The following tables provide a comparison of computer algebra systems (CAS). A CAS is a package comprising a set of algorithms for performing symbolic manipulations on algebraic objects, a language to implement them, and an environment in which to use the language. A CAS may include a user interface and graphics capability, and to be effective may require a large library of algorithms, efficient data structures, and a fast kernel.
General System Creator Development started First public release Latest stable version Latest stable release dateCost (USD) License Notes Axiom Richard Jenks 1977 1993 and 2002The first date is that of the first commercial release (to be checked), the second one is that of the first free license General purpose CAS. Continuous Release using Docker Containers Cadabra Kasper Peeters 2001 2007 CAS for tensor field theory CoCoA John Abbott, Anna M. Bigatti, Giovanni Lagorio 1987 1995 5.2.0 Specialized CAS for commutative algebra Derive Soft Warehouse 1979 1988 6.1 Discontinued CAS designed for DOS and Windows microcomputers; it was discontinued in 2007 Erable (aka ALGB) , Mika Heiskanen, Claude-Nicolas Fiechter 1993 1993 4.20060919 CAS designed for Hewlett-Packard scientific graphing calculators of the HP 48/49/40/50 series; discontinued in 2009 Fermat Robert H. Lewis 1986 1993 6.5 $70 if grant money available, otherwise $0 Specialized CAS for resultant computation and linear algebra with polynomial entries FORM J.A.M. Vermaseren 1984 1989 4.3.1 CAS designed mainly for particle physics FriCAS Waldek Hebisch 2007 2007 1.3.13 Full-featured general purpose CAS. Especially strong at symbolic integration. GAP GAP Group 1986 1986 Specialized CAS for group theory and combinatorics. GeoGebra CAS Markus Hohenwarter et al. 2013 6.0.753.0 Freeware Web-based or Desktop CAS Calculator GiNaC Christian Bauer, Alexander Frink, Richard B. Kreckel, et al. 1999 1999 Integrate symbolic computation into C++ programs; no high-level interface, but emphasis on interoperability. GNU Octave John W. Eaton 1993 1994 A high-level programming language for scientific computing and numerical computation mostly compatible with MATLAB KANT/KASH KANT Group 3 /2008 own license Specialized CAS for algebraic number theory Macaulay2 Daniel Grayson and Michael Stillman 1992 1994 1.26.05 Specialized CAS for algebraic geometry and commutative algebra Macsyma MIT Project MAC and Symbolics 1968 1978 2.4 $500 One of the oldest general purpose CAS. Still alive as Maxima. Magma University of Sydney~1990 1993 $1,440 General purpose CAS, originally specialized in group theory. Works with elements of algebraic structures rather than with non typed mathematical expressions Magnus The New York Group Theory Cooperative 1994 1997 Specialized CAS for group theory providing facilities for doing calculations in and about infinite groups. Discontinued in 2005. Maple Symbolic Computation Group, University of Waterloo 1980 1984 $2,390(Commercial), $2,265 (Government), $995 (Academic), $239 (Personal Edition), $99 (Student), $79 (Student, 12-Month term) One of the major general purpose CAS Mathcad Parametric Technology Corporation 1985 1985 15.0 M045 $1,600 (Commercial), $105 (Student), Free (Express Edition) Numerical software with some CAS capabilities Mathemagix Joris van der Hoeven 1999 2002 Computer algebra and analysis system Mathematica Wolfram Research 1986 1988 $2,495 (Professional), $1,095 (Education), $295 (Personal), $140 (Student), $69.95 (Student annual license), free on Raspberry Pi hardware One of the major general purpose CAS Mathics Mathics3 Development Team 2011 2011 General-purpose open-source CAS largely compatible with the Wolfram Language. Mathomatic George Gesslein II 1986 1987 16.0.5 Discontinued Elementary algebra, calculus, complex number and polynomial manipulations. Maxima MIT Project MAC and Bill Schelter et al. 1967 1998 General purpose CAS. Continuation of Macsyma; new releases occur approximately two times per year. MuMATH Soft Warehouse 1970s 1980 MuMATH-83 Discontinued Predecessor of Derive MuPAD SciFace Software 1989 2008 5.1 Discontinued MathWorks has incorporated MuPAD technology into Symbolic Math Toolbox OpenAxiom Gabriel Dos Reis 2007 2007 1.4.2 General purpose CAS. A fork of Axiom. PARI/GP Henri Cohen, Karim Belabas, Bill Allombert et al. 1985 1990 Specialized CAS for number theory. REDUCE Anthony C. Hearn 1963 1968 See "Latest stable version". One of the oldest and historically important general purpose CAS. Still alive, as open-sourced and freed in December 2008 SageMath William A. Stein 2005 2005 Mathematics software system combining a number of existing packages, including numerical computation, statistics and image processing Scilab Scilab Enterprises 1990 1990 MATLAB alternative. SINGULAR University of Kaiserslautern 1984 1997 Computer algebra system for polynomial computations, with special emphasis on commutative and non-commutative algebra, algebraic geometry, and singularity theory. SMath Studio Andrey Ivashov 2004 2006 1.0.8348 Mathematical notebook program similar to Mathcad. Symbolic Manipulation Program Stephen Wolfram 1979 1981 1988 Discontinued This software was eventually replaced by Mathematica, and the newer program still retains much of the syntax and functionality of the earlier SMP. Symbolic Math Toolbox (MATLAB) MathWorks 1989 2008 2024b $3,150 (Commercial), $99 (Student Suite), $700 (Academic), $194 (Home) including price of MATLAB. Provides tools for solving and manipulating symbolic math expressions and performing variable-precision arithmetic.Symbolics.jlShashi Gowda et al.202020217.5.02026FreeMIT licenseJulia-based SymPy Ondřej Čertík 2006 2007 Python-based TI-Nspire CAS (Computer Software) Texas Instruments 2006 2009 5.1.3 2020 Successor to Derive. Based on Derive's engine used in TI-89/Voyage 200 and TI-Nspire handheld Wolfram Alpha Wolfram Research 2009 Pro version: $4.99 / month, Pro version for students: $2.99 / month, ioRegular version: free Online computer algebra system with step-by step solutions. Xcas/Giac 2000 2000 General CAS, also adapted for the HP Prime. Compatible modes for Maple, MuPAD and TI89 syntax. Symbolic spreadsheets, Giac library for use with other programs. ARM ports for some PDAs with Linux or WinCE Yacas Ayal Pinkus et al. 1998 1999 Creator Development started First public release Latest stable version Latest stable release date Cost (USD) License Notes
These computer algebra systems are sometimes combined with "front end" programs that provide a better user interface, such as the general-purpose GNU TeXmacs.
Functionality Below is a summary of significantly developed symbolic functionality in each of the systems.
System rowspan="2" rowspan="2" Calculus Solvers rowspan="2" rowspan="2" rowspan="2" rowspan="2" rowspan="2" rowspan="2" rowspan="2" rowspan="2" System Axiom Axiom Cadabra Cadabra FriCAS FriCAS GAP GAP GNU Octave GNU Octave Magma Magma Magnus Magnus Maple Maple Mathcad Mathcad Mathematica Mathematica Mathics Mathics Mathomatic Mathomatic Maxima Maxima PARI/GP Yes* Yes* PARI/GP REDUCE REDUCE SageMath SageMath Scilab Scilab SMath Studio SMath Studio Symbolic Math Toolbox (MATLAB) Symbolic Math Toolbox (MATLAB) SymPy SymPy Wolfram Alpha Wolfram Alpha Xcas/Giac Xcas/Giac Yacas Yacas
via SymPy <li> via qepcad optional package
Those which do not "edit equations" may have a GUI, plotting, ASCII graphic formulae and math font printing. The ability to generate plaintext files is also a sought-after feature because it allows a work to be understood by people who do not have a computer algebra system installed.
Operating system support The software can run under their respective operating systems natively without emulation. Some systems must be compiled first using an appropriate compiler for the source language and target platform. For some platforms, only older releases of the software may be available.
System DOS Windows macOS Linux BSD Solaris Android iOS SaaS Other Axiom Cadabra CoCoA Tru64 UNIX, HP-UX, IRIX Derive Erable System RPL on HP 48/49/50/40 series Euler Fermat FORM FriCAS GAP KANT/KASH Macaulay2 Magma Magnus SunOs Maple Mathcad Mathematica Raspberry Pi Mathics Runs anywhere Python runs; browser notebook via JupyterLite Mathomatic All POSIX platforms Maxima All POSIX platforms with Common Lisp MuMATH OpenAxiom PARI/GP REDUCE SageMath SINGULAR SMath Studio Universal Windows Platform Symbolic Math Toolbox (MATLAB) SymbolicC++ SymPy Through SymPy Gamma Any system that supports Python TI-Nspire (desktop software) Xcas/Giac HP Prime CAS, KhiCAS for TI Nspire Yacas
Graphing calculators Some graphing calculators have CAS features.
System Creator Development started First public release / OS version Latest stable version / OS version Notes Casio CFX-9970G CASIO Computer Co. 1998 Casio Algebra FX 2.0, Casio Algebra FX 2.0 Plus CASIO Computer Co. 1999 Casio ClassPad 300, Casio ClassPad 300 Plus, Casio ClassPad 330, Casio ClassPad 330 Plus, Casio ClassPad fx-CP400, Casio fx-CG500Casio ClassPad Manager CASIO Computer Co. 2002 2003 3.10.7000 (ClassPad I) 2.01.7000 (ClassPad II, fx-CG500) ClassPad Manager is an emulator which runs on a PC. HP 49G, HP 49g+, HP 48gII, HP 50g, HP 40G, HP 40gs Hewlett-Packard 1993 1.??(1999) / 4 2.15 (2006-09-19, 2009-04-21) / 4 Based on Erable, which is also available as an add-on for the HP 48S, HP 48SX, HP 48G, HP 48G+, HP 48GX. Intended for problems which occur in engineering applications. Source code openly available. HP Prime Hewlett-Packard 2000 2013 2.1.14433 (2020 01 21) CAS ver. 1.5.0 Based on Xcas/Giac. Xcas source code openly available, but not HP Prime implementation. TI-89 Texas Instruments 1995 1996 2.09 TI-89 Titanium Texas Instruments 2003 2004 7/18/2005 v3.10 TI-92 Texas Instruments 1994 1995 TI-92 Plus Texas Instruments 1997 1998 3/27/2003 v2.09 TI-Nspire CAS, TI-Nspire CX CAS, TI-Nspire CX II CAS Texas Instruments 2006 2008 2021 v4.5.5.79 (For TI-Nspire CX CAS), 2022 v5.4.0.259 (For TI-Nspire CX II CAS) Voyage 200 Texas Instruments 2001 2002 7/18/2005 v3.10
See also :Category:Computer algebra systems Comparison of statistical packages List of information graphics software List of numerical-analysis software List of numerical libraries List of open-source mathematical libraries List of statistical software Mathematical software Web-based simulation
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