Mathematica Alternatives

Mathematica is described as 'computational software program used widely in scientific, engineering, and mathematical fields and other areas of technical computing' and is a very popular app in the education & reference category. There are more than 50 alternatives to Mathematica for a variety of platforms, including Windows, Mac, Linux, Online / Web-based and Android. The best alternative is SageMath, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like Mathematica are GNU Octave, R (programming language), Jupyter and Maxima.

Mathematica alternatives are mainly Calculators but may also be Programming Languages or Statistical Analyzers. Filter by these if you want a narrower list of alternatives or looking for a specific functionality of Mathematica.

This page was last updated

Mathematica

151

Paid • Proprietary
Programming Language

Mac
Windows
Linux
Online

Mathematica is a computational software program used widely in scientific, engineering, and mathematical fields and other...

Learn more about Mathematica

SageMath
Is this a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Calculator
Mac
Windows
Linux
Online
57 alternatives to SageMath
SageMath is a free open-source mathematics software system licensed under the GPL. It builds on top of many existing open-source packages: NumPy, SciPy, matplotlib, Sympy, Maxima, GAP, FLINT, R and many more.
Suggest and vote on features
SageMath Features
Symbolic Computation
Calculus solving
CAS
Python-based
SageMath vs Mathematica
Almost everyone thinks SageMath is a great alternative to Mathematica.
vfrico
Sage supports symbolic maths through Maxima
Positive comment• ago

2

Guest
It can calculate many things symbolically and combines many other software packages.
Positive comment• ago

2

Guest
Sage needs programming language skills, it doesn't support well symbolic math.
Negative comment• ago

-15

Guest
Its free and sounds capable
Positive comment• ago

0
GNU Octave
Is this a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Programming Language
Mac
Windows
Linux
Android
BSD
64 alternatives to GNU Octave
Octave is a computer program for performing numerical computations which is mostly compatible with MATLAB . It is part of the GNU Project. It is free software under the terms of the GNU General Public License.
Suggest and vote on features
GNU Octave Features
1. Support for scriptingGNU Octave supports scripts and macros to automate or customize tasks.
Graphing calculator
Curve fitting
ANOVA test
GNU Octave vs Mathematica
Most users think GNU Octave is a great alternative to Mathematica.
Guest
Octave needs programming language skills, it doesn't support well symbolic math.
Negative comment• ago

-2
R (programming language)
Is this a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Statistical Analyzer
Programming Language
Mac
Windows
Linux
BSD
95 alternatives to R (programming language)
R is a free software environment for statistical computing and graphics. It is a GNU project which is similar to the S language and environment which was developed at Bell Laboratories (formerly AT&T, now Lucent Technologies) by John Chambers and colleagues. R can be consider.
Suggest and vote on features
R (programming language) Features
1. Support for scriptingR (programming language) supports scripts and macros to automate or customize tasks.
Customizability
Communities
Data Mining
Automatic data loading
Quantitative data analysis
Data science
R (programming language) vs Mathematica
Most users think R (programming language) is a great alternative to Mathematica.
Guest
R is really only useful for statistics, and not even mathematical statistics.
Negative comment• ago

-2
Jupyter
Is this a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Mac
Windows
Linux
Online
Cloudron
41 alternatives to Jupyter
The Jupyter Notebook is a web application that allows you to create and share documents that contain live code, equations, visualizations and explanatory text. Uses include: data cleaning and transformation, numerical simulation, statistical modeling, machine learning and much...
Suggest and vote on features
Jupyter Features
Interactive Visualization
Browser-based
Multiple languages
Literate programming
Server-side
Jupyter vs Mathematica
pros, cons and recent comments
Guest
It can run python inline and do markup work all in one system. Can be worked via network and connected to via browser (including through phone) and set up to run distributed computing systems easily. Additionally it's open source and server side runs on most major operating systems.
Positive comment• ago

0
Maxima
Is this a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Mac
Windows
Linux
31 alternatives to Maxima
Maxima is a system for the manipulation of symbolic and numerical expressions, including differentiation, integration, Taylor series, Laplace transforms, ordinary differential equations, systems of linear equations, polynomials, and sets, lists, vectors, matrices, and tensors.
Suggest and vote on features
Maxima Features
CAS
Symbolic Computation
Symbolic manipulation
Maxima vs Mathematica
Almost everyone thinks Maxima is a great alternative to Mathematica.
Guest
It's free. It is also smaller, so starts up fast. Runs on Android devices as well. Lot's of functionality, including symbolic and numerical operations. Symbolic operations are not as extensive as Mathematica, but adequate for many operations. Numeric operations are considerably slower than Mathematica, and numerically oriented apps such as R, Matlab or Octave.
Positive comment• ago

4

vfrico
It does support Symbolic math, but Matlab or Octave not
Positive comment• ago

-2

Guest
I'm a theoretical physicist and I can do almost al the math I need with Mxima
Positive comment• ago

3
MATLAB
Is this a good alternative?
Yes
No
Paid • Proprietary
Programming Language
Mac
Windows
Linux
Online
Android
iPhone
iPad
83 alternatives to MATLAB
MATLAB is a numerical computing environment and programming language. Maintained by The MathWorks, MATLAB allows easy matrix manipulation, plotting of functions and data, implementation of algorithms, creation of user interfaces, and interfacing with programs in other languages.
Suggest and vote on features
MATLAB Features
Simulink
Batch plotting
Embedded debugger
MATLAB vs Mathematica
This alternative is disputed. MATLAB is still a legitimate alternative to Mathematica, but it might have issues that some users think are important.
snshepherd
Both are comprehensive mathematics solutions, and have very similar features, as well as even both being commercial.
Top positive comment• ago

-3

Guest
Mathematica is mainly a CAS (symbolic maths), but MATLAB is more for numeric analysis
Top negative comment• ago

6

Guest
MATLAB is mainly for numerics
Negative comment• ago

0

Guest
MATLAB can do symbolic math but it's far less convenient
Negative comment• ago

1

Guest
Mathematica is not only for numerics, its for analysis, while Matlab is primarily for numerics.
Negative comment• ago

0

Guest
It's numerical, not symbolic
Negative comment• ago

0

juliocortes
Mathematica is mainly for symbolic maths
Negative comment• ago

0
Julia
Is this a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Programming Language
Mac
Windows
Linux
40 alternatives to Julia
Julia is a high-level, high-performance dynamic programming language for technical computing, with syntax that is familiar to users of other technical computing environments. It provides a sophisticated compiler, distributed parallel execution, numerical accuracy, and an...
Suggest and vote on features
Julia Features
Parallel Computing
Compiled Language
Julia vs Mathematica
Most users think Julia is a great alternative to Mathematica.
Guest
It's an easy, powerful, really fast language which feels like a mix of Python and Ruby but runs like C. It comes with many mathematical functions, has a good stack of libraries for graphs (including Matplotlib as PyPlot) and can be used with the Jupyter Notebook. Still not at version 1.0, but already a great tool!
Positive comment• ago

-1
fxSolver
Is this a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Proprietary
Calculator
Online
120 alternatives to fxSolver
Online math solver, equation editor and database, graphing calculator and science/engineering problem helper.
Suggest and vote on features
fxSolver Features
Formula Builder
Math Solver
Equation editor
Editable calculations
Engineering calculator
Equation solving
Shared links
Graphs
Built-in editor
fxSolver vs Mathematica
Almost everyone thinks fxSolver is a great alternative to Mathematica.
Scilab
Is this a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Mac
Windows
Linux
54 alternatives to Scilab
Scilab is a scientific software package for numerical computations providing a powerful open computing environment for engineering and scientific applications. Scilab is an open source software and includes hundreds of mathematical functions with the possibility to add...

Scilab has no features, suggest some!
Spyder
Is this a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Mac
Windows
Linux
39 alternatives to Spyder
Spyder (previously known as Pydee) is a free open-source Python development environment providing MATLAB-like features in a simple and light-weighted software, available for Windows XP/Vista/7, GNU/Linux and Mac OS X.
Suggest and vote on features
Spyder Features
Supports Python
Python IDE
Spyder vs Mathematica
pros, cons and recent comments
Guest
It is a development environment for Python, not a symbolic math language/software.
Negative comment• ago

1