Google Colab vs Pluto.jl
Google Colab
colab.research.google.com
Pluto.jl
plutojl.orgSide by side
| Figure | Google Colab | Pluto.jl |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $8.33/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 9 | 1 |
| Spec score · Notebook Software | 9.2 (#2) | 8.3 (#10) |
| Notebook format | Colab notebooks are hosted Jupyter notebooks that combine executable code with rich text, images, HTML, and LaTeX. | Notebooks are executable Julia files rather than a separate JSON notebook format. |
| Public API | The Colab API is a beta, allowlist-only API for programmatically managing runtimes, with REST resources for runtimes, runtime specifications, subscriptions and operations. | ServerSession and SessionActions support opening, reading, exporting and shutting down notebooks programmatically. |
| Support | Users can report bugs or ask questions through Help > Send feedback in any Colab notebook. | The project points users to its FAQ and documentation, a Zulip chat room, a built-in feedback system, and an email contact. |
| What it does | Google Colab is a browser-based hosted Jupyter notebook service for Python, machine learning, data science and education that requires no local setup. | Pluto.jl is a reactive programming environment and notebook system for the Julia language. |
Plans
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).
Pluto.jl
Pluto.jl is a free, open-source reactive notebook for the Julia programming language, developed for education. Its cells track dependencies, and changes cause affected cells to rerun. PlutoUI provides widgets such as sliders, text fields, and buttons; custom widgets can be built with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Pluto analyzes package use, manages a separate package environment for each notebook, and stores environment details in the notebook file. Its documentation says there is no mutable workspace, so the visible code describes the program state. Notebooks can be exported with cell outputs as HTML or PDF. The software is available under the MIT License at free and supports real-time collaboration. To use the package, install Julia and start Pluto from Julia's terminal or REPL; the site lists Julia 1.10 through 1.12. It also links to an online editor powered by mybinder.org and featured notebooks that can run in a browser. Pluto was developed alongside MIT's Introduction to Computational Thinking course and is designed for students and teachers.