kitio.aiGoogle Colab vs Plotly Studio
A side-by-side look at pricing plans, free tiers, features, pros and cons, updated for 2026. Google Colab has the lower starting price: about $10 a month, against $29 for Plotly Studio.
At a glance
Best for
Category
Pricing model
Starting price
Free plan
Made by
Based in
Rating
Key features
- Hosted Jupyter notebooks
- Free GPU access
- Gemini code assistance
- Data Science Agent
- Google Drive sharing
- AI-built data apps
- Dash framework
- Plotly Cloud hosting
- Open-source charting libraries
- Code export
| Feature | Google Colab | Plotly Studio |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Free hosted Jupyter notebooks with GPUs and Gemini built in | AI-native tool for turning data into shareable Python analytics apps |
| Category | Data & analytics | Data & analytics |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starting price | $9.99/mo | $29/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Made by | Plotly | |
| Based in | United States | Canada |
| Rating | No ratings yet | No ratings yet |
| Key features |
|
|
Pricing compared
Google Colab has the lower starting price: about $10 a month, against $29 for Plotly Studio.
Free plan
Cheapest paid plan
Top plan
Free trial
4 plans
Free
Free
- Free notebooks
- Limited GPU access
Pay As You Go
$9.99 / 100 compute units
- No subscription
- Faster GPUs
Colab Pro
$9.99/mo
- 100 compute units/month
- Faster GPUs
- More memory
Colab Pro+
$49.99/mo
- 500 compute units/month
- Background execution
3 plans
Free
Free
- 10 credit trial
- 1 creator seat
- 3 private viewers
- 10 apps
Pro
$29/mo
- Per creator seat
- 30 credits monthly
- 10 private viewers
- Unlimited apps
Enterprise
Contact sales
- Hosted in your cloud or Plotly's
- SSO and OAuth
- Secure embedding
Prices in USD, checked Oct 28, 2026 or later. Plans change often, so confirm on each tool's site before you buy.
Pros and cons
Google Colab
- Free GPUs for learning
- No setup needed
- Easy sharing via Drive
- Sessions disconnect when idle
- Free GPU access is not guaranteed
Plotly Studio
- Free plan with no credit card needed
- Built on open-source Python tooling
- Self-hosted option for sensitive data
- Free plan has only 10 trial credits
- Private viewers cost extra per seat
- Geared toward people who work in Python
Which one should you choose?
Choose Google Colab if you want:
- Free GPUs for learning
- No setup needed
- Easy sharing via Drive
Watch out: sessions disconnect when idle.
Choose Plotly Studio if you want:
- Free plan with no credit card needed
- Built on open-source Python tooling
- Self-hosted option for sensitive data
Watch out: free plan has only 10 trial credits.
Google Colab vs Plotly Studio FAQ
What is the difference between Google Colab and Plotly Studio?
Google Colab: Free hosted Jupyter notebooks with GPUs and Gemini built in. Plotly Studio: AI-native tool for turning data into shareable Python analytics apps. Both are data & analytics tools.
Is Google Colab or Plotly Studio cheaper?
Google Colab has the lower starting price: about $10 a month, against $29 for Plotly Studio.
Do Google Colab and Plotly Studio have free plans?
Google Colab: Yes. Plotly Studio: Yes.
Who makes Google Colab?
Google Colab is made by Google, based in United States.
Who makes Plotly Studio?
Plotly Studio is made by Plotly, based in Canada.
Which should I choose, Google Colab or Plotly Studio?
Choose Google Colab if you value free gpus for learning and no setup needed. Choose Plotly Studio if you value free plan with no credit card needed and built on open-source python tooling.