Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
MATLAB
Score 8.8 out of 10
N/A
MatLab is a predictive analytics and computing platform based on a proprietary programming language. MatLab is used across industry and academia.
$49
per student license
Microsoft Visual Studio Code
Score 9.3 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft offers Visual Studio Code, an open source text editor that supports code editing, debugging, IntelliSense syntax highlighting, and other features.
$0
Mathematica
Score 7.0 out of 10
N/A
Wolfram's flagship product Mathematica is a modern technical computing application featuring a flexible symbolic coding language and a wide array of graphing and data visualization capabilities.
$1,520
per year
Pricing
MATLABMicrosoft Visual Studio CodeWolfram Mathematica
Editions & Modules
Student
$49
per student license
Home
$149
perpetual license
Education
$250
per year
Education
$500
perpetual license
Standard
$860
per year
Standard
2,150
perpetual license
No answers on this topic
Standard Cloud
$1,520
per year
Standard Desktop
$3,040
one-time fee
Standard Desktop & Cloud
$3,344
one-time fee
Mathematica Enterprise Edition
$8,150.00
one-time fee
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
MATLABMicrosoft Visual Studio CodeMathematica
Free Trial
NoNoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoYesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsDiscounts available for students and educational institutions. The Network Edition reduce per-user license costs through shared deployment across any number of machines on a local-area network.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
MATLABMicrosoft Visual Studio CodeWolfram Mathematica
Considered Multiple Products
MATLAB
Chose MATLAB
Apart from Matlab, I used Matematica for some of my integral evaluations. Mathematica is also a "clean" and easy-to-use software that solves symbolic math problems (even better than Matlab for symbolic math). I also used Anaconda and Spyder for my career so far.
Chose MATLAB
Those are expensive than MATLAB and their GUI is not great along with editor. However, they have more libraries set as compared to Matlab. However, the place where MATLAB adds value is its user community as well as its support and we can find solutions to any problem with …
Chose MATLAB
How MATLAB compares to its competition or similar open access tools like R (programming language) or SciLab is that it's simply more powerful and capable. It embraces a wider spectrum of possibilities for far more fields than any other environment. R, for example, is intended …
Microsoft Visual Studio Code
Chose Microsoft Visual Studio Code
Microsoft Visual Studio Code is more lightweight than most other options, such as Spyder and MATLAB. These other applications provide strong benefits such as a useful user interface that displays information about variables in in your workspace, as well as a window for built-in …
Mathematica
Chose Wolfram Mathematica
We selected Wolfram Mathematica as it offers lot of functionality that other products like MATLAB or sageMath do not have. And it also has advantages on the feature that it does share in common with other tools like sageMath, MATLAB etc. It is more powerful than MATLAB. It …
Chose Wolfram Mathematica
MATLAB is an excellent tool, but it can't handle analytic manipulations in algebra, calculus and differential equations. MATLAB is superior when it comes to a less steep learning curve. In terms of using only one tool for analytic and numerical calculations, Mathematica wins. …
Chose Wolfram Mathematica
The ability to manipulate algebraic expressions, nested lists, and data structures in Mathematica was unequalled when I first did the comparison. Since then, I've stuck with Mathematica mostly because it's "the tool I know."
Features
MATLABMicrosoft Visual Studio CodeWolfram Mathematica
BI Standard Reporting
Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Product A and Product B
MATLAB
-
Ratings
Microsoft Visual Studio Code
-
Ratings
Wolfram Mathematica
9.9
6 Ratings
20% above category average
Pixel Perfect reports00 Ratings00 Ratings9.84 Ratings
Customizable dashboards00 Ratings00 Ratings9.94 Ratings
Report Formatting Templates00 Ratings00 Ratings9.96 Ratings
Ad-hoc Reporting
Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Product A and Product B
MATLAB
-
Ratings
Microsoft Visual Studio Code
-
Ratings
Wolfram Mathematica
9.9
9 Ratings
24% above category average
Drill-down analysis00 Ratings00 Ratings9.98 Ratings
Formatting capabilities00 Ratings00 Ratings9.98 Ratings
Integration with R or other statistical packages00 Ratings00 Ratings9.97 Ratings
Report sharing and collaboration00 Ratings00 Ratings9.99 Ratings
Report Output and Scheduling
Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Product A and Product B
MATLAB
-
Ratings
Microsoft Visual Studio Code
-
Ratings
Wolfram Mathematica
9.3
8 Ratings
13% above category average
Publish to Web00 Ratings00 Ratings9.97 Ratings
Publish to PDF00 Ratings00 Ratings9.08 Ratings
Report Versioning00 Ratings00 Ratings9.97 Ratings
Report Delivery Scheduling00 Ratings00 Ratings8.95 Ratings
Delivery to Remote Servers00 Ratings00 Ratings8.95 Ratings
Data Discovery and Visualization
Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Product A and Product B
MATLAB
-
Ratings
Microsoft Visual Studio Code
-
Ratings
Wolfram Mathematica
9.9
9 Ratings
24% above category average
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)00 Ratings00 Ratings9.99 Ratings
Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization00 Ratings00 Ratings9.98 Ratings
Predictive Analytics00 Ratings00 Ratings9.98 Ratings
Best Alternatives
MATLABMicrosoft Visual Studio CodeWolfram Mathematica
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Score 8.2 out of 10
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Score 10.0 out of 10
Supermetrics
Supermetrics
Score 9.7 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Alteryx Platform
Alteryx Platform
Score 9.1 out of 10
Vim
Vim
Score 9.5 out of 10
Supermetrics
Supermetrics
Score 9.7 out of 10
Enterprises
Alteryx Platform
Alteryx Platform
Score 9.1 out of 10
Vim
Vim
Score 9.5 out of 10
IBM Analytics Engine
IBM Analytics Engine
Score 7.2 out of 10
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User Ratings
MATLABMicrosoft Visual Studio CodeWolfram Mathematica
Likelihood to Recommend
8.1
(53 ratings)
8.7
(91 ratings)
9.9
(9 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
9.4
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.9
(4 ratings)
9.1
(8 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
9.5
(7 ratings)
9.7
(23 ratings)
9.5
(2 ratings)
User Testimonials
MATLABMicrosoft Visual Studio CodeWolfram Mathematica
Likelihood to Recommend
MathWorks
MATLAB really does best for solving computational problems in math and engineering. Especially when you have to use a lot of functions in your solving process, or if you have a nonlinear equation that must be iteratively solved. [MATLAB] can also perform things like integration and derivation on your equations that you put into it.
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Microsoft
As a general workhorse IDE, Microsoft Visual Studio Codee is unmatched. Building on the early success of applications such as Atom, it has long been the standard for electron based IDEs. It can be outshone using IDEs that are dedicated to particular platforms, such as Microsoft Visual Studio Code for .net and the Jetbrains IDEs for Java, Python and others. For remote collaborative development, something like Zed is ahead of VSCode live share, which can be quite flakey.
Read full review
Wolfram
We are the judgement that Wolfram Mathematica is despite many critics based on the paradigms selected a mark in the fields of the markets for computations of all kind. Wolfram Mathematica is even a choice in fields where other bolide systems reign most of the market. Wolfram Mathematica offers rich flexibility and internally standardizes the right methodologies for his user community. Wolfram Mathematica is not cheap and in need of a hard an long learner journey. That makes it weak in comparison with of-the-shelf-solution packages or even other programming languages. But for systematization of methods Wolfram Mathematica is far in front of almost all the other. Scientist and interested people are able to develop themself further and Wolfram Matheamatica users are a human variant for themself. The reach out for modern mathematics based science is deep and a unique unified framework makes the whole field of mathematics accessable comparable to the brain of Albert Einstein. The paradigms incorporated are the most efficients and consist in assembly on the market. The mathematics is covering and fullfills not just education requirements but the demands and needs of experts.
Mathematica is incompatible with other systems for mCAx and therefore the borders between the systems are hard to overcome. Wolfram Mathematica should be consider one of the more open systems because other code can be imported and run but on the export side it is rathe incompatible by design purposes. A better standard for all that might solve the crisis but there is none in sight. Selection of knowledge of what works will be in the future even more focussed and general system might be one the lossy side. Knowledge of esthetics of what will be in the highest demand in necessary and Wolfram is not a leader in this field of science. Mathematics leves from gathering problems from application fields and less from the glory of itself and the formalization of this.
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Pros
MathWorks
  • It has a very user friendly library which helps users learn this software fairly quickly in a short span of time.
  • The graphical user interface provided by the software is really good.
  • The code that a person writes allows options for debugging.
  • One can visualize the flow of control of their code inside MATLAB.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • Integrate with the git repository very well.
  • Integrated copilot chat is very helpful to write code snippets and helps beginners to start with coding and development.
  • Great library of available extensions is one of the best features in Microsoft Visual Studio Code.
  • Dedicated Testing option to configure pytest and others are quite handy to use.
Read full review
Wolfram
  • It allows straightforward integration of analytic analysis of algebraic expressions and their numerical implemented.
  • Supports varying programmatic paradigms, so one can choose what best fits the problem or task: pure functions, procedural programming, list processing, and even (with a bit of setup) object-oriented programming.
  • The extensive and rich tools for graphical rendering make it very easy to not just get 2D and 3D renderings of final output, but also to do quick-and-dirty 2D and 3D rendering of intermediate results and/or debugging results.
Read full review
Cons
MathWorks
  • MatLab is pricier than most of its competitors and because of this reason, many organizations are moving towards cheaper alternatives - mostly Python.
  • MatLab is inefficient when it comes to performing a large number of iterations. It gets laggy and often crashes. Python is better in this regard.
  • There is a limited number of hardware options (mostly NI) that can be connected directly to the data acquisition toolbox.
Read full review
Microsoft
  • The customization of key combinations should be more accessible and easier to change
  • The auxiliary panels could be minimized or as floating tabs which are displayed when you click on them
  • A monitoring panel of resources used by Microsoft Visual Studio Code or plugins and extensions would help a lot to be able to detect any malfunction of these
Read full review
Wolfram
  • Should include more libraries and functions.
  • Should include more functions that can be used in Machine Learning.
  • Should include more functions that can be used in Data Science.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
MathWorks
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
Solid tool that provides everything you need to develop most types of applications. The only reason not a 10 is that if you are doing large distributed teams on Enterprise level, Professional does provide more tools to support that and would be worth the cost.
Read full review
Wolfram
No answers on this topic
Usability
MathWorks
MATLAB is pretty easy to use. You can extend its capabilities using the programming interface. Very flexible capabilities when it comes to graphical presentation of your data (so many different kinds of options for your plotting needs). Anytime you are working with large data sets, or with matrices, MATLAB is likely to be very helpful.
Read full review
Microsoft
Microsoft Visual Studio Code earns a 10 for its exceptional balance of power and simplicity. Its intuitive interface, robust extension ecosystem, and integrated terminal streamline development. With seamless Git integration and highly customizable settings, it adapts perfectly to any workflow, making complex coding tasks feel effortless for beginners and experts alike.
Read full review
Wolfram
No answers on this topic
Reliability and Availability
MathWorks
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
Overall, Microsoft Visual Studio Code is pretty reliable. Every so often, though, the app will experience an unexplained crash. Since it is a stand-alone app, connectivity or service issues don't occur in my experience. Restarting the app seems to always get around the problem, but I do make sure to save and backup current work.
Read full review
Wolfram
No answers on this topic
Performance
MathWorks
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
Microsoft Visual Studio Code is pretty snappy in performance terms. It launches quickly, and tasks are performed quickly. I don't have a lot of integrations other than CoPilot, but I suspect that if the integration partner is provisioned appropriately that any performance impact would be pretty minimal. It doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles (unless you start adding plugins left and right).
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Wolfram
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
MathWorks
The built-in search engine is not as performing as I wish it would be. However, the YouTube channel has a vast library of informative video that can help understanding the software. Also, many other software have a nice bridge into MATLAB, which makes it very versatile. Overall, the support for MATLAB is good.
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Microsoft
Active development means filing a bug on the GitHub repo typically gets you a response within 4 days. There are plugins for almost everything you need, whether it be linting, Vim emulation, even language servers (which I use to code in Scala). There is well-maintained official documentation. The only thing missing is forums. The closest thing is GitHub issues, which typically has the answers but is hard to sift through -- there are currently 78k issues.
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Wolfram
Wolfram Mathematica is a nice software package. It has very nice features and easy to install and use in your machine. Besides this, there is a nice support from Wolfram. They come to the university frequently to give seminars in Mathematica. I think this is the best thing they are doing. That is very helpful for graduate and undergraduate students who are using Mathematica in their research.
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Alternatives Considered
MathWorks
How MATLAB compares to its competition or similar open access tools like R (programming language) or SciLab is that it's simply more powerful and capable. It embraces a wider spectrum of possibilities for far more fields than any other environment. R, for example, is intended primarily for the area of statistical computing. SciLab, on the other hand, is a similar open access tool that falls very short in its computing capabilities. It's much slower when running larger scripts and isn't documented or supported nearly as well as MATLAB.
Read full review
Microsoft
Visual Studio Code stacks up nicely against Visual Studio because of the price and because it can be installed without admin rights. We don't exclusively use Visual Studio Code, but rather use Visual Studio and Visual Studio code depending on the project and which version of source control the given project is wired up to.
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Wolfram
We have evaluated and are using in some cases the Python language in concert with the Jupyter notebook interface. For UI, we using libraries like React to create visually stunning visualizations of such models. Mathematica compares favorably to this alternative in terms of speed of development. Mathematica compares unfavorably to this alternative in terms of license costs.
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Scalability
MathWorks
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
It is easily deployed with our Jamf Pro instance. There is actually very little setup involved in getting the app deployed, and it is fairly well self-contained and does not deploy a large amount of associated files. However, it is not particularly conducive to large project, multi-developer/department projects that involve some form of central integration.
Read full review
Wolfram
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
MathWorks
  • MATLAB helps us quickly sort through large sets of data because we keep the same script each time we run an analyzation, making it very efficient to run this whole process.
  • The software makes it super easy for us to create plots that we can then show to investors or clients to display our data.
  • We are also looking to create an app for our product, and we will not be able to do that on MATLAB, therefore creating a limiting issue and a new learning curve for a programming language.
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Microsoft
  • Saves money by replacing suites of tools such as Visual Studio, IntelliJ, etc.
  • Speeds development time and developer environment setup time
  • Strengthens code quality with integrated autoformatting and linting
  • Strengths Git practices by keeping version control tightly connected with the code
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Wolfram
  • Easy to solve huge mathematical equations, so it saved time there
  • Doing analysis and plotting graphs is also another plus point
  • Learning is very slow, and it took lot of time to learn its scripting language
Read full review
ScreenShots