MATLAB Alternatives

MATLAB is described as 'Interactive environment for numerical computation, data analysis, algorithm development, matrix operations, data visualization, and toolboxes for specialized mathematical functions' and is a very popular programming language in the development category. There are more than 50 alternatives to MATLAB for a variety of platforms, including Windows, Linux, Mac, Web-based and BSD apps. The best MATLAB alternative is GNU Octave, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like MATLAB are Scilab, R (programming language), SciPy and Julia.

filter to find the best alternatives

MATLAB alternatives are mainly Numerical Computation Software, but if you're looking for Calculators or Programming Languages you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Open Source, Linux, Android, iPad, Free, Mac and Android + Free. You can also filter by region, for example EU-based alternatives if you prefer software developed in the European Union. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to MATLAB.
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Alternatives list

  1. GNU Octave icon

    GNU Octave

     220 likes

    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.

    66 GNU Octave alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • BSD
    GNU Octave GUI screenshot
     
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    14
    GNU Octave vs MATLAB Comments
    Top Positive Comment
    dataculi
    1

    Andy Ng's famous introductory ML course uses Octave! It's the perfect alternative to MATLAB

    LinuxDoge
    Positive
    0

    Linux Desktop integration is perfect. There is a flatpak available. Installing Matlab on Linux is a pain, even more if the license always vanishes. So far it looks good, and if it supports lots of commands, no way I use Matlab!

    Cristian
    Positive
    1

    it is often faster, as well as being free

    3 of 14 comments
    • GNU Octave is Free and Open SourceMATLAB is Paid and Proprietary
    • GNU Octave is LightweightMATLAB is not according to our users
  2. Scilab icon

    Scilab

     105 likes

    Scilab is free and open source software for numerical computation providing a powerful computing environment for engineering and scientific applications. Scilab includes hundreds of mathematical functions.

    58 Scilab alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    Scilab screenshot 1
     
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    1
    Scilab vs MATLAB Comments
    Guest
    Positive
    1

    Scilab has the most features and is the best quality of full-featured numerical computation softwares even though its language is not MATLAB compatible.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    • Scilab is Free and Open SourceMATLAB is Paid and Proprietary
  4. R (programming language) icon

    R (programming language)

     225 likes

    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.

    96 R (programming language) alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    R (programming language) screenshot 1
     
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    2
    R (programming language) vs MATLAB Comments
    LoGaIta99
    Negative
    0

    It's a good alternative only for statistics and data analysis.

    Guest
    Negative
    0

    Very different syntax, not very efficient for numerical computation outside the libraries available.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    • R (programming language) is Free and Open SourceMATLAB is Paid and Proprietary
    • R (programming language) is Customizable and LightweightMATLAB is not according to our users
  5. SciPy icon

    SciPy

     96 likes

    SciPy is a collection of mathematical algorithms and convenience functions built on NumPy. It adds significant power to Python by providing the user with high-level commands and classes for manipulating and visualizing data.

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Python
    SciPy screenshot 1
     
  6. Julia icon

    Julia

     67 likes

    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...

    51 Julia alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Julia screenshot 1
     
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    1
    Julia vs MATLAB Comments
    Guest
    Positive
    0

    Similar sintax, REPL, plotting tools, julia is faster

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    • Julia is Free and Open SourceMATLAB is Paid and Proprietary
  7. Mathematica icon

    Mathematica

     160 likes

    Definitive technical computing system spanning machine learning and neural networks, data science, visualizations and much more.

    75 Mathematica alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    Mathematica screenshot 1
     
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    1
    Mathematica vs MATLAB Comments
    Guest
    Negative
    -7

    MATLAB is a Software to find Numerical solutions for Mathematical Problems while Wolfram is a CAS system

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    • Mathematica is Paid and ProprietaryMATLAB is also Paid and Proprietary
  9. SageMath icon

    SageMath

     158 likes

    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.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    Dynamically visualize effects of of parameters on calculations with Interact
     
  10. Matplotlib icon

    Matplotlib

     43 likes

    Matplotlib is a comprehensive library for creating static, animated, and interactive visualizations in Python. Matplotlib makes easy things easy and hard things possible.

    50 Matplotlib alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Python
    • BSD
    Matplotlib screenshot 1
     
  11. NumPy icon

    NumPy

     7 likes

    NumPy is the fundamental package for scientific computing in Python. It is a Python library that provides a multidimensional array object, various derived objects (such as masked arrays and matrices), and an assortment of routines for fast operations on arrays, including...

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Python
    NumPy screenshot 1
     
  12. fxSolver icon

    fxSolver

     60 likes

    Online math solver, equation editor and database, graphing calculator and science/engineering problem helper.

    151 fxSolver alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
    Solver page
     
  13. GnuPlot icon

    GnuPlot

     67 likes

    Gnuplot is a portable command-line driven interactive data and function plotting utility. It was originally intended as to allow scientists and students to visualize mathematical functions and data. It does this job pretty well, but has grown to support many non-interactive...

    61 GnuPlot alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    GnuPlot screenshot 1
     
  14. Maxima icon

    Maxima

     75 likes

    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.

    31 Maxima alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Xmaxima interface running Maxima 5.28
     
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    1
    Maxima vs MATLAB Comments
    cryoff
    Positive
    0

    Best free tool for symbolic computations

    • Maxima is Free and Open SourceMATLAB is Paid and Proprietary
12 of 86 MATLAB alternatives