Jupyter Notebook

Open-source, browser-based notebook for mixing live code, charts and notes in one document.

Open sourceSelf-hostableCode editors

Updated Nov 1, 2026 · AppBreakup editorial · Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, Self-hosted

Visit Jupyter Notebook See 8 alternatives

Is Jupyter Notebook free?

Yes, free and open source

License:: BSD-3-Clause

Checked on Jupyter Notebook's site Nov 1, 2026

Switch from Jupyter Notebook to

All 8

Verified facts: 5 of 5
Alternatives ranked: 8
Approved reviews: 0
Visits sent from here: 0

About Jupyter Notebook

Jupyter Notebook is the original notebook interface from Project Jupyter. You run it locally (usually with pip) and it opens in your browser, where each document mixes code cells, their output, Markdown text and equations. It grew out of the IPython project, so Python is the most common language, but kernels exist for dozens of others, including R and Julia. Output can be tables, plots, images, HTML or interactive widgets, and the .ipynb files are plain JSON that GitHub and many other tools can display. Version 7 rebuilt the interface on JupyterLab components while keeping the simple one-document-per-tab layout. It suits data analysis, teaching, research and quick experiments far more than building large applications. The software is completely free under the BSD licence and run by a non-profit community project; there is no paid tier, though many hosted services such as Google Colab run Jupyter-style notebooks for you. JupyterHub turns it into a shared server for classes and teams.

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

What works

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

Why people leave

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

Jupyter Notebook vs Visual Studio Code, Positron and Spyder

From each app's listing and the prices verified on its own site. A dash means we haven't verified it yet.

Attribute	Jupyter Notebook	Visual Studio Code	Positron	Spyder
Pricing	Open source	Free	Free	Open source
Verified price	—	—	—	—
Free plan	Free app	Free app	Free app	Free app
Open source	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Self-hostable	Yes	No	No	No
Platforms	Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, Self-hosted	Windows, macOS, Linux, Web	Windows, macOS, Linux	Windows, macOS, Linux

Full Jupyter Notebook vs Visual Studio Code comparison

Top Jupyter Notebook alternatives

See all 8

1
Visual Studio Code
Opens .ipynb files with its own notebook UI, alongside a full editor, debugger and Git tools.
76.8
2
Positron
A data science IDE from Posit with notebooks, a variables pane and plots for Python and R.
62.2
3
Spyder
Free scientific Python IDE with a variable explorer and cell-by-cell running in plain scripts.
61.8
4
PyCharm
Full Python IDE with built-in Jupyter notebook support plus refactoring and debugging.
57.5
5
RStudio
The natural pick for R users, with R Markdown and Quarto documents instead of notebooks.
55.9

Why people left Jupyter Notebook

In reviewers' own words, from reviews of the apps they moved to. These are their opinions, not ours.

No switching stories yet. If you moved away from Jupyter Notebook, review the app you switched to and tell us why.

Reviews

No approved reviews yet. How we verify reviewers

Write a review of Jupyter Notebook

Your rating of Jupyter Notebook

Name

Never shown publicly. A work email helps us verify you.

Title

Your review

What did you use it for, and what was good or bad? At least 40 characters.

Did you switch from another app?

Why did you leave it?

How can we verify you use it? (optional)

A GitHub username, your company domain, or say you can send a screenshot. Verified reviews count more.

I received money, credit or a gift for writing this review. (Incentivized reviews are shown but don't count toward rankings.)

By submitting, you confirm you're at least 16 and agree to our terms. Your name, rating, review and the date are published; your email isn't. See our privacy policy.

Jupyter Notebook: common questions

What is Jupyter Notebook?

Jupyter Notebook: Open-source, browser-based notebook for mixing live code, charts and notes in one document. Best for students, researchers and data analysts who want to explore data step by step in a shareable document. Available for Web, Windows, macOS and Linux, and you can host it yourself.

Is Jupyter Notebook free?

Yes. Jupyter Notebook is free, open-source software that you can host yourself.

Is Jupyter Notebook open source?

Yes. The source code is on GitHub at jupyter/notebook. You can also run it on your own server.

What platforms does Jupyter Notebook run on?

Jupyter Notebook is available for Web, Windows, macOS, Linux and Self-hosted.

What are the best alternatives to Jupyter Notebook?

The highest-ranked Jupyter Notebook alternatives right now are Visual Studio Code, Positron and Spyder. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.

Jupyter Notebook vs Visual Studio Code: what's the difference?

Jupyter Notebook is free and open source; Visual Studio Code is free to use. Both run on Web, Windows, macOS and Linux.

See all 8 Jupyter Notebook alternatives

Jupyter Notebook facts

5 of 5 verified

License: BSD-3-Clause; Checked Nov 1, 2026github.com(opens source in a new tab); “License: BSD-3-Clause (BSD 3-Clause "New" or "Revised" License).”
Languages: 40+, incl. Python, R, Julia; Checked Nov 8, 2026jupyter.org(opens source in a new tab); “Try it in your browser Install the Notebook Language of choice Jupyter supports over 40 programming languages, including Python, R, Julia, and Scala.”
Install: pip install notebook; Checked Nov 8, 2026jupyter.org(opens source in a new tab); “Once installed, launch JupyterLab with: jupyter lab Jupyter Notebook Install the classic Jupyter Notebook with: pip install notebook”
Origin: IPython project, 2014; Checked Nov 8, 2026jupyter.org(opens source in a new tab); “born out of the IPython Project in 2014”
Notebook format: Open, JSON-based; Checked Nov 8, 2026jupyter.org(opens source in a new tab); “Notebook Document Format Jupyter Notebooks are an open document format based on JSON.”