Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

CoCalc VS Underleaf

Compare CoCalc VS Underleaf and see what are their differences

CoCalc logo CoCalc

Collaborative Calculation and Data Science

Underleaf logo Underleaf

Enhance your academic writing and save hours with Underleaf's AI-powered LaTeX tools.
  • CoCalc Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-29

CoCalc is a sophisticated online workspace that supports Jupyter notebooks, SageMath worksheets and LaTeX. It is a fully managed Python and R Statistics environments provide a lot of packages/libraries out of the box. It is also possible to edit LaTeX files and R documents right inside your browser. A full Linux terminal and an environment to run graphical applications complete CoCalc as a very versatile platform. Beyond that, CoCalc is made for teaching a class online! Avoid the hassle of installing software on every student's machine and help your students more precisely by collaborating on their notebooks.

  • Underleaf Convert equations to LaTeX in seconds
    Convert equations to LaTeX in seconds //
    2026-07-23
  • Underleaf Find citations for papers easily
    Find citations for papers easily //
    2026-07-23
  • Underleaf Generate and edit LaTeX on any page
    Generate and edit LaTeX on any page //
    2026-07-23
  • Underleaf Polish your writing in seconds
    Polish your writing in seconds //
    2026-07-23

Underleaf is an AI-powered workspace built for researchers, students, and technical writers who work in LaTeX. It helps you move faster from idea to polished document by turning messy inputs into clean, structured LaTeX - without breaking your workflow.

With Underleaf, you can:

  • Convert PDFs to LaTeX (papers, notes, scans)
  • Convert handwritten notes to LaTeX
  • Generate and refine math equations, tables, and LaTeX formatting
  • Create TikZ diagrams from images or natural language descriptions
  • Edit, rewrite, and improve clarity while preserving LaTeX structure
  • Use the Chrome extension to bring AI assistance directly into your LaTeX editor

CoCalc

Website
cocalc.ai
$ Details
freemium $14 / Monthly
Platforms
Browser Docker
Release Date
2013 April

Underleaf

$ Details
free
Platforms
-
Release Date
-
Startup details
Country
United States
Employees
1 - 9

CoCalc features and specs

  • Collaboration
    CoCalc offers real-time collaboration, allowing multiple users to work on the same project simultaneously, making it ideal for group projects and teaching.
  • Integration with Jupyter Notebooks
    It supports Jupyter Notebooks, which are popular for data analysis and scientific computing, allowing users to easily share and execute their code.
  • Reproducibility
    CoCalc provides tools to help ensure that computational results can be easily reproduced, supporting both academic research and educational settings.
  • Wide Range of Tools
    The platform supports several programming languages and tools, including LaTeX, Python, R, and SageMath, offering a versatile working environment.
  • Accessibility
    As a cloud-based platform, CoCalc is accessible from anywhere with an internet connection, allowing users to work remotely.

Possible disadvantages of CoCalc

  • Performance Limitations
    As CoCalc is a cloud-based service, computational resources are shared, which can lead to performance limitations compared to local execution.
  • Cost
    While CoCalc offers a free version, advanced features and more computational resources require a subscription, which may not be affordable for all users.
  • Learning Curve
    New users might face a learning curve when getting started with CoCalc, especially if they are unfamiliar with similar platforms or the supported technologies.
  • Internet Dependency
    Since CoCalc is an online platform, a stable internet connection is necessary, which can be a disadvantage in areas with poor connectivity.
  • Limited Customization
    Compared to setting up a local environment, CoCalc may offer less flexibility in configuring the available software and environment settings.

Underleaf features and specs

  • PDF to LaTeX
    Convert PDFs (papers, notes, scanned documents) into clean, editable LaTeX with high accuracy.
  • Handwritten Notes to LaTeX
    Transform handwritten math and notes into fully formatted LaTeX code.
  • Math & Equation Generation
    Generate, edit, and refine mathematical equations with proper LaTeX syntax.
  • LaTeX Editing & Refinement
    Rewrite, clean up, and improve LaTeX while preserving structure and formatting.
  • TikZ Diagram Generation
    Create TikZ diagrams from text descriptions or images.
  • Overleaf Integration
    Use Underleaf directly inside Overleaf with a browser extension for seamless AI-assisted editing.

Analysis of Underleaf

Overall verdict

  • Underleaf.ai appears to be a niche AI-powered writing/document tool, likely aimed at streamlining LaTeX or academic/technical writing workflows, though independent reviews and widespread user feedback are limited, making it hard to fully verify its effectiveness and reliability.

Why this product is good

  • Offers AI-assisted features that can speed up document creation and editing
  • Targets a specific niche (likely LaTeX or academic writing) that many general tools don't address well
  • May provide templates or automation for technical formatting, saving users time
  • Likely has a modern, user-friendly interface designed for efficiency

Recommended for

  • Students and researchers who frequently write academic papers
  • Professionals working with LaTeX or technical documentation
  • Users seeking AI assistance for structured or formal writing tasks
  • Early adopters willing to try newer, less-established AI writing tools

CoCalc videos

Real-time collaboration with Jupyter notebooks using CoCalc- William Stein (SageMath, Inc)

More videos:

  • Review - An overview of CoCalc
  • Review - CoCalc: Making open source data analysis software more collaborative

Underleaf videos

A review of Underleaf.ai, an image-to-math converter #math #latex #mathequations #ai

More videos:

  • Review - Underleaf Review-Was This REALLY Of VALUE At ALL Or NOT ??See(Check Before use)
  • Review - Underleaf | Review | Frog Tree Games | Initial Impressions

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to CoCalc and Underleaf)
Mathematics
100 100%
0% 0
LaTeX
63 63%
37% 37
Python IDE
100 100%
0% 0
Text Editors
0 0%
100% 100

Questions & Answers

As answered by people managing CoCalc and Underleaf.

What makes your product unique?

Underleaf's answer:

Underleaf is built specifically for people who write in LaTeX. Unlike generic AI writing tools, it understands mathematical structure, equations, and academic formatting. It can convert PDFs and handwritten notes directly into clean LaTeX, generate TikZ diagrams, and help refine technical writing - all while preserving document structure. It’s designed to feel like a natural extension of your LaTeX workflow, not a replacement for it.

Why should a person choose your product over its competitors?

Underleaf's answer:

Most tools treat LaTeX as plain text. Underleaf treats it as a first-class language. It’s purpose-built for researchers, students, and technical professionals who care about correctness, structure, and reproducibility. With deep support for equations, diagrams, and academic formatting - plus seamless Overleaf integration - Underleaf saves hours without compromising precision or control.

How would you describe the primary audience of your product?

Underleaf's answer:

Underleaf is built for professors, researchers, graduate students, and technical professionals who regularly write in LaTeX. This includes people in mathematics, physics, engineering, computer science, and related fields who want to move faster without sacrificing rigor or formatting quality.

What's the story behind your product?

Underleaf's answer:

Underleaf was created out of firsthand frustration with how slow and manual academic writing can be. After years of writing papers, notes, and technical documents in LaTeX, the goal became clear: remove the friction without breaking the workflow researchers rely on. Underleaf started as a personal productivity tool and grew into a platform that helps thousands of academics write faster, cleaner, and with more focus on ideas instead of syntax.

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare CoCalc and Underleaf

CoCalc Reviews

Jupyter Notebook & 10 Alternatives: Data Notebook Review [2023]
CoCalc (previously called SageMathCloud) is a cloud-based collaborative platform that includes many of the same features as Jupyter Notebooks as well as a number of new ones.
Source: lakefs.io
12 Best Jupyter Notebook Alternatives [2023] – Features, pros & cons, pricing
CoCalc (formerly known as SageMathCloud) is a cloud-based platform for collaborative computing that offers many of the same features as Jupyter Notebooks, as well as a number of additional capabilities. It supports a wide variety of programming languages, including Python, R, and Julia, and provides access to powerful hardware resources, including GPUs. In addition to its...
Source: noteable.io

Underleaf Reviews

We have no reviews of Underleaf yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, CoCalc seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 31 times 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.

CoCalc mentions (31)

  • Hetzner introduces GPU server for AI training
    CoCalc offers On-Demand GPU servers with H100s starting at $2.01 per hour (metered per second) through its integration with Hyperstack... It also has more budget-friendly options, like RTX A4000s at $0.18 per hour. https://cocalc.com/features/compute-server In case you are not familiar, CoCalc is a real-time collaborative environment for education and research that you can access via your web browser at... - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago
  • Show HN: Adding Mistral Codestral and GPT-4o to Jupyter Notebooks
    Thank you for the list - I think I've come across all of these in my research! I'll try highlight the differences for each. - https://noteable.io/ - as you say, it doesn't exist anymore - https://deepnote.com - I actually mentioned this in the post but in my experience, the UX and features far behind what we've built already. I'd love to hear from anyone who's tried jupyter-ai to give us a shot and let me know... - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
  • Show HN: Adding Mistral Codestral and GPT-4o to Jupyter Notebooks
    - https://cocalc.com -- very extensive AI integration everywhere with all the main hosted models, mostly free or pay as you go; also has realtime collaboration. (Disclaimer: I co-authored this.). - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
  • Show HN: I made a better Perplexity for developers
    Is there something like this (maybe this?) that provides an API so I can integrate it like any other model into my own website (in this case, https://cocalc.com)? I tried asking the Phind.com devs, but got ignored. - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • A list of SaaS, PaaS and IaaS offerings that have free tiers of interest to devops and infradev
    Cocalc.com — (formerly SageMathCloud at cloud.sagemath.com) — Collaborative calculation in the cloud. Browser access to full Ubuntu with built-in collaboration and lots of free software for mathematics, science, data science, preinstalled: Python, LaTeX, Jupyter Notebooks, SageMath, scikitlearn, etc. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
View more

Underleaf mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Underleaf yet. Tracking of Underleaf recommendations started around Dec 2025.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing CoCalc and Underleaf, you can also consider the following products

Overleaf - The online platform for scientific writing. Overleaf is free: start writing now with one click. No sign-up required. Great on your iPad.

ShareLaTeX - An online LaTeX editor that's easy to use. No installation, real-time collaboration, version control, hundreds of LaTeX templates, and more. Log InRegister - Reset Password - Documentation - .

Authorea - Collaborative platform for research. To write and manage technical documents in one place.

Bibby AI - The AI LaTeX editor for researchers. Smart citations, AI writing assistant, table generation, paper review, and real-time collaboration.

Colaboratory - Free Jupyter notebook environment in the cloud.

OpenAI Prism - Education & Reference, AI Tools & Services, Office & Productivity, and Remote Work & Education