert Lacok
About the author

My name is Robert Lacok, and I’m a data notebook enthusiast. Because I keep on top of the latest developments in the space, I wanted to share it with the world.

I’m also a product manager at Deepnote. I try to be unbiased — if you believe any tools are missing or misrepresented, please email me or open a pull request on GitHub.

Need help?

If you need help picking a data notebook for your next project, feel free to reach out to me at my personal email address. I’d be happy to chat about the pros and cons of each solution.

View all notebooks

Google Colab vs JupyterLab

Comparing two data science notebooks.

Google Colab

JupyterLab

A screenshot of Google Colab

Colab notebooks allow you to combine executable code and rich text in a single document, along with images, HTML, LaTeX and more.

WebsiteAlternativesExamples
A screenshot of JupyterLab

JupyterLab is the next-generation web-based user interface for Project Jupyter.

Setup

Is it managed?

Fully managed (setup in minutes)

Is it managed?

No, you must host it yourself

Can you self-host?

No, you must use a managed offering

Can you self-host?

You can self-host (setup in hours)

Features

Is it Jupyter compatible?

Jupyter-compatible

Is it Jupyter compatible?

Jupyter-compatible

Programming languages

Jupyter languages (e.g. Python, R)

Programming languages

Jupyter languages (e.g. Python, R)

What kind of data sources can you connect to?

Connect with Jupyter libraries (e.g. SQLAlchemy, psycopg2)
Google Drive

What kind of data sources can you connect to?

Connect with Jupyter libraries (e.g. SQLAlchemy, psycopg2)

What kind of data visualization can you do?

Jupyter data visualization (e.g. Matplotlib, Altair, Plotly)

What kind of data visualization can you do?

Jupyter data visualization (e.g. Matplotlib, Altair, Plotly)

Reactivity

No reactivity, you decide the execution order

Reactivity

No reactivity, you decide the execution order

Notebook scheduling

No notebook scheduling

Notebook scheduling

Notebook scheduling with additional tools

Management

Reproducibility

There is no support for reproducibility

Reproducibility

With effort, you can make reproducible environments

Version history

No version history

Version history

File-based (use Git)

Collaborative editing

No support for collaborative editors

Collaborative editing

File-based (use Git)
Experimental JupyterLab support

Comments

No support for comments

Comments

File-based (use GitHub)

Notebook organization

View notebooks in a list

Notebook organization

File-based

Licensing

License

Proprietary

License

Open-source (BSD)

Price

Free tier
Pay-per-user
Pay for compute

Price

Free

Alternatives to Google Colab and JupyterLab

Compare Google Colab and JupyterLab with other data science notebook tools.

ToolSetupJupyter compatibilityProgramming languagesData visualizationCollaborative editingPricingLicense
Google Colab
Fully managedJupyter-compatibleJupyterVisualize with codeLimited collaborationFree and paid optionsProprietary
JupyterLab
Self-hostedJupyter-compatibleJupyterVisualize with codeFile-based or asynchronous collaborationFreeOpen source
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Data Science Notebooks

Popular notebook tools

DeepnoteGoogle ColabHexJupyterJetbrains DataloreSagemaker