Data notebooks mix code, results and prose in one document that colleagues can rerun.
This guide ranks twelve notebook products and one agent platform by what the first ninety days cost in setup, how compute and seats are billed, how a notebook leaves the product, and whether the vendor is small and independent. Usage caps decide the bill.
Vendors can pay for more visibility on this website, for example a higher place in a ranking or more room on a page. Commercial relationships can also affect which products we feature and how prominently. Every vendor link is marked the same, whatever the arrangement behind it. How that works.
In short
What data notebook software does
Data notebook software lets analysts write code, see charts and tables beside it, and share the result as a document that others can edit, rerun or publish.
We ranked the 13 data notebook tools on setup effort first, then total cost, then data export, then exit, then fit for the buyer. On top of them sits one rule. The top three places are for challengers, which means vendors outside the big names, where the category has any, and the household brands come in from fourth place. The reasoning behind the five tests, and behind having no score out of ten, is set out on the how we work page.
Quoted per organisation; no-cost Enterprise trial and a self-serve start with a work email
—
Investment research teams that want logged agents running on their own compute
Anyone looking for an ordinary general notebook editor
We list the country the vendor operates from or contracts through. That is not the same as the hosting region, and any difference is spelled out in the entry.
Reactive Python notebooks saved as plain .py files
Ranked #1 of 13 in Best Data Notebook Software in 2026.
Open sourcePricing on requestElsewhere
Marimo treats a notebook as a Python program. Because cells react to each other, changing one input refreshes the dependent cells instead of leaving stale output behind.
SQL cells query dataframes and databases such as DuckDB, Postgres and MySQL, and the editor offers copilots and chat with hosted or local models. The licence is Apache-2.0. What the pages do not show is any commercial plan, so budget for self-service and check with the vendor before assuming paid support exists.
What stands out
Reactive cells
Plain .py files
SQL cells
Where it costs you
Both pricing URLs returned 404, so no hosted or paid offer could be confirmed.
The pages read state no country for the vendor.
Right for
Python teams that want notebooks stored as ordinary files they can run as scripts
Wrong for
Anyone requiring a priced, supported hosted service immediately
Not stated by the vendorOpen source under Apache-2.0; no plans or prices appear on the vendor site
Open source notebooks with smart cells and realtime collaboration
Ranked #2 of 13 in Best Data Notebook Software in 2026.
Open sourcePricing on requestElsewhere
Livebook flags notebook parts that have gone stale and runs code in a predictable order, which helps when several people edit the same document at once. Charts, tables, maps and diagrams respond to inputs and controls.
Smart cells wrap common jobs such as a database query. Deployment is flexible: a desktop app, Linux, Docker, embedded hardware or a cloud run on Hugging Face. The limit is scope, because nothing on the homepage prices or promises managed hosting.
What stands out
Smart cells
Realtime editing
Desktop and Docker
Where it costs you
Install options centre on Elixir Mix, and the pages read mention no Python or R support.
The homepage lists no plans, so there is no priced support option to compare.
Right for
Elixir developers who want collaborative notebooks they can host themselves
Wrong for
Analysts whose existing code is written in Python or R
Not stated by the vendorOpen source with an Apache-2.0 licence and no plans listed on the homepage
SQL, Python and no-code cells with printed per-editor pricing
Ranked #3 of 13 in Best Data Notebook Software in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingNorth America
Hex scales its plans on editors rather than viewers. Community has small compute and seven days of version history, Professional adds medium compute and 30 days, and Team removes the limit on history and published apps while adding scheduled runs and alerts.
Enterprise brings audit logs, OIDC SSO and bring-your-own-key, with single-tenant and HIPAA as add-ons. An App Agent answers questions conversationally. The cost climbs fast once many authors need Team, so count editors before comparing.
What stands out
Per-editor pricing
SQL and Python
Data apps
Where it costs you
Community and Professional are capped at five published apps, so sharing widely needs Team.
The Team trial length is inconsistent on the pricing page, and the hosting model is not stated.
Right for
Analytics teams that want one workspace for SQL, Python and shareable apps
Wrong for
Organisations that want unlimited published apps on a cheap plan
United StatesFree Community plan; per-editor monthly Professional and Team plans; custom Enterprise terms
Open-standard notebooks and JupyterLab with kernels for over 40 languages
Ranked #4 of 13 in Best Data Notebook Software in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingElsewhere
Jupyter supplies the pieces rather than a finished product. The notebook app is the original, JupyterLab is the web IDE, and JupyterHub is the multi-user layer. Output can be HTML, images, video, LaTeX or custom MIME types, and kernels cover Python, R, Julia and Scala among others.
Licence terms are permissive. The trade-off is that sign-on, hosting, scheduling and support are not part of the offer, so each has to be built or bought from someone else.
What stands out
Over 40 kernels
JupyterHub
BSD-3-Clause
Where it costs you
Nothing on the site offers managed hosting or paid support, so operation falls on the adopter.
No country or fiscal sponsor is stated, and the trademarks sit with LF Charities.
Right for
Teams that want the standard notebook format with no vendor involved
Wrong for
Companies expecting a supplier to call when something breaks
Not stated by the vendorFree software under the BSD-3-Clause licence; JupyterHub covers multi-user use
AI analyst agent plus Python Smartbooks tied to warehouses and SaaS
Ranked #5 of 13 in Best Data Notebook Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestNorth America
Fabi.ai is built around connecting data and sending results out. Smartbooks run Python with reactive cells, dashboards and data apps sit on top, and workflows can deliver to Slack, email or spreadsheets on a schedule.
Warehouse connectors include ClickHouse and MotherDuck, and SaaS connectors include HubSpot and Google Analytics. Connector fees apply per application, with extra record charges, so a stack of SaaS sources raises the bill in steps. Price changes need 60 days notice before renewal.
What stands out
Smartbooks
Analyst Agent
MCP server
Where it costs you
The pricing URL returned 404, so the plan prices could not be checked.
Terms allow free accounts and trials to be modified or ended at any time.
Right for
Analysts who want AI answers and Python notebooks over warehouse data
Wrong for
Finance owners who must budget from a printed plan table
United StatesPlan prices not found on the vendor pages; application connectors charged per connector each month
Docker-based multi-language notebooks aimed at reproducible research work
Ranked #6 of 13 in Best Data Notebook Software in 2026.
Free tierSelf-hostablePublished pricingElsewhere
The pitch is reproducibility: each notebook runs in Docker, supports several languages and can be edited by a team in real time. The free plan keeps unlimited private notebooks with limited concurrent compute.
Team includes unlimited concurrent compute and credits of about 240 a month, while Enterprise adds SSO, internal publishing and credits of about 400. Extra editors cost 99 or 125 a month each. Academic, nonprofit and teacher discounts exist on request.
What stands out
Reproducible research
Docker-based
Jupyter import
Where it costs you
A 2021 copyright year on both pages means the product and prices need a currency check.
Price figures carry no currency label, and the imprint page shows no address.
Right for
Researchers who need reproducible, shareable notebooks with imported Jupyter work
Wrong for
Anyone requiring a clearly maintained, recently dated vendor record
Not stated by the vendorFree plan, then monthly Team and Enterprise tiers with per-editor add-ons; 14-day trial on paid plans
Apache-licensed browser notebook built around Spark, Flink and JDBC
Ranked #7 of 13 in Best Data Notebook Software in 2026.
Open sourcePricing on requestNorth America
Zeppelin injects a SparkContext and SQLContext automatically, so Spark work starts without boilerplate. Dynamic input forms and built-in charts, including a drag-and-drop pivot, serve quick reporting.
Single-user mode runs against local Spark; multi-user mode brings LDAP support and YARN setup, which implies cluster administration skills. Licensing is Apache-2.0 with no seat charges. What it lacks, on the pages read, is any commercial support offer or managed option.
What stands out
Spark and Flink
JDBC sources
LDAP multi-user mode
Where it costs you
Installation and upkeep are the adopter's job, as no hosted option is offered on the site.
Multi-user mode relies on LDAP and YARN configuration, which implies cluster administration skills.
Right for
Data engineers whose notebooks mostly drive Spark, Flink or JDBC sources
Wrong for
Small teams wanting a hosted notebook with no cluster to run
United StatesApache-2.0 open source project with no vendor plans described on its site
Open source publishing system that turns notebooks into documents and sites
Ranked #8 of 13 in Best Data Notebook Software in 2026.
Open sourcePricing on requestNorth America
Quarto is where a finished analysis goes to become a document. One file renders to several formats, interactivity comes through Jupyter Widgets, htmlwidgets, Observable JS or Shiny, and the licence is MIT.
Posit Software, PBC, a public benefit corporation in Boston, stands behind the R Markdown lineage. The honest limit is that it provides authoring and rendering only, so compute, collaboration and hosting come from other tools you must pick separately.
What stands out
Multi-format output
Python, R, Julia
MIT licence
Where it costs you
The page describes no hosting service, so sharing relies on Posit Connect, Confluence or other systems.
It is a publishing tool, so it does not replace a shared interactive notebook workspace.
Right for
Analysts who publish reports, books or sites from code and prose
Wrong for
Teams wanting a shared interactive notebook workspace with compute
United StatesOpen source under the MIT licence; the site discusses no pricing
JetBrains notebooks with metered machine hours and an On-Premises plan
Ranked #9 of 13 in Best Data Notebook Software in 2026.
Free tierSelf-hostablePublished pricingElsewhere
Datalore counts compute rather than seats alone. The free tier holds one shareable workspace and one interactive report. The paid cloud plan raises storage to 20 GB per user and removes limits on parallel and background computation, with a one-month minimum or a one-year licence.
The 14-day trial caps at three users and two scheduled runs. On-Premises was previously called Enterprise, and capacity is set by the customer.
What stands out
Machine-hour quotas
14-day trial
On-Premises plan
Where it costs you
Neither the buy page nor the help page showed prices, so cost cannot be checked.
The free plan limits users to two notebooks running in parallel.
Right for
Teams already working in JetBrains tools who want hosted notebooks
Wrong for
Heavy compute users who cannot live with hour allowances
Not stated by the vendorFree cloud plan; paid cloud plan, 14-day trial and On-Premises plan, with prices absent from the help page
Package distribution with cloud notebooks sold per user per month
Ranked #10 of 13 in Best Data Notebook Software in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingElsewhere
Pricing is per user: Core at nothing, Starter with 10 GB per user and team workspace controls, Business adding vulnerability scanning, SSO and audit trails. A custom tier and the Anaconda Platform go through sales and include self-hosting, SLAs and custom integrations.
The notebook feature sits beside a vetted package repository and workflow orchestration. That 200-staff threshold matters, because it moves many mid-sized companies off the free tier.
What stands out
Per-user plans
40,000+ packages
Licence at 200+ staff
Where it costs you
Business is mandatory for organisations with 200+ employees or contractors, per the pricing page.
The listed prices name no currency, and the legal page gives no country.
Right for
Companies that already depend on Anaconda packages and want notebooks inside that account
Wrong for
Large organisations hoping to remain on the free plan
Not stated by the vendorFree Core plan; Starter and Business priced per user per month; custom tier through sales
SQL, Python and R workspace for dashboards, now owned by ThoughtSpot
Ranked #11 of 13 in Best Data Notebook Software in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingNorth America
The site frames Mode around reporting: ad hoc analysis, self-serve reports, interactive dashboards and custom data apps.
Studio suits one analyst, Pro adds scheduling, permissioning, Slack and email sharing and API access with 250 GB a month and 5 GB per query, and Enterprise adds advanced SSO and premium support from 50 users. Since the ThoughtSpot deal, demo buttons lead to a ThoughtSpot form. The hosting model is not stated on the pages read.
What stands out
SQL, Python, R
Studio user cap
ThoughtSpot-owned
Where it costs you
Studio is limited to 3 users and 10 MB per query.
No plan prices appear, and the Try for free buttons lead to a placeholder.
Right for
Analyst groups that want SQL-first dashboards with Python and R on the side
Wrong for
Notebook-first researchers who have no need for dashboards
United StatesFree Studio plan; Pro and Enterprise through a sales demo, with no prices shown
Browser-based, cloud-hosted notebooks with free GPU and TPU access
Ranked #12 of 13 in Best Data Notebook Software in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingElsewhere
Colab removes installation entirely: open a notebook and run it on hosted hardware. The free level includes GPUs and TPUs, and the paid tiers raise monthly compute units, but no figures for units, accelerators or limits appear.
A feature list mentions background execution for up to 24 hours. Trial terms are not stated. Treat it as a convenient scratch space until the vendor documents what each tier actually guarantees.
What stands out
GPU and TPU
Compute units
24-hour background runs
Where it costs you
Monthly units, accelerator types and quotas go unquantified on the vendor page.
The paid-plan page rendered only a title, so prices stayed unverified.
Right for
Learners and researchers who need quick browser access to GPUs and TPUs
Wrong for
Groups that must plan monthly compute cost against documented quotas
Not stated by the vendorFree tier with GPUs and TPUs; Pro and Pro+ add monthly compute units; plan prices not read
Agent platform for investment research on the customer's own compute
Ranked #13 of 13 in Best Data Notebook Software in 2026.
Self-hostablePricing on requestElsewhere
Zerve's agents leave editable code rather than a chat transcript, and each step can be inspected and rerun. Guardrails enforce approved data sources, permitted tool calls and output formats, with methods version-controlled and every query, model call and output logged and exportable.
Hosting can be air-gapped, self-hosted in your own AWS, Azure or GCP account, or managed by Zerve. It is built for research governance, not general notebooks.
What stands out
Superagents
Air-gapped on-premises
Logged queries
Where it costs you
The homepage does not mention notebooks or Python, so the notebook fit is unconfirmed.
The Enterprise price is custom, and the free start has no stated limits.
Right for
Investment research teams that want logged agents running on their own compute
Wrong for
Anyone looking for an ordinary general notebook editor
Not stated by the vendorQuoted per organisation; no-cost Enterprise trial and a self-serve start with a work email
Data notebook software lets analysts write code, see charts and tables beside it, and share the result as a document that others can edit, rerun or publish. These are the questions that actually differ between vendors, in the order we would ask them.
01
Decide whether you need a published price
Prices are public at 7 products (Hex, Jupyter, Nextjournal, Datalore, Anaconda, Mode, Google Colab) and on request at the remaining 6, so budget time for quotes if your favourite is in that second group.
02
Decide how much the jurisdiction matters
2 regions are represented (Elsewhere 8, North America 5). A vendor outside your own legal area is not a problem as such, but it changes who can compel it to hand over data.
03
Consider whether you want the source
Source code is available for Marimo, Livebook, Apache Zeppelin, Quarto. Running it yourself swaps the licence fee for your own upkeep.
Data notebook software bills different units: machine hours at Datalore, editors at Hex and Nextjournal, users at Anaconda
Seats are only one way this market charges. Datalore meters compute in CPU hours, Hex and Nextjournal count editors, and Anaconda prices per user per month with a licence rule at 200 or more staff. Google Colab sells monthly compute units without publishing the amounts. Mode caps its Studio plan at three users and ten megabytes per query.
Before comparing, write down how many people author, how many only read, and how many compute hours a typical week uses, then run those numbers through each pricing page. Skip any vendor whose units you cannot convert into hours and people, because a plan you cannot price is a plan you cannot defend to whoever signs the invoice later in the year.
Count authors and readers separately
Estimate weekly compute hours
Confirm which unit each plan limits
Notebook exit differs: Marimo saves .py files, Jupyter sets the format, Nextjournal imports Jupyter work
Leaving a notebook product depends on what the file is. Marimo stores notebooks as clean Python files that also run as scripts, so a move costs little. Jupyter's notebook format is the common denominator, and Nextjournal and Quarto both accept Jupyter notebooks, which makes migration between them realistic. Livebook documents and Zerve's editable agent code follow their own tool chains.
Quarto goes the other direction by rendering one source into HTML, PDF, Word and ePub. Open a real notebook, export it, and run the exported copy somewhere else before you sign anything. Treat vendor-only formats as lock-in, and ask whether schedules, published apps and comments leave with the file or stay behind in the account once the subscription ends.
Export one real notebook before buying
Run the export outside the vendor
Check what happens to schedules and apps
Self-hosting a data notebook means running servers: Apache Zeppelin, JupyterHub, Livebook and Datalore On-Premises
Several tools here are free to obtain and expensive to run. Apache Zeppelin's multi-user mode needs LDAP and YARN cluster configuration, JupyterHub is the multi-user layer for Jupyter with no managed offer described, and Livebook installs through Docker, Linux or Elixir Mix. Datalore On-Premises can be self-hosted or run by JetBrains, and Anaconda lists self-hosting only in its sales-led tier.
Price the hours someone will spend on sign-on, upgrades and storage, not the licence. If nobody on the team owns infrastructure, a hosted plan from Hex, Nextjournal or Datalore may be the cheaper route, even when the licence for the self-run option looks like nothing at all on the invoice.
Name who will patch and upgrade the server
Ask how single sign-on is configured
Compare staff hours with a hosted plan
Some products sold as data notebook software are really BI or agent tools: Mode, Fabi.ai, Zerve, Quarto
Check what the product centres on. Mode describes ad hoc analysis, dashboards and data apps, Fabi.ai adds an Analyst Agent and scheduled sends, and Zerve describes investment research Superagents without mentioning notebooks or Python. Quarto is a publishing system that needs a runtime from elsewhere. Marimo, Jupyter and Livebook, by contrast, are built around the editable document itself.
None of these is wrong, but a reporting product will frustrate a researcher, and a notebook editor will frustrate a team that needs scheduled delivery. Pick the document type first, then the vendor. Ask each seller to show the notebook itself, with code cells you can edit, rather than a dashboard or an agent transcript, and check that the demo uses your data and your language.
Decide between notebook, report and agent
Look for scheduling and sharing limits
Test with a real dataset in the trial
What goes wrong most often when buying data notebook software
Buying on the free tier without reading the caps, such as three users at Mode Studio or two parallel notebooks at Datalore.
Assuming a product named notebook software is one, when Zerve and Quarto describe agents and publishing instead.
Treating open source as zero cost and ignoring the cluster or server that Apache Zeppelin and JupyterHub need.
Comparing per-editor prices at Hex and Nextjournal without counting how many people will actually author.
07
Frequently asked questions
8 answers
What is the best data notebook software in 2026?
Marimo leads our ranking of 13. Marimo stores each notebook as a clean Python file, so the same work can run as a script, be served as a web app or be exported as WebAssembly-powered HTML.
Running one cell reruns the cells it affects. It ranks first because the Apache-2.0 code needs no vendor contract. The catch: both pricing URLs returned 404 on 7 November 2026, so no paid offer is confirmed.
Which data notebook tools publish their pricing?
Published pricing exists for 7 products on this page:
Hex: Free Community plan; per-editor monthly Professional and Team plans; custom Enterprise terms.
Jupyter: Free software under the BSD-3-Clause licence; JupyterHub covers multi-user use.
Nextjournal: Free plan, then monthly Team and Enterprise tiers with per-editor add-ons; 14-day trial on paid plans.
Datalore: Free cloud plan; paid cloud plan, 14-day trial and On-Premises plan, with prices absent from the help page.
Anaconda: Free Core plan; Starter and Business priced per user per month; custom tier through sales.
Mode: Free Studio plan; Pro and Enterprise through a sales demo, with no prices shown.
Google Colab: Free tier with GPUs and TPUs; Pro and Pro+ add monthly compute units; plan prices not read.
Everything else on the list is priced on request.
Is there a free data notebook tool?
Hex, Jupyter, Nextjournal, Datalore, Anaconda, Mode, Google Colab have a free plan or free self-hosted edition.
Where are these data notebook software vendors established?
In 2 countries across 2 regions: Elsewhere 8, North America 5.
Marimo: Not stated by the vendor.
Livebook: Not stated by the vendor.
Hex: United States.
Jupyter: Not stated by the vendor.
Fabi.ai: United States.
Nextjournal: Not stated by the vendor.
Apache Zeppelin: United States.
Quarto: United States.
Datalore: Not stated by the vendor.
Anaconda: Not stated by the vendor.
Mode: United States.
Google Colab: Not stated by the vendor.
Zerve: Not stated by the vendor.
Which data notebook tools are open source?
Marimo, Livebook, Apache Zeppelin, Quarto.
Which data notebook tools can you host yourself?
Nextjournal, Datalore, Zerve. The other 10 are hosted by the vendor only.
What should you use instead of Marimo?
Look at Livebook (made for Elixir developers who want collaborative notebooks they can host themselves) and Hex (made for Analytics teams that want one workspace for SQL, Python and shareable apps), which hold places two and three.
Who should not buy Marimo?
Anyone requiring a priced, supported hosted service immediately. Both pricing URLs returned 404, so no hosted or paid offer could be confirmed..
Sell data notebook software and missing from the ranking? Send us a line on what the product does and who buys it. Whether it is added is our decision, though commercial arrangements can also affect it, and the terms of a listing sit on the software advice page.
