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marimo alternatives: 6 apps ranked by verified data

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

Top picks

Common reasons people leave marimo: not compatible with Jupyter's .ipynb format without conversion, and python only, with no R or Julia kernels. We ranked 6 alternatives by how directly each one replaces marimo, 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 468.8
2Hex logoHexFree plan + paid$36 per editor/month (Professional)NoWeb5 of 561.8
3Kaggle logoKaggleFree—NoWeb3 of 357.5
4Jupyter Notebook logoJupyter NotebookOpen source—YesWeb, Windows, macOS +25 of 551.2
5Streamlit logoStreamlitOpen source—YesWeb, Self-hosted4 of 449.0
6Positron logoPositronFree—NoWindows, macOS, Linux3 of 445.6
  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

    68.8

    score / 100

    Why switch from marimo

    Hosted Jupyter with free GPU access, for when you need cloud hardware instead of a local install.

    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 ×0.3100
    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 marimo 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. Hex logo

    2. Hex

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

    Free plan + paidWeb

    61.8

    score / 100

    Why switch from marimo

    Managed platform for warehouse analytics and shareable data apps, with access controls built in.

    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 ×0.377
    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 Hex a good marimo 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)
  3. Kaggle logo

    3. Kaggle

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

    FreeWeb

    57.5

    score / 100

    Why switch from marimo

    Free hosted notebooks with GPU time and public datasets, for people who mainly want free compute.

    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 Details and reviews
    How this score is calculated
    Editorial fit ×0.363
    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 marimo 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)
  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 marimo

    The classic open-source notebook marimo set out to replace; every data tool reads its .ipynb files.

    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 marimo 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. Streamlit logo

    5. Streamlit

    Best for: Data teams building internal dashboards and data apps in pure Python

    Open sourceSelf-hostableWeb, Self-hosted

    49.0

    score / 100

    Why switch from marimo

    If you used marimo to turn analysis into apps, Streamlit builds Python data apps with a large component ecosystem.

    Pros

    • Apps in pure Python with no front-end work
    • Large community component gallery
    • Free hosting for public apps on Community Cloud

    Cons

    • Rerun model makes complex apps awkward
    • Limited layout control
    • Not suited to CRUD-heavy admin panels
    Visit Streamlit Details and reviews
    How this score is calculated
    Editorial fit ×0.334
    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 Streamlit a good marimo alternative?

    Verified facts

    4 of 4 verified
    License
    Apache-2.0
    Checked Oct 25, 2026github.com(opens source in a new tab)
    Language
    Pure Python
    Checked Nov 8, 2026streamlit.io(opens source in a new tab)
    Community Cloud
    Free for public apps
    Checked Nov 8, 2026streamlit.io(opens source in a new tab)
    Private deployment
    Via Snowflake
    Checked Nov 8, 2026streamlit.io(opens source in a new tab)
  6. Positron logo

    6. Positron

    Best for: Data scientists working in Python and R who want an analysis-first IDE

    FreeWindows, macOS, Linux

    45.6

    score / 100

    Why switch from marimo

    Posit's free data science IDE runs notebooks and scripts side by side, with a variables pane and data explorer.

    Pros

    • Free, including for commercial use
    • Data explorer, consoles and plots built for analysis
    • Supports both Python and R equally

    Cons

    • Source-available licence, not OSI open source
    • Some VS Code Marketplace extensions are not available
    • Younger and less proven than RStudio
    Visit Positron Details and reviews
    How this score is calculated
    Editorial fit ×0.332
    Reviews ×0.363
    Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
    Freshness ×0.1583
    Votes ×0.150

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

    Is Positron a good marimo alternative?

    Verified facts

    3 of 4 verified
    Price
    Free for personal, academic and commercial use
    Checked Nov 8, 2026positron.posit.co(opens source in a new tab)
    License
    Elastic License 2.0 (source-available)
    Checked Nov 8, 2026positron.posit.co(opens source in a new tab)
    Languages
    Python and R
    Source changed Nov 8, 2026positron.posit.co(opens source in a new tab)
    Platforms
    Windows, macOS, Linux
    Checked Nov 8, 2026positron.posit.co(opens source in a new tab)

The best marimo alternative for…

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

Google Colab logo

Best marimo alternative for most people

Google Colab

Hosted Jupyter with free GPU access, for when you need cloud hardware instead of a local install.

Kaggle logo

Best marimo alternative for a free option

Kaggle

Free hosted notebooks with GPU time and public datasets, for people who mainly want free compute.

Hex logo

Best marimo alternative for a free plan you can upgrade

Hex

Managed platform for warehouse analytics and shareable data apps, with access controls built in.

Jupyter Notebook logo

Best marimo alternative for open source

Jupyter Notebook

The classic open-source notebook marimo set out to replace; every data tool reads its .ipynb files.

Streamlit logo

Best marimo alternative for self-hosting

Streamlit

If you used marimo to turn analysis into apps, Streamlit builds Python data apps with a large component ecosystem.

Positron logo

Best marimo alternative for Mac

Positron

Posit's free data science IDE runs notebooks and scripts side by side, with a variables pane and data explorer.

Jupyter Notebook logo

Best marimo alternative for Windows

Jupyter Notebook

The classic open-source notebook marimo set out to replace; every data tool reads its .ipynb files.

Jupyter Notebook logo

Best marimo alternative for Linux

Jupyter Notebook

The classic open-source notebook marimo set out to replace; every data tool reads its .ipynb files.

Google Colab logo

Best marimo alternative for working in the browser

Google Colab

Hosted Jupyter with free GPU access, for when you need cloud hardware instead of a local install.

marimo alternatives: common questions

What is the best alternative to marimo?

Google Colab ranks first right now. Hosted Jupyter with free GPU access, for when you need cloud hardware instead of a local install. Hex and Kaggle follow it in our ranking.

marimo vs Google Colab: what's the difference?

marimo is free and open source; Google Colab is free with paid plans. marimo is open source and Google Colab is not. Only marimo runs on Windows, macOS and Linux.

Is marimo free?

marimo is free and open source.

Is there a free alternative to marimo?

Yes. Google Colab (free plan + paid), Hex (free plan + paid), Kaggle (free) 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 marimo?

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

Which marimo alternatives work on Linux?

Jupyter Notebook and Positron run on Linux.

Why do people switch from marimo?

The complaints we hear most: 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.

How is this list ranked?

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