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Google Colab alternatives: 5 apps ranked by verified data

Facts checked Nov 8, 2026AppBreakup editorialHow we rankAll data science notebooks

Top picks

  • Hex logo

    Best overall

    Hex

    Starting price: $36 per editor/month (Professional)

  • marimo logo

    Best free option

    marimo

    Open source

  • Jupyter Notebook logo

    Best open source

    Jupyter Notebook

    Open source

Common reasons people leave Google Colab: free resources are not guaranteed and sessions get terminated, and data has to be uploaded or mounted from Google Drive each session. We ranked 5 alternatives by how directly each one replaces Google Colab, then by reviews, real visits and how recently each app's facts were checked against its own website. Hex currently ranks first.

Quick comparison

#AppPricingVerified priceOpen sourcePlatformsVerified factsScore
1Hex logoHexFree plan + paid$36 per editor/month (Professional)NoWeb5 of 564.8
2marimo logomarimoOpen source—YesWindows, macOS, Linux +24 of 461.8
3Jupyter Notebook logoJupyter NotebookOpen source—YesWeb, Windows, macOS +25 of 551.2
4Databricks logoDatabricksPaid—NoWeb4 of 450.0
5Kaggle logoKaggleFree—NoWeb3 of 342.3
  1. Hex logo

    1. HexTop pick

    Best for: Analytics teams on a cloud warehouse who want notebooks that become shareable data apps

    Free plan + paidWeb

    64.8

    score / 100

    Why switch from Google Colab

    Turns SQL and Python notebooks into shareable data apps, aimed at analytics teams on a warehouse.

    Pros

    • Notebooks publish as interactive apps for non-technical colleagues
    • Works with dbt, Airflow and Dagster
    • Free trial of the Team plan needs no payment card

    Cons

    • Community plan is limited to small compute and light AI use
    • Per-editor pricing is high compared with general notebook tools
    • Larger machines and GPUs are billed per minute on top of the plan
    Visit Hex Details and reviews
    How this score is calculated
    Editorial fit ×0.387
    Reviews ×0.363
    Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
    Freshness ×0.15100
    Votes ×0.150

    0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula

    Is Hex a good Google Colab alternative?

    Verified facts

    5 of 5 verified
    Free plan
    Yes (Community)
    Checked Nov 8, 2026hex.tech(opens source in a new tab)
    Starting price
    $36 per editor/month (Professional)
    Checked Nov 8, 2026hex.tech(opens source in a new tab)
    Free trial
    14 days (Team), no card
    Checked Nov 8, 2026hex.tech(opens source in a new tab)
    Integrations
    Airflow, Dagster, dbt
    Checked Nov 8, 2026hex.tech(opens source in a new tab)
    Team plan
    $75 per editor/month
    Checked Nov 8, 2026hex.tech(opens source in a new tab)
  2. marimo logo

    2. marimo

    Best for: Python developers who want reproducible notebooks that live in Git as normal code

    Open sourceSelf-hostableWindows, macOS, Linux, Web, Self-hosted

    61.8

    score / 100

    Why switch from Google Colab

    Open-source reactive notebook stored as plain Python files, so it works well with Git and runs locally.

    Pros

    • Reactive execution removes stale or out-of-order state
    • Notebooks are plain .py files with readable Git diffs
    • Can run as a script or be served as an interactive app
    • Free and Apache-2.0 licensed

    Cons

    • Not compatible with Jupyter's .ipynb format without conversion
    • Python only, with no R or Julia kernels
    • Reactive model means reusing a variable name across cells is not allowed
    Visit marimo Details and reviews
    How this score is calculated
    Editorial fit ×0.377
    Reviews ×0.363
    Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
    Freshness ×0.15100
    Votes ×0.150

    0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula

    Is marimo a good Google Colab alternative?

    Verified facts

    4 of 4 verified
    License
    Apache-2.0
    Checked Nov 2, 2026github.com(opens source in a new tab)
    File format
    Plain Python (.py)
    Checked Nov 8, 2026marimo.io(opens source in a new tab)
    SQL
    Built-in SQL cells
    Checked Nov 8, 2026marimo.io(opens source in a new tab)
    Sharing
    WebAssembly HTML or web app
    Checked Nov 8, 2026marimo.io(opens source in a new tab)
  3. Jupyter Notebook logo

    3. Jupyter Notebook

    Best for: Students, researchers and data analysts who want to explore data step by step in a shareable document

    Open sourceSelf-hostableWeb, Windows, macOS, Linux, Self-hosted

    51.2

    score / 100

    Why switch from Google Colab

    The open-source notebook Colab is built on; run it on your own hardware with no session time limits or idle disconnects.

    Pros

    • Free and open source with no paid tier
    • Supports many languages through separate kernels
    • Notebooks render on GitHub and are easy to share
    • Can be run for a whole class or team with JupyterHub

    Cons

    • Needs a local Python setup or a server; no official desktop installer
    • Out-of-order cell execution makes results easy to break
    • Old v6 extensions don't work in Notebook 7
    • Weak fit for large codebases, refactoring and debugging
    Visit Jupyter Notebook Details and reviews
    How this score is calculated
    Editorial fit ×0.341
    Reviews ×0.363
    Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
    Freshness ×0.15100
    Votes ×0.150

    0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula

    Is Jupyter Notebook a good Google Colab alternative?

    Verified facts

    5 of 5 verified
    License
    BSD-3-Clause
    Checked Nov 1, 2026github.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Languages
    40+, incl. Python, R, Julia
    Checked Nov 8, 2026jupyter.org(opens source in a new tab)
    Install
    pip install notebook
    Checked Nov 8, 2026jupyter.org(opens source in a new tab)
    Origin
    IPython project, 2014
    Checked Nov 8, 2026jupyter.org(opens source in a new tab)
    Notebook format
    Open, JSON-based
    Checked Nov 8, 2026jupyter.org(opens source in a new tab)
  4. Databricks logo

    4. Databricks

    Best for: Data engineering and ML teams that want SQL, Spark and model training on one platform

    PaidWeb

    50.0

    score / 100

    Why switch from Google Colab

    Hosted notebooks on managed Spark clusters with GPU options, for teams moving Colab experiments into production data and ML work.

    Pros

    • Data stays in open formats in your own cloud storage
    • Covers ETL, SQL analytics and machine learning in one place
    • Available on AWS, Azure and Google Cloud

    Cons

    • Billing in DBUs plus separate cloud compute charges is hard to predict
    • Steeper learning curve than a pure SQL warehouse
    • Overkill for teams that only need BI dashboards
    Visit Databricks Details and reviews
    How this score is calculated
    Editorial fit ×0.338
    Reviews ×0.363
    Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
    Freshness ×0.15100
    Votes ×0.150

    0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula

    Is Databricks a good Google Colab alternative?

    Verified facts

    4 of 4 verified
    Pricing model
    Pay as you go, no up-front cost
    Checked Nov 8, 2026databricks.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Billing unit
    Databricks Unit (DBU)
    Checked Nov 8, 2026databricks.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Free trial
    Yes
    Checked Nov 8, 2026databricks.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Cloud charges
    Billed separately by your cloud provider
    Checked Nov 8, 2026databricks.com(opens source in a new tab)
  5. Kaggle logo

    5. Kaggle

    Best for: Students and data scientists who want free notebooks, public datasets and ML competitions in one place

    FreeWeb

    42.3

    score / 100

    Why switch from Google Colab

    Free hosted notebooks with GPU time, plus public datasets and competitions to practise on.

    Pros

    • Free hosted notebooks with a weekly GPU and TPU allowance
    • Huge library of public datasets and models to start from
    • Competitions give real problems with public leaderboards
    • Official open-source CLI for downloading data and submitting

    Cons

    • Notebook sessions have time limits and capped accelerator hours
    • Not built for private team work on company data
    • Web only; the notebook environment can't be self-hosted
    Visit Kaggle Compare with Google ColabDetails and reviews
    How this score is calculated
    Editorial fit ×0.312
    Reviews ×0.363
    Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
    Freshness ×0.15100
    Votes ×0.150

    0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula

    Is Kaggle a good Google Colab alternative?

    Verified facts

    3 of 3 verified
    Official CLI
    Yes, open source (Apache-2.0)
    Checked Nov 2, 2026github.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Notebook environment
    Public Python Docker image
    Checked Nov 2, 2026github.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Python client library
    kagglehub (Apache-2.0)
    Checked Nov 2, 2026github.com(opens source in a new tab)

The best Google Colab alternative for…

The highest-ranked app in this list for each need.

Hex logo

Best Google Colab alternative for most people

Hex

Turns SQL and Python notebooks into shareable data apps, aimed at analytics teams on a warehouse.

marimo logo

Best Google Colab alternative for a free option

marimo

Open-source reactive notebook stored as plain Python files, so it works well with Git and runs locally.

Hex logo

Best Google Colab alternative for a free plan you can upgrade

Hex

Turns SQL and Python notebooks into shareable data apps, aimed at analytics teams on a warehouse.

Jupyter Notebook logo

Best Google Colab alternative for open source

Jupyter Notebook

The open-source notebook Colab is built on; run it on your own hardware with no session time limits or idle disconnects.

marimo logo

Best Google Colab alternative for self-hosting

marimo

Open-source reactive notebook stored as plain Python files, so it works well with Git and runs locally.

marimo logo

Best Google Colab alternative for Mac

marimo

Open-source reactive notebook stored as plain Python files, so it works well with Git and runs locally.

marimo logo

Best Google Colab alternative for Windows

marimo

Open-source reactive notebook stored as plain Python files, so it works well with Git and runs locally.

marimo logo

Best Google Colab alternative for Linux

marimo

Open-source reactive notebook stored as plain Python files, so it works well with Git and runs locally.

Databricks logo

Best Google Colab alternative for working in the browser

Databricks

Hosted notebooks on managed Spark clusters with GPU options, for teams moving Colab experiments into production data and ML work.

Google Colab alternatives: common questions

What is the best alternative to Google Colab?

Hex ranks first right now. Turns SQL and Python notebooks into shareable data apps, aimed at analytics teams on a warehouse. marimo and Jupyter Notebook follow it in our ranking.

Google Colab vs Hex: what's the difference?

Both Google Colab and Hex are free with paid plans. Both run on Web.

Is Google Colab free?

Google Colab is free with paid plans.

Is there a free alternative to Google Colab?

Yes. Hex (free plan + paid), marimo (open source), Jupyter Notebook (open source) and Kaggle (free) have a free option. Check each app's verified facts for current plan limits.

Is there an open-source alternative to Google Colab?

Yes: marimo and Jupyter Notebook. marimo and Jupyter Notebook can also be self-hosted.

Which Google Colab alternatives work on Linux?

marimo and Jupyter Notebook run on Linux.

Why do people switch from Google Colab?

The complaints we hear most: free resources are not guaranteed and sessions get terminated; data has to be uploaded or mounted from Google Drive each session; real-time collaboration is weaker than in team notebook tools.

How is this list ranked?

Every app is scored with the same published formula: how directly it replaces Google Colab, reviews (weighted by verification), visits from AppBreakup, how recently its facts were checked against its own website, and reader votes.