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Positron vs RStudio: catalog facts
Positron	RStudio
Free Free to download and use.	Freemium The IDE is free; the Posit AI assistant is a paid add-on with a free trial.
Windows, macOS, Linux	Windows, macOS, Linux
Supports both Python and R in one IDE Data Explorer for large datasets	Editor, console, data viewer and environment pane in one window Data frame viewer with sorting, filtering and histogram filters
Source-available under Elastic License 2.0, not open source Focused on data science rather than general development	Built around R; other languages are secondary AI assistant requires a paid subscription after the trial
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Closed source	Open source
License: Elastic-2.0	License not stated
Not stated if an account is needed	No account needed
Not stated if it works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 23, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 23, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.