JupyterLab vs Jupyter Notebook

JupyterLab and Jupyter Notebook use the same notebook format and can run the same kernels, but they present different interfaces.

Jupyter Notebook is a focused document view. It is a good fit for learning, a short experiment, or a report where one notebook is the main artifact. JupyterLab is a multi-document workspace with tabs, a file browser, terminals, text editors, and extensions. It is usually more comfortable for a project with several notebooks and data files.

Install the one you need, or install JupyterLab and open a notebook there:

python -m pip install jupyterlab
python -m jupyter lab

Neither interface makes code reproducible by itself. Record the environment, keep data paths portable, restart and run all cells before sharing, and avoid storing secrets in notebook output. Choose Notebook for a simple document and Lab for a workspace; there is no meaningful performance verdict that applies to every project.

Sources

• JupyterLab documentation

• Project Jupyter