Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Calculist VS Observable Notebooks

Compare Calculist VS Observable Notebooks and see what are their differences

Calculist logo Calculist

The open-source, web-based thinking tool that facilitates effective thinking for solving problems.

Observable Notebooks logo Observable Notebooks

The portfolio and technical blog of Chris Henrick – provider of professional web development, data visualization, GIS, mapping, & cartography services.
  • Calculist Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-10
  • Observable Notebooks Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-06-14

Calculist features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    Calculist offers an intuitive and easy-to-use interface that makes organizing tasks and managing information straightforward for users of all levels.
  • Flexible Structure
    The platform's flexible structure allows users to create customizable lists and outline information in a way that fits their personal workflow.
  • Cross-Platform Availability
    Calculist is available on multiple platforms, enabling users to access their information seamlessly across devices.
  • Real-Time Collaboration
    The tool supports real-time collaboration, allowing teams to work together and keep their data synchronized efficiently.

Possible disadvantages of Calculist

  • Limited Features
    Compared to more established productivity tools, Calculist may have fewer features and integrations, which could be a limitation for some users.
  • Pricing Model
    Depending on the pricing model, some users might find it expensive or not cost-effective for the features provided.
  • Learning Curve
    Despite its user-friendly design, new users might still experience a learning curve to fully utilize all of Calculist’s capabilities.
  • Reliability Concerns
    As a newer platform, users might encounter reliability issues or bugs that can affect productivity.

Observable Notebooks features and specs

  • Interactivity
    Observable Notebooks offer built-in interactivity, allowing users to manipulate data and visualizations directly within the notebook.
  • Real-time Collaboration
    Multiple users can edit and interact with the same notebook simultaneously, similar to Google Docs, enhancing collaborative workflows.
  • Dynamic Imports
    Observable notebooks allow importing of JavaScript libraries and modules dynamically, making it easy to incorporate external tools and APIs.
  • Reactive Data Flow
    Observable employs a reactive programming model where cells automatically update when the data they depend on changes.
  • Integrated Visualization
    Provides seamless integration with D3.js and other visualization libraries for creating complex, data-driven visuals.

Possible disadvantages of Observable Notebooks

  • Learning Curve
    Users need to understand the reactive programming model and Observable’s unique syntax, which can be a barrier for beginners.
  • Limited Language Support
    Observable Notebooks primarily use JavaScript, limiting users who prefer or require other programming languages for data analysis.
  • Performance Issues
    Highly interactive or computationally heavy notebooks can experience performance slowdowns, particularly on less powerful machines.
  • Online Only
    Observable Notebooks require an internet connection as they work primarily in the browser, posing challenges for offline work scenarios.
  • Integration Limitations
    Observable’s unique environment may present integration challenges with other tools and workflows that aren't web-based.

Calculist videos

No Calculist videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

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Observable Notebooks videos

Observable Notebooks and D3.Js with Amelia Wattenberger and Vlad Korobov

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Calculist and Observable Notebooks)
Data Science Notebooks
51 51%
49% 49
Data Science And Machine Learning
Python IDE
0 0%
100% 100
Advanced Calculator
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Calculist seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 1 time since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Calculist mentions (1)

  • Productivity course for people w/ narcolepsy
    I was diagnosed in 2011 and have struggled a lot to stay productive as a software developer. Somewhat ironically, I've also been building productivity software for my entire career (most recently Calculist), and I think that the combination of those two things puts me in a unique position to help my fellow people with narcolepsy. Source: almost 4 years ago

Observable Notebooks mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Observable Notebooks yet. Tracking of Observable Notebooks recommendations started around Jun 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Calculist and Observable Notebooks, you can also consider the following products

BeakerX - Open Source Polyglot Data Science Tool

Jupyter - Project Jupyter exists to develop open-source software, open-standards, and services for interactive computing across dozens of programming languages. Ready to get started? Try it in your browser Install the Notebook.

Kajero - Interactive JavaScript notebooks - create good-looking, responsive, interactive documents.

iPython - iPython provides a rich toolkit to help you make the most out of using Python interactively.

iodide - Interactive, notebook programming environment for the web.

Blabr - Scientific Computing for the Web.