Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

TeXmacs VS CoCalc

Compare TeXmacs VS CoCalc and see what are their differences

TeXmacs logo TeXmacs

GNU TeXmacs is a free wysiwyw (what you see is what you want) editing platform with special...

CoCalc logo CoCalc

Collaborative Calculation and Data Science
  • TeXmacs Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-12
  • 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.

TeXmacs

Pricing URL
-
$ Details
-
Platforms
-
Release Date
-

CoCalc

Website
cocalc.com
$ Details
freemium $14.0 / Monthly
Platforms
Browser Docker
Release Date
2013 April

TeXmacs features and specs

  • WYSIWYG Interface
    TeXmacs offers a What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) interface, allowing users to see the final output while editing, which can be more intuitive for creating complex documents compared to plain text markup.
  • Scientific Editing
    It is designed for technical and scientific documentation, providing robust support for mathematical formulae, embedded graphics, and other scientific content.
  • Integrated Environment
    TeXmacs integrates computing sessions with several computer algebra systems, such as Maxima, Octave, and R, providing a powerful interface for technical computing.
  • Extensibility
    It supports custom scripts in Scheme, enabling users to extend its functionality and customize it to fit specific needs.
  • Cross-Platform
    TeXmacs is available on multiple platforms, including Linux, macOS, and Windows, making it accessible to a wide range of users.

Possible disadvantages of TeXmacs

  • Learning Curve
    As a specialized tool, TeXmacs can have a steep learning curve for new users who are not familiar with its interface or features.
  • Limited Community
    Compared to other platforms like LaTeX, TeXmacs has a smaller user community, which might limit the availability of online resources and community support.
  • Integration Issues
    While TeXmacs integrates with other software, compatibility issues might arise with certain platforms and external tools, affecting workflow efficiency.
  • Less Popular
    TeXmacs is less widely adopted than similar tools like LaTeX, which may impact collaboration if peers are not familiar with it.
  • Presentation Capabilities
    While capable of creating technical documents, its features for presentations are not as advanced as specialized tools like Beamer in LaTeX.

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.

TeXmacs videos

Typing your first article with GNU TeXmacs

More videos:

  • Demo - Zotero TeXmacs integration screencast demo 2017 02 17
  • Demo - A quick tour of TeXmacs

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

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to TeXmacs and CoCalc)
Writing
100 100%
0% 0
Mathematics
0 0%
100% 100
Writing Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Python IDE
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

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

TeXmacs Reviews

We have no reviews of TeXmacs yet.
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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

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, CoCalc should be more popular than TeXmacs. 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.

TeXmacs mentions (8)

  • Does exist a computer software where I can make my calculations by typing?
    If it's just for typing/editing mathematical formulas I can recommend TeXmacs which is free and very easy to use. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Alternative to LaTeX for writing exercise solutions?
    You can try TeXmacs. It's basically in between Word and LaTeX. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Suggest an editor like MS Word
    For equations I can recommend TeXmacs, it's very user-friendly as these "scientific editors" go. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Free program to type Wolfram Language -like syntax and get SVG or LaTeX output
    As for math typesetting, I use Texmacs, very user-friendly. Source: about 3 years ago
  • Scientific WorkPlace, Scientific Word, & Scientific Notebook
    The future is here: https://texmacs.org/tmweb/home/welcome.en.html Perhaps also why this company is looking for a buyer: http://www.bakoma-tex.com/menu/about.php. - Source: Hacker News / over 3 years ago
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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 / 8 months 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 / 11 months 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 / 11 months 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 / about 1 year 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 1 year ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing TeXmacs and CoCalc, 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.

TeXworks - The TeXworks project is an effort to build a simple TeX front-end program (working environment)...

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 - .

TeXstudio - TeXstudio is an integrated environment for writing LaTeX documents.

Colaboratory - Free Jupyter notebook environment in the cloud.

Vim-LaTeX - Vim-LaTeX (aka LaTeX-suite) is a mature project which aims at bringing