Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Colaboratory VS Underleaf

Compare Colaboratory VS Underleaf and see what are their differences

Colaboratory logo Colaboratory

Free Jupyter notebook environment in the cloud.

Underleaf logo Underleaf

Enhance your academic writing and save hours with Underleaf's AI-powered LaTeX tools.
  • Colaboratory Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-11-01
  • 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

Colaboratory features and specs

  • Free Access
    Colaboratory is freely available to anyone with a Google account, making it accessible for students, researchers, and developers without cost barriers.
  • Cloud-based
    Colab operates in the cloud, eliminating the need for local computational resources and allowing access from any device with internet connectivity.
  • GPU and TPU Support
    Colab provides free access to GPUs and TPUs, which can significantly speed up machine learning tasks and deep learning experiments.
  • Integration with Google Drive
    Easy integration with Google Drive allows for convenient storage and retrieval of data, notebooks, and other resources.
  • Collaborative Editing
    Multiple users can collaborate on a notebook in real-time, making it a valuable tool for team projects and pair programming.
  • Pre-configured Environment
    Colab comes pre-installed with a wide array of popular machine learning libraries and dependencies, reducing setup time and effort.

Possible disadvantages of Colaboratory

  • Session Time Limits
    Colab has time limits for sessions, meaning your environment can be reset if left idle for too long or if the maximum session duration is reached.
  • Resource Limits
    There are limitations on the computational resources and memory available, which can be restrictive for very large and complex tasks.
  • Dependency Management
    While many libraries are pre-installed, managing and updating dependencies can sometimes be problematic, leading to conflicts or version issues.
  • Privacy Concerns
    Since your code and data are stored on Google’s servers, there can be privacy and security concerns related to sensitive information.
  • Network Dependency
    Being a cloud-based service, Colaboratory requires a constant internet connection, which may not be feasible in all scenarios or locations.
  • Limited Customization
    Customization of the environment is limited compared to a local setup where you have full control over system configurations and installed software.

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 Colaboratory

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Colaboratory is highly praised for its convenience, accessibility, and powerful features which make it an excellent choice for many users, especially those involved in data science, machine learning, and education.

Why this product is good

  • Google Colab (Colaboratory) is a powerful platform for running Jupyter notebooks in the cloud. It offers seamless integration with Google Drive, allowing for easy sharing and collaboration. It also provides access to free resources, including GPUs and TPUs, which is beneficial for tasks requiring substantial computational power such as training machine learning models. The simplicity of running Python code without setup and the support for common libraries make it accessible and easy to use.

Recommended for

  • Data scientists needing scalable resources
  • Researchers and educators looking for collaborative tools
  • Students learning Python and data analysis
  • Anyone wanting to leverage GPU/TPU without additional costs

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

Colaboratory videos

Google Colaboratory review: the best tool for Python programming and data analysis

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 Colaboratory and Underleaf)
Development
100 100%
0% 0
LaTeX
0 0%
100% 100
Online Learning
100 100%
0% 0
Text Editors
84 84%
16% 16

Questions & Answers

As answered by people managing Colaboratory 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

Share your experience with using Colaboratory and Underleaf. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Reviews

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

Colaboratory Reviews

Jupyter Notebook & 10 Alternatives: Data Notebook Review [2023]
Google Colaboratory (known as Colab) is a browser-based notebook created by the Google team. The environment is based on the Jupyter Notebook environment, so it will be recognizable to those of you who are already familiar with Jupyter.
Source: lakefs.io
12 Best Jupyter Notebook Alternatives [2023] – Features, pros & cons, pricing
Microsoft Azure Notebooks is a cloud-based platform for data science projects and machine learning that is similar to Google Colab and Kaggle Notebooks. It provides access to powerful hardware resources, including GPUs and TPUs, for running machine learning and deep learning models, as well as a number of other useful features, such as integration with Microsoft Azure...
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, Colaboratory seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 232 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.

Colaboratory mentions (232)

  • Agentic Market Research & Trend Analysis with Olostep
    Now start a new Jupyter Notebook. If you don’t have Jupyter Lab installed locally, you can use Google Colab, which provides a free cloud notebook environment. Install the required Python packages:. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • How to find checksum of a Google Drive File
    Go to https://colab.research.google.com and create a new Python notebook. - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
  • Python + AI - The Essential Skill Combination for Modern Workers Without Coding Backgrounds
    Google Colab: Free, cloud-based notebook that comes with Python and Pandas pre-installed. - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
  • How to build an AI that predicts ERP integration failures.
    Using Google Colab (https://colab.research.google.com/), I trained the model on ~1000 rows of logs. The model learned patterns like:. - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
  • Top 5 GitHub Repositories for Data Science in 2026
    Launch executable versions of these notebooks using Google Colab:. - Source: dev.to / 12 months 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 Colaboratory and Underleaf, you can also consider the following products

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.

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

replit - Code, create, andlearn together. Use our free, collaborative, in-browser IDE to code in 50+ languages — without spending a second on setup.

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

Kaggle - Kaggle offers innovative business results and solutions to companies.

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