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 Nextjournal

Comparing two data science notebooks.

Google Colab

Nextjournal

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 Nextjournal

Runs anything you can put into a Docker container. Improve your workflow with polyglot notebooks, automatic versioning and real-time collaboration. Save time and money with on-demand provisioning, including GPU support.

Setup

Is it managed?

Fully managed (setup in minutes)

Is it managed?

Fully managed (setup in minutes)

Can you self-host?

No, you must use a managed offering

Can you self-host?

No, you must use a managed offering

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)
Connect to data warehouses (AWS S3, Google Cloud Storage, etc.)
Connect to databases (SQLite, PostgreSQL, etc.)

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 is built in

Management

Reproducibility

There is no support for reproducibility

Reproducibility

Environments are reproducible by default
Run notebooks in containers

Version history

No version history

Version history

Version history is built in

Collaborative editing

No support for collaborative editors

Collaborative editing

Multiple editors at the same time

Comments

No support for comments

Comments

Comment on items within a notebook

Notebook organization

View notebooks in a list

Notebook organization

View notebooks in a list

Licensing

License

Proprietary

License

Proprietary

Price

Free tier
Pay-per-user
Pay for compute

Price

Free tier
Pay-per-user
Pay for compute

Alternatives to Google Colab and Nextjournal

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

ToolSetupJupyter compatibilityProgramming languagesData visualizationCollaborative editingPricingLicense
Google Colab
Fully managedJupyter-compatibleJupyterVisualize with codeLimited collaborationFree and paid optionsProprietary
Nextjournal
Fully managedJupyter-compatibleJupyterVisualize with codeRealtime collaborationFree and paid optionsProprietary
Jupyter
Compare with
Google Colab, Nextjournal
Self-hostedJupyter-compatibleJupyterVisualize with codeFile-based or asynchronous collaborationFreeOpen source
Amazon Sagemaker
Fully managedJupyter-compatibleJupyterVisualize with codeLimited collaborationFree and paid optionsProprietary
Deepnote
Fully managedJupyter-compatibleJupyter, SQLVisualize with code or UIRealtime collaborationFree and paid optionsProprietary
Hex
Fully managedJupyter-compatibleJupyter, SQLVisualize with code or UIRealtime collaborationFree and paid optionsProprietary
Databricks Notebooks
Self-hosted or fully managedJupyter-compatibleJupyterVisualize with code or UIRealtime collaborationFree and paid optionsProprietary
DataCamp Workspace
Fully managedJupyter-compatibleJupyter, SQLVisualize with code or UIRealtime collaborationFree and paid optionsProprietary
JupyterLab
Self-hostedJupyter-compatibleJupyterVisualize with codeFile-based or asynchronous collaborationFreeOpen source
CoCalc
Self-hosted or fully managedJupyter-compatibleJupyterVisualize with codeRealtime collaborationFree and paid optionsOpen source
Hyperquery
Fully managedNonePython, SQLVisualize with code or UIRealtime collaborationFree and paid optionsProprietary
Jetbrains Datalore
Fully managedJupyter-compatibleJupyterVisualize with code or UIRealtime collaborationFree and paid optionsProprietary
Kaggle
Fully managedJupyter-compatibleJupyterVisualize with codeLimited collaborationFreeProprietary
Noteable
Self-hosted or fully managedJupyter-compatibleJupyter, SQLVisualize with code or UIRealtime collaborationFree and paid optionsProprietary
nteract
Self-hostedJupyter-compatibleJupyterVisualize with codeFile-based or asynchronous collaborationFreeOpen source
Observable
Fully managedNoneJSVisualize with codeRealtime collaborationFree and paid optionsProprietary
Query.me
Fully managedNoneSQLVisualization UI builderFile-based or asynchronous collaborationFree and paid optionsProprietary
VS Code
Self-hostedJupyter-compatibleJupyterVisualize with codeFile-based or asynchronous collaborationFreeOpen source
Mode Notebooks
Fully managedNoneSQL, R, PythonVisualization UI builderFile-based or asynchronous collaborationUnknownProprietary
Querybook
Self-hostedNonePythonVisualization UI builderRealtime collaborationFreeOpen source
Zeppelin
Self-hostedNonePython, SQL, SparkUnknownFile-based or asynchronous collaborationFreeOpen source
Count
Fully managedNoneSQLVisualization UI builderRealtime collaborationFree and paid optionsProprietary
Husprey
Fully managedNoneSQLVisualization UI builderFile-based or asynchronous collaborationFree and paid optionsProprietary
Pluto.jl
Self-hostedNoneJuliaUnknownFile-based or asynchronous collaborationFreeOpen source
Polynote
Self-hostedNoneScala, PythonUnknownFile-based or asynchronous collaborationFreeOpen source
Zepl
Fully managedUnknownPython, RUnknownRealtime collaborationUnknownProprietary

Data Science Notebooks

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