Sign inGet started

Google Colab vs Polynote:
a side-by-side comparison for 2024

Comparing two data science notebooks.

A screenshot of Google Colab
Google Colab logo

Google Colab

Website
Colab notebooks allow you to combine executable code and rich text in a single document, along with images, HTML, LaTeX and more.
Background gradient
A screenshot of Polynote
Polynote logo

Polynote

Website
Polynote is a different kind of notebook. It supports mixing multiple languages in one notebook, and sharing data between them seamlessly. It encourages reproducible notebooks with its immutable data model.
Background gradient

Google Colab

Polynote

Setup

Is it managed?

Is it managed?

Fully managed (setup in minutes)
No, you must host it yourself

Can you self-host?

Can you self-host?

No, you must use a managed offering
You can self-host (setup in hours)

Features

Is it Jupyter compatible?

Is it Jupyter compatible?

Jupyter-compatible
Not Jupyter-compatible

Programming languages

Programming languages

Jupyter languages (e.g. Python, R)
Scala
Python

What kind of data sources can you connect to?

What kind of data sources can you connect to?

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

What kind of data visualization can you do?

What kind of data visualization can you do?

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

Reactivity

Reactivity

No reactivity, you decide the execution order
No reactivity, you decide the execution order

Notebook scheduling

Notebook scheduling

No notebook scheduling
Notebook scheduling with additional tools

Management

Reproducibility

Reproducibility

There is no support for reproducibility
With effort, you can make reproducible environments

Version history

Version history

No version history
File-based (use Git)

Collaborative editing

Collaborative editing

No support for collaborative editors
File-based (use Git)

Comments

Comments

No support for comments
File-based (use GitHub)

Notebook organization

Notebook organization

View notebooks in a list
File-based

Licensing

License

License

Proprietary
Open-source (Apache 2.0)

Price

Price

Free tier
Pay-per-user
Pay for compute
Free

That’s it, time to try Deepnote

Get started – it’s free
Book a demo

Alternatives to Google Colab and Polynote

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

ToolSetupJupyter compatibilityLanguagesData visualizationCollaborative editingPricingLicense

Google Colab

Fully managedJupyter-compatibleJupyterVisualize with codeLimited collaborationFree and paid optionsProprietary

Polynote

Self-hostedNoneScala, PythonUnknownFile-based or asynchronous collaborationFreeOpen source

Deepnote

Compare with Google Colab, Polynote

Fully managedJupyter-compatibleJupyter, SQLVisualize with code or UIRealtime collaborationFree and paid optionsProprietary

Amazon Sagemaker

Compare with Google Colab, Polynote

Fully managedJupyter-compatibleJupyterVisualize with codeLimited collaborationFree and paid optionsProprietary

Jupyter

Compare with Google Colab, Polynote

Self-hostedJupyter-compatibleJupyterVisualize with codeFile-based or asynchronous collaborationFreeOpen source

Hex

Compare with Google Colab, Polynote

Fully managedJupyter-compatibleJupyter, SQLVisualize with code or UIRealtime collaborationFree and paid optionsProprietary

Databricks Notebooks

Compare with Google Colab, Polynote

Self-hosted or fully managedJupyter-compatibleJupyterVisualize with code or UIRealtime collaborationFree and paid optionsProprietary

DataCamp Workspace

Compare with Google Colab, Polynote

Fully managedJupyter-compatibleJupyter, SQLVisualize with code or UIRealtime collaborationFree and paid optionsProprietary

JupyterLab

Compare with Google Colab, Polynote

Self-hostedJupyter-compatibleJupyterVisualize with codeFile-based or asynchronous collaborationFreeOpen source

CoCalc

Compare with Google Colab, Polynote

Self-hosted or fully managedJupyter-compatibleJupyterVisualize with codeRealtime collaborationFree and paid optionsOpen source

Hyperquery

Compare with Google Colab, Polynote

Fully managedNonePython, SQLVisualize with code or UIRealtime collaborationFree and paid optionsProprietary

Jetbrains Datalore

Compare with Google Colab, Polynote

Fully managedJupyter-compatibleJupyterVisualize with code or UIRealtime collaborationFree and paid optionsProprietary

Kaggle

Compare with Google Colab, Polynote

Fully managedJupyter-compatibleJupyterVisualize with codeLimited collaborationFreeProprietary

Nextjournal

Compare with Google Colab, Polynote

Fully managedJupyter-compatibleJupyterVisualize with codeRealtime collaborationFree and paid optionsProprietary

Noteable

Compare with Google Colab, Polynote

Self-hosted or fully managedJupyter-compatibleJupyter, SQLVisualize with code or UIRealtime collaborationFree and paid optionsProprietary

nteract

Compare with Google Colab, Polynote

Self-hostedJupyter-compatibleJupyterVisualize with codeFile-based or asynchronous collaborationFreeOpen source

Observable

Compare with Google Colab, Polynote

Fully managedNoneJSVisualize with codeRealtime collaborationFree and paid optionsProprietary

Query.me

Compare with Google Colab, Polynote

Fully managedNoneSQLVisualization UI builderFile-based or asynchronous collaborationFree and paid optionsProprietary

VS Code

Compare with Google Colab, Polynote

Self-hostedJupyter-compatibleJupyterVisualize with codeFile-based or asynchronous collaborationFreeOpen source

Mode Notebooks

Compare with Google Colab, Polynote

Fully managedNoneSQL, R, PythonVisualization UI builderFile-based or asynchronous collaborationUnknownProprietary

Querybook

Compare with Google Colab, Polynote

Self-hostedNonePythonVisualization UI builderRealtime collaborationFreeOpen source

Zeppelin

Compare with Google Colab, Polynote

Self-hostedNonePython, SQL, SparkUnknownFile-based or asynchronous collaborationFreeOpen source

Count

Compare with Google Colab, Polynote

Fully managedNoneSQLVisualization UI builderRealtime collaborationFree and paid optionsProprietary

Husprey

Compare with Google Colab, Polynote

Fully managedNoneSQLVisualization UI builderFile-based or asynchronous collaborationFree and paid optionsProprietary

Pluto.jl

Compare with Google Colab, Polynote

Self-hostedNoneJuliaUnknownFile-based or asynchronous collaborationFreeOpen source

Zepl

Compare with Google Colab, Polynote

Fully managedUnknownPython, RUnknownRealtime collaborationUnknownProprietary

Footer

Product

  • Integrations
  • Pricing
  • Documentation
  • Changelog
  • Security

Company

Comparisons

Resources

  • Privacy
  • Terms

© Deepnote