CodeCogs®How we compare
Delivering equations to over 139,000 websites since 2005. Two comparisons, because these are two different products: the editor people write equations in, and the rendering engine that puts them on a page.
The editor
Against the tools people otherwise reach for.
| Equation Editor | MathType | Overleaf | Mathpix | Word | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Writing the equation | |||||
| How you work | Maths + live LaTeX | Visual | LaTeX code | Image capture | Visual |
| Edits flow both ways, live | Yes | — | Compile step | — | — |
| Auto-suggestion as you type | Commands and equations | — | Commands only | — | — |
| Drag-to-size matrix builder | Yes | Yes | By hand | — | Yes |
| Paste MathML in as an equation | Yes | Yes | — | — | Well-formed only |
| Handwriting and image capture | Not yet | Yes | — | Best in class | — |
| Toolbar scales to any size | Yes | 3 fixed sizes | — | — | — |
| Customise which panels appear | Yes | Yes | — | — | Preset categories |
| Deployment | |||||
| LaTeX, MathML, SVG and PNG | All four | Limited | LaTeX | Yes | — |
| Formatted for wikis and forums | Yes | — | — | — | — |
| Shareable equation link | Yes | — | Yes | — | — |
| Paste into Word as editable maths | Yes, as MathML | Via plugin | — | Yes | Native |
| Accessibility | |||||
| Spoken description generated | Yes | Partial | — | — | Partial |
| Published screen-reader tests | Yes | — | — | — | — |
One honest gap. Handwriting and image capture is Mathpix's own speciality and we do not attempt it yet.
Pasting into Word needs no plugin and no add-in: copy the equation as MathML and Word converts it to its own equation format on arrival, editable in place. That is Word's own import doing the work, so it depends on the version you are running — see the construct-by-construct test sheet for what survives the trip.
The rendering engine
fxTeX puts maths on a page. It is not an editor, so here it is against the other browser engines that do the same job.
| fxTeX | KaTeX | MathJax | Temml | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Output | ||||
| MathML | Yes | (accessibility) | Yes | Yes |
| SVG | Yes | — | Yes | — |
| PNG | Yes | — | — | — |
| PDF and EMF | Via LaTeXRender | — | — | — |
| Accessibility | ||||
| Generated spoken text | Yes | — | Yes | — |
| Published screen-reader tests | Yes | — | — | — |
| Payload that costs, gzipped | 30 kB | 75 kB | 281 kB | 49 kB |
| Deployment | ||||
| Server-side rendering | Node, C++, Docker, PHP | Node | Node | Node |
| Hosted service, no install | Yes | — | — | — |
| 100% LaTeX compliance | Via LaTeXRender | — | — | — |
MathJax's accessibility is genuinely excellent and in places ahead of ours — the claim is not that we read maths better, but that we match it at a ninth of the payload. KaTeX emits MathML alongside its HTML for screen readers rather than as its rendering path.
Try it rather than take our word for it
The editor is on the home page, the speed comparison runs in your own browser, and the accessibility claims have their own published test bench.