Dodona vs Google Colab
Dodona
dodona.be
Google Colab
colab.research.google.comSide by side
| Figure | Dodona | Google Colab |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $2/mo | $8.33/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 4 | 9 |
| Spec score · Coding Playgrounds | 8.7 (#23) | 9.3 (#4) |
| API | Dodona offers API tokens for external applications, but its API documentation is not complete and prospective application or plugin builders are asked to contact support. | The Colab API can programmatically manage runtimes and is in beta with access by allowlist. |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Integrations | The platform connects with institutional learning platforms via LTI and supports sign-in providers including Microsoft, Google Workspace, Smartschool, and SURFconext. | Users can import data from Google Drive, spreadsheets, GitHub, and other sources, and the site lists Google Cloud Storage, Sheets, and BigQuery resources. |
| Support | Users can message Team Dodona by email, and the site directs common questions to its manual and GitHub Discussions. | Users can report bugs or ask questions through Help > Send feedback in any Colab notebook. |
Plans
Dodona
- Student License$2 a month
- TeachersFree
- Campus LicensePriced on request
- GCSE LicensePriced on request
Google Colab
- Colab Pro$8.33 a month
- Colab Pro+$41.66 a month
- ColabFree
- Colab freeFree
- Colab EnterprisePriced on request
- Colab ProPrice not published
- Colab Pro+Price not published
- Colab Pro / Pro+ / Pay As You GoPriced on request
- Pay As You GoPrice not published
In their own words
Google Colab
Google Colab lets users write and run Python in a browser without configuring a local environment, with access to GPUs and notebook sharing. Its hosted Jupyter notebooks combine executable code with rich text, images, HTML, and LaTeX. Data can come from Google Drive, spreadsheets, GitHub, and other sources, with Google Cloud Storage, Sheets, and BigQuery resources listed for integration. Colab AI can generate or transform code, explain Python libraries, suggest fixes, and perform multi-step data-analysis workflows. By default, it does not access Drive files or user secrets, though it can generate code to access them when explicitly requested. Google says generative-AI features collect prompts, related code, outputs, usage information, and feedback; human reviewers may process that data for up to 18 months. Free notebooks can run for at most 12 hours, depending on availability and usage. Pro+ supports continuous execution up to 24 hours when enough compute units are available. Colab also has a Visual Studio Code extension and a beta, allowlist-gated API. Paid plans start at 8.33 USD/user/mo (annual).