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

Jupyter vs Google Colab

Comparing two data science notebooks.

Jupyter

Google Colab

A screenshot of Jupyter

Project Jupyter exists to develop open-source software, open-standards, and services for interactive computing across dozens of programming languages. There's a number of vendors offering Jupyter notebooks as a managed service.

WebsiteAlternatives
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.

Setup

Is it managed?

No, you must host it yourself

Is it managed?

Fully managed (setup in minutes)

Can you self-host?

You can self-host (setup in hours)

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)

What kind of data sources can you connect to?

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

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

Notebook scheduling with additional tools

Notebook scheduling

No notebook scheduling

Management

Reproducibility

With effort, you can make reproducible environments

Reproducibility

There is no support for reproducibility

Version history

File-based (use Git)

Version history

No version history

Collaborative editing

File-based (use Git)

Collaborative editing

No support for collaborative editors

Comments

File-based (use GitHub)

Comments

No support for comments

Notebook organization

File-based

Notebook organization

View notebooks in a list

Licensing

License

Open-source (BSD)

License

Proprietary

Price

Free

Price

Free tier
Pay-per-user
Pay for compute

Alternatives to Jupyter and Google Colab

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

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

Data Science Notebooks

Popular notebook tools

DeepnoteGoogle ColabHexJupyterJetbrains DataloreSagemaker