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Hex alternatives: 6 apps ranked by verified data

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

Top picks

  • Google Colab logo

    Best overall

    Google Colab

    Free plan + paid

  • Metabase logo

    Best free option

    Metabase

    Starting price: $100/month (Starter)

  • marimo logo

    Best open source

    marimo

    Open source

Common reasons people leave Hex: community plan is limited to small compute and light AI use, and per-editor pricing is high compared with general notebook tools. We ranked 6 alternatives by how directly each one replaces Hex, then by reviews, real visits and how recently each app's facts were checked against its own website. Google Colab currently ranks first.

Quick comparison

#AppPricingVerified priceOpen sourcePlatformsVerified factsScore
1Google Colab logoGoogle ColabFree plan + paid—NoWeb4 of 464.8
2Metabase logoMetabaseOpen source$100/month (Starter)YesWeb, Self-hosted5 of 564.0
3marimo logomarimoOpen source—YesWindows, macOS, Linux +24 of 461.8
4Jupyter Notebook logoJupyter NotebookOpen source—YesWeb, Windows, macOS +25 of 551.2
5Databricks logoDatabricksPaid—NoWeb4 of 450.0
6Observable logoObservableFree plan + paid—NoWeb, macOS4 of 440.0
  1. Google Colab logo

    1. Google ColabTop pick

    Best for: Students and ML learners who want free GPU notebooks with nothing to install

    Free plan + paidWeb

    64.8

    score / 100

    Why switch from Hex

    Free hosted Jupyter with GPUs, better for ML experiments than warehouse analytics.

    Pros

    • Free access to GPUs and TPUs for learning and small experiments
    • No setup: runs entirely in the browser with a Google account
    • Standard .ipynb files that open in any Jupyter tool

    Cons

    • 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
    Visit Google Colab 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 Google Colab a good Hex alternative?

    Verified facts

    4 of 4 verified
    Free to use
    Yes
    Checked Nov 8, 2026research.google.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Hardware
    GPUs and TPUs
    Checked Nov 8, 2026research.google.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Storage
    Google Drive
    Checked Nov 8, 2026research.google.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Based on
    Jupyter
    Checked Nov 8, 2026research.google.com(opens source in a new tab)
  2. Metabase logo

    2. Metabase

    Best for: Startups and product teams wanting quick, self-hosted dashboards on top of their own database

    Open sourceSelf-hostableWeb, Self-hosted

    64.0

    score / 100

    Why switch from Hex

    An open-source BI tool where analysts and non-technical users build dashboards with a query builder or SQL.

    Pros

    • Free open-source edition with unlimited users
    • Point-and-click question builder plus a SQL editor
    • Easy to self-host with Docker or a single JAR file
    • Popular choice for embedding analytics in a product

    Cons

    • Row-level permissions and SSO need a paid plan
    • Lighter data modelling than Tableau or Power BI
    • Paid cloud plans start at a noticeable monthly base price
    Visit Metabase Details and reviews
    How this score is calculated
    Editorial fit ×0.334
    Reviews ×0.363
    Clicks (90 days) ×0.15100
    Freshness ×0.15100
    Votes ×0.150

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

    Is Metabase a good Hex alternative?

    Verified facts

    5 of 5 verified
    License
    AGPL (Open Source Edition)
    Checked Nov 8, 2026metabase.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Free plan
    Open Source, unlimited users
    Checked Nov 8, 2026metabase.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Starting price
    $100/month (Starter)
    Checked Nov 8, 2026metabase.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Free trial
    14 days
    Checked Nov 8, 2026metabase.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Self-hosting
    Docker or JAR
    Checked Nov 8, 2026metabase.com(opens source in a new tab)
  3. marimo logo

    3. 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 Hex

    Free and open source, runs locally and can serve notebooks as apps without a per-editor fee.

    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 Hex 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)
  4. Jupyter Notebook logo

    4. 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 Hex

    The free, open-source notebook Hex builds on, run locally or on your own server without per-seat pricing.

    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 Hex 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)
  5. Databricks logo

    5. 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 Hex

    Collaborative notebooks that sit right next to your lakehouse data and Spark clusters, for teams already on Databricks.

    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 Hex 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)
  6. Observable logo

    6. Observable

    Best for: Analysts and developers building interactive JavaScript charts and dashboards to share

    Free plan + paidWeb, macOS

    40.0

    score / 100

    Why switch from Hex

    Better for custom interactive visualisations, with an open-source framework for dashboards.

    Pros

    • Reactive notebooks where charts update as soon as inputs change
    • Made by the D3 team, with strong charting tools built in
    • Open-source Framework and Plot can be used without the hosted service

    Cons

    • Built around JavaScript, which is less familiar to Python-first data scientists
    • Private team sharing needs a paid plan
    • Several separate products can make the offering confusing at first
    Visit Observable Details and reviews
    How this score is calculated
    Editorial fit ×0.312
    Reviews ×0.363
    Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
    Freshness ×0.1585
    Votes ×0.150

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

    Is Observable a good Hex alternative?

    Verified facts

    4 of 4 verified
    License (Framework)
    ISC
    Checked Nov 4, 2026github.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Framework
    Static site generator for data apps
    Checked Nov 4, 2026github.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Back-end languages
    Any language
    Checked Nov 4, 2026github.com(opens source in a new tab)
    License (Plot)
    ISC
    Checked Nov 4, 2026github.com(opens source in a new tab)

The best Hex alternative for…

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

Google Colab logo

Best Hex alternative for most people

Google Colab

Free hosted Jupyter with GPUs, better for ML experiments than warehouse analytics.

Metabase logo

Best Hex alternative for a free option

Metabase

An open-source BI tool where analysts and non-technical users build dashboards with a query builder or SQL.

Observable logo

Best Hex alternative for a free plan you can upgrade

Observable

Better for custom interactive visualisations, with an open-source framework for dashboards.

marimo logo

Best Hex alternative for open source

marimo

Free and open source, runs locally and can serve notebooks as apps without a per-editor fee.

Jupyter Notebook logo

Best Hex alternative for self-hosting

Jupyter Notebook

The free, open-source notebook Hex builds on, run locally or on your own server without per-seat pricing.

marimo logo

Best Hex alternative for Mac

marimo

Free and open source, runs locally and can serve notebooks as apps without a per-editor fee.

marimo logo

Best Hex alternative for Windows

marimo

Free and open source, runs locally and can serve notebooks as apps without a per-editor fee.

marimo logo

Best Hex alternative for Linux

marimo

Free and open source, runs locally and can serve notebooks as apps without a per-editor fee.

Databricks logo

Best Hex alternative for working in the browser

Databricks

Collaborative notebooks that sit right next to your lakehouse data and Spark clusters, for teams already on Databricks.

Hex alternatives: common questions

What is the best alternative to Hex?

Google Colab ranks first right now. Free hosted Jupyter with GPUs, better for ML experiments than warehouse analytics. Metabase and marimo follow it in our ranking.

Hex vs Google Colab: what's the difference?

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

Is Hex free?

Hex is free with paid plans. Free plan: Yes (Community); Starting price: $36 per editor/month (Professional); Free trial: 14 days (Team), no card; Team plan: $75 per editor/month. Checked on Hex's own site, November 2026.

Is there a free alternative to Hex?

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

Is there an open-source alternative to Hex?

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

Which Hex alternatives work on Linux?

marimo and Jupyter Notebook run on Linux.

Why do people switch from Hex?

The complaints we hear most: 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.

How is this list ranked?

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