Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

GNU Octave VS Sage Math

Compare GNU Octave VS Sage Math and see what are their differences

GNU Octave logo GNU Octave

GNU Octave is a programming language for scientific computing.

Sage Math logo Sage Math

Sage is a free open-source mathematics software system licensed under the GPL.
  • GNU Octave Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-08-07
  • Sage Math Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-03

GNU Octave features and specs

  • Free and Open Source
    GNU Octave is completely free to use and distribute. Its source code is available for anyone to inspect, modify, and enhance, providing transparency and community-driven improvements.
  • MATLAB Compatibility
    Octave aims to be mostly compatible with MATLAB, meaning that many scripts and functions written for MATLAB can run in Octave with little or no modification.
  • Extensive Documentation
    Octave has comprehensive documentation, tutorials, and a vast array of user-contributed content, easing the learning curve for new users.
  • Flexible Integration
    Octave can interface with various programming languages such as C, C++, Fortran, and Python, making it versatile for different types of projects and workflows.
  • Powerful Plotting Capabilities
    Octave includes features for generating high-quality plots and visualizations, which are essential for data analysis and presentation.

Possible disadvantages of GNU Octave

  • Performance
    In some cases, Octave may be slower than MATLAB, especially for highly optimized or proprietary algorithms that MATLAB handles more efficiently.
  • GUI and Toolboxes
    While Octave offers a graphical user interface, it is not as polished as MATLAB's. Additionally, the range and quality of toolboxes available in Octave can be more limited compared to MATLAB's extensive and well-supported toolboxes.
  • Community Support
    Although there is a supportive community around Octave, the user base and available support resources are smaller compared to MATLAB's extensive network of forums, user groups, and customer support.
  • Learning Curve for Advanced Features
    While basic operations are straightforward, mastering advanced features and customizations in Octave can require a deeper understanding of its architecture and available functions.
  • Less Industry Adoption
    MATLAB is widely used in industry for research, engineering, and analytics. Octave, being an open-source alternative, lacks the same level of commercial adoption and institutional support, which can be a drawback in professional settings.

Sage Math features and specs

  • Open Source
    SageMath is free and open-source software, which allows users to access, modify, and distribute the software without cost. It fosters collaboration and transparency within the community.
  • Comprehensive Toolset
    It integrates many mathematics software packages into a common interface, providing tools for algebra, calculus, combinatorics, numerical mathematics, number theory, and more.
  • Python-Based
    SageMath uses Python as its primary language, which is widely known for its readability and ease of use. Python's popularity and extensive libraries enhance SageMath's functionality.
  • Active Community
    SageMath has a vibrant and active community contributing to its development, offering extensive support, tutorials, and documentation.
  • Web Interface
    SageMath provides a Jupyter Notebook interface, which allows for interactive computations, visualization, and sharing of results in a web browser.

Possible disadvantages of Sage Math

  • Resource Intensive
    SageMath can be resource-intensive, requiring significant computing power and memory, which can be a limitation for users with less powerful hardware.
  • Steep Learning Curve
    For users unfamiliar with Python or advanced mathematical software, SageMath can have a steep learning curve. It may require substantial effort to become proficient.
  • Software Dependencies
    SageMath relies on numerous other software packages. If one of these dependencies has issues or is incompatible with a user's system, it can be challenging to troubleshoot and resolve.
  • User Interface
    While functional, the user interface of SageMath may not be as polished or intuitive as some commercial competitors, which can affect user experience.
  • Limited Commercial Support
    There is limited commercial support available for SageMath compared to proprietary software, which might be a drawback for enterprise or commercial use requiring guaranteed support services.

GNU Octave videos

GNU Octave Ep. 1.5: What's different compared to MatLab!

Sage Math videos

No Sage Math videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

Add video

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to GNU Octave and Sage Math)
Technical Computing
72 72%
28% 28
Numerical Computation
70 70%
30% 30
3D
100 100%
0% 0
Math Solver
45 45%
55% 55

User comments

Share your experience with using GNU Octave and Sage Math. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare GNU Octave and Sage Math

GNU Octave Reviews

7 Best MATLAB alternatives for Linux
FreeMAT is a free and open-source software for numerical computation. It is used for rapid engineering, scientific prototyping, and data processing. It is similar to MATLAB and GNU Octave and supports its various functions.
Matlab Alternatives
Scilab is an open-source similar to the implementation of Matlab. The approximation techniques known as Scientific Computing is used to solve numerical problems. To achieve this, the team of Scilab developers made use of Solvers and algorithms to build the algebraic libraries. Scilab is one of the major alternatives to Matlab along with GNU Octave.
Source: www.educba.com
10 Best MATLAB Alternatives [For Beginners and Professionals]
GNU Octave an open-source alternative to MATLAB. It is interactive and powerful featuring everything you need in one place.
4 open source alternatives to MATLAB
GNU Octave may be the best-known alternative to MATLAB. In active development for almost three decades, Octave runs on Linux, Windows, and Mac—and is packaged for most major distributions. If you're looking for a project that is as close to the actual MATLAB language as possible, Octave may be a good fit for you; it strives for exact compatibility, so many of your projects...
Source: opensource.com
3 Open Source Alternatives to MATLAB
GNU Octave may be the best-known alternatives to MATLAB. In active development for almost three decades, Octave runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux alike, and is packaged for most major distributions. If you're looking for a project that is as close to the actual MATLAB language as possible, Octave may be a good fit for you; it strives for exact compatibility, so many of your...

Sage Math Reviews

  1. WilliamStein
    · CEO at SageMath, Inc. ·
    SageMath's goal is to provide a viable free open source alternative to Magma, Maple, Mathematica, and Matlab

    I started SageMath in 2004 to provide a FOSS alternative to expensive commercial mathematics software. Sage is Python-based and has had around 600 volunteer contributors. The project has also received millions of dollars in support from grants around the world, and has a very active developer community.

    This site is about Software as a Service, and there are at least two easy ways to use Sage online as a service:

    https://cocalc.com and https://sagecell.sagemath.org/

    🏁 Competitors: Wolfram Mathematica, MATLAB, Maple, Magma

Matlab Alternatives
Sage Math is another software system that provides an alternative to MatLab. It is Used to analyze large data sets and help in scientific researches. Built on top of Python-based scientific library. Python is clear and easily readable. It is syntactically similar to Matlab. It provides a command-line interface and embedded tools to carry out mathematical functions. The...
Source: www.educba.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Sage Math should be more popular than GNU Octave. It has been mentiond 4 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.

GNU Octave mentions (1)

  • everyday I get more certain that Algerian universities sucks...
    As for Matlab, I think you'll be just fine with using GNU Octave. Source: about 3 years ago

Sage Math mentions (4)

  • Did studying proof based math topics e.g. analysis make you a better programmer?
    I received a Ph.D. In pure math (number theory) from Berkeley, and then worked as an academic mathematician for 20 years, so wrote a few dozen research papers and some books. My ability to write software for doing mathematics was obviously better as a result of studying mathematics, e.g., I started SageMath (https://sagemath.org) and wrote a big chunk of it. Now I mostly do full stack web development (I... - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago
  • How do I get this calculator to give me the derivative?
    You could also try sagemath (sagemath.org), available for window, mac & linux for free. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Are there any good free numeric computing environments?
    SageMath gets my vote. I use it to compute simplicial objects that turn out to be infinitely categories. https://sagemath.org SageMath includes most of the python libraries already mentioned, and much more. Source: over 2 years ago
  • TIL that the Sage Sage Sage of the Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage Sage
    I am a fan of this site (and of this site's tutorial in particular). I would also recommend this site. The SageMath site has some good tutorials too. Source: over 2 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing GNU Octave and Sage Math, you can also consider the following products

MATLAB - A high-level language and interactive environment for numerical computation, visualization, and programming

Wolfram Mathematica - Mathematica has characterized the cutting edge in specialized processing—and gave the chief calculation environment to a large number of pioneers, instructors, understudies, and others around the globe.

Scilab - Scilab Official Website. Enter your search in the box aboveAbout ScilabScilab is free and open source software for numerical . Thanks for downloading Scilab!

Maxima - Maxima is a fairly complete computer algebra system written in Lisp with an emphasis on symbolic computation.

Autodesk Fusion 360 - Integrated CAD, CAM, and CAE featuring collaborative editing and cloud-based computation.

Maple - Considered the leading mathematical software, Maple intertwines the world’s most advanced math engine with a user-friendly interface.