What are some good Overleaf (Latex) alternatives?

2 years ago by Clandestine to c/opensource

I'm currently writing a report in using Overleaf. As I'm getting the premium version for free through my Uni, I've had no problems so far. Now I'm working in a place with unstable internet and using Overleaf has become very annoying.

Are there some good FOSS alternatives out there, preferably where I can just upload my Project.zip and continue working offline? I have no need to collaborate with anyone or anything like that.

Currently I'm looking at LyX, but I'd be happy to hear about your experiences with that or other programs.

pol 22 points 2 years ago

I'm writing a thesis using https://typst.app

I was hesitant to use it at the beginning but in the end, it's one of the best choice I made so far.

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jeffhykin 15 points 2 years ago

"Select where you heard about typst"
-> Fediverse

Finally somewhere that actually has Fediverse as an option, this must be a good app.

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pol 2 points 2 years ago

You'll thank me later...

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filister 5 points 2 years ago

This, I also used to create a CV in typist, after a really frustrating experience with LaTeX and the difference is night and day.

And the best part is that errors are actually understandable, so you can actually fix them

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gramgan 2 points 2 years ago

Out of curiosity, what program are you using to write? I think I saw they have a web editor, but I there’s a neovim plugin (and maybe an LSP) as well I think.

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pol 3 points 2 years ago

Vscode with typst-preview plugin. A wonderful combo.

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gezepi 1 point 2 years ago

I use VScodium with some plugins. But writing in any editor and running the typst executable with the "watch" argument is also an option. That way as soon as you overwrite the source file a new PDF is generated. In that case I use Okular which auto refreshes when the open document changes.

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nightm4re 12 points 2 years ago

Texmaker is my go-to offline LaTeX editor. In addition, use JabRef for bibliography management and you'll live happily ever after.

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TDCN 1 point 2 years ago

Combine with git and you now have a good way of keeping track of changes as well of you have to collaborate with others.

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mapleseedfall 2 points 2 years ago

Geez you really can use git for everything

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TheHobbyist 11 points 2 years ago

This is probably not the solution for most, but if you care, overleaf can be selfhosted.

More info here: https://github.com/overleaf/overleaf

Edit: note->not

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Flying_Cucumber 1 point 2 years ago

I've tried, but it was not easy at all and I sadly finally gave up because it uses Redis and that Redis needs some specific instructions that are not available for old/low end CPUs like the one I have in my homelab. The best self-hosted alternative I found at the time was FidusWriter. Probably not the best solution for OP, but still an OK self-hosted alternative to Overleaf.

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vicvinfroi 9 points 2 years ago

Before overleaf, most people installed Latex locally (see e.g. texlive on Linux, miktex on Windows, etc), and then used their editor of choice (dozen of options here, ranging from dedicated Latex IDE like textudio, texmaker, etc. to more general editors like emacs, etc). LyX is nice too, essentially it's just a particular IDE (i.e. a nice way to edit a latex file without looking directly at the source file). To collaborate (or just backup), they used a cloud provider (e.g. Dropbox is pretty popular in academia); these days, some ppl use private github repo to work collectively on a paper (but you can do that even if you are the only one editing the file, of course).

Would one of these options that work for you? or do you specifically need something that does not rely on a local installation?

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t0fr 7 points 2 years ago

You can always self host overleaf yourself

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azimir 5 points 2 years ago

What?!?

I looked it up and you can. I'll have that fired up with their docker image in no time. Thank you for the pointer.

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t0fr 3 points 2 years ago

No problem. Figured you might appreciate something that's exactly the same

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mbw 4 points 2 years ago

You can use overleaf for sharing only, and write your document locally. I am currently writing my thesis using the git integration, using neovim/vimtex/jabref, and then doing git add/commit/push to sync to Overleaf.

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eratic 4 points 2 years ago

Is using a TeX distribution locally not an option? Then just use VS code

https://www.latex-project.org/...

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boyi 3 points 2 years ago

Something to consider but not for anyone: if youre thinking of using latex, why don't just learn how to use raw latex packages. Download the packages and use your own editor and PDF viewer. It you're using Linux, maybe something like [(neo)vim+vimtex]+zathura. Anyway you can still use LyX to easily create math formula by copy pasting. And for backup, you can use github (plus Dropbox) etc.

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ashaman2007 1 point 2 years ago

I use Lyx with a local Texlive install, and it works great (openSUSE tumbleweed)

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buffalobuffalo 1 point 2 years ago

Before I switched to Overleaf for the collaboration features, I used tectonic-typesetting (non gui) with VSCode

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