Higher education 🇬🇧 London, United Kingdom Since 2011 4.6 · 76 ratings

Overleaf

An online LaTeX editor for papers and theses, majority-owned by Digital Science.

Visit overleaf.com Try Overleaf free All companies
compile timeout on the free plan, 240 s on paid plans
10 s
collaborator per project on the free plan
1
a month for the Student plan, billed $98 a year
$8.25
users, according to Overleaf
20M+

About Overleaf

Overleaf is an online LaTeX editor for research papers, theses and technical documents. John Hammersley and John Lees-Miller started it in London in 2011 as WriteLaTeX, and the research software group Digital Science is its majority shareholder. The free plan allows 1 collaborator per project, a 10-second compile timeout and 24 hours of history. Paid plans cost $8.25 a month for students, $16.75 for Standard and $33.25 for Pro on yearly billing, with a 240-second timeout, track changes, Git and GitHub. Universities buy campus access through Overleaf Commons.

Overleaf runs LaTeX in the browser. Authors write in the Code Editor or the Visual Editor, and Overleaf compiles the project to PDF on its servers. Co-authors edit the same project in real time, leave comments, chat and suggest tracked changes. Projects sync with Git, GitHub, Dropbox and the reference managers Zotero, Mendeley and Papers.

John Hammersley and John Lees-Miller, both mathematicians, started building the editor in 2011 as WriteLaTeX. Their company, WriteLaTeX Limited, was registered in London on 31 December 2012. They launched the Overleaf beta on 16 January 2014 at the British Library. Digital Science made a strategic investment the same year. On 20 July 2017 Overleaf bought its rival ShareLaTeX, and the two services merged into Overleaf v2.

WriteLaTeX Limited became Digital Science UK Limited on 28 October 2021. Hammersley left the board on 30 April 2024, and Lees-Miller is still a director. In June 2025 Digital Science added AI Assist with language feedback and LaTeX tools. The current plans give every user a daily AI allowance, and paid plans add an AI Assistant chat. Overleaf also publishes its editor as open source under AGPL-3.0, and sells Server Pro for on-premises use.

History

  1. 2011 John Hammersley and John Lees-Miller start building WriteLaTeX.
  2. 2012 WriteLaTeX Limited is registered in London on 31 December.
  3. 2013 Joins the Bethnal Green Ventures accelerator in July, one of 10 teams.
  4. 2014 Launches the Overleaf beta on 16 January at the first #FuturePub event at the British Library.
  5. 2014 Gets a strategic investment from Digital Science. Wins Innovative Internet Business at the Nominet Internet Awards.
  6. 2017 Buys ShareLaTeX on 20 July. The combined community has over 2 million authors.
  7. 2017 CERN gives its members access to the hosted version of Overleaf.
  8. 2019 Digital Science & Research Solutions Limited becomes the majority shareholder on 8 May, Companies House shows.
  9. 2021 WriteLaTeX Limited changes its name to Digital Science UK Limited on 28 October.
  10. 2024 John Hammersley leaves the board on 30 April. Daniel Hook joins it the same day.
  11. 2025 Digital Science launches AI Assist for Overleaf on 24 June, with language feedback, Error Assist and TeXGPT.
  12. 2026 Sells Student, Standard and Pro plans with a daily AI allowance and an AI Assistant on paid plans.

Leadership

  • John Lees-Miller Co-founder, director since 2012; Senior VP of B2C Products in June 2025
  • Daniel Hook Director since April 2024; CEO of Digital Science
  • Steven Scott Director since August 2015

Board roles from Companies House on 7 October 2026. Job titles from the Digital Science press release of 24 June 2025.

How Overleaf works

compile timeout on the free plan
10 s
compile timeout on Student, Standard and Pro
240 s
of project history on the free plan
24 h
  • Code Editor and Visual Editor
  • Real-time collaboration
  • Comments with mentions
  • In-document chat
  • Track changes
  • Reviewer role
  • Full project history and labels
  • Git integration
  • GitHub sync
  • Dropbox sync
  • Zotero, Mendeley and Papers
  • Journal templates and direct submission
  • Error Assist
  • AI Assistant on paid plans

Products

  • Overleaf editor A LaTeX editor in the browser with a Code Editor, a Visual Editor and a PDF preview. Overleaf compiles the project on its servers, so authors install nothing. Free and paid plans include unlimited projects and templates. Features
  • Overleaf AI Error Assist explains LaTeX errors and suggests fixes. TeXGPT, the equation and table generators, rewrite tools and Writefull language suggestions work in the editor. The AI Assistant chat comes with the Student, Standard and Pro plans. AI features
  • Track changes and reviewers Reviewing mode records every edit as a suggestion that the authors accept or reject. The project owner can invite a collaborator as a Reviewer, who can only comment and suggest tracked changes. Track changes needs a paid plan or Commons access. Track changes
  • Git and GitHub Every project has a Git URL at git.overleaf.com, and GitHub sync links a project to a repository. Overleaf Git has no branches or tags. The docs advise against mixing Git pushes with tracked changes and comments. Git integration
  • Overleaf Commons A licence for a whole campus, company or department. Members enrol with an institutional email or SSO and get premium features. Commons AI adds the Max AI allowance. For universities
  • Server Pro and Community Edition Overleaf in Docker containers on the customer’s own servers, including air-gapped ones. Community Edition is open source and suits only trusted users, because it has no sandboxed compiles. On-premises docs

How much is Overleaf?

  • Free $0/mo Free, 1 collaborator, 10 s compile, £0
  • Students only Student $8.25/mo $98 a year, or $13 monthly; £76 a year or £10 monthly; 10 collaborators, 5 AI uses a day
  • Most popular Standard $16.75/mo $199 a year, or $25 monthly; £159 a year or £18 monthly; 10 collaborators, 10 AI uses a day
  • Pro $33.25/mo $399 a year, or $45 monthly; £319 a year or £36 monthly; unlimited collaborators, Max AI

Is Overleaf free?

The free plan includes unlimited projects, 1 collaborator per project, a 10-second compile timeout, 24 hours of history and 5 AI uses a day. It has no track changes, no Git, GitHub or Dropbox and no AI Assistant.

Prices on overleaf.com/user/subscription/plans on 7 October 2026, for one user, in US dollars and in British pounds (USD and GBP views of the page). Yearly plans are shown as a monthly figure and billed once a year. Taxes may be added depending on the billing address. Every paid plan has a 7-day free trial, and the card is charged when it ends. Student is for students at a degree-granting institution. Plans differ by collaborators and AI allowance. Until 15 October 2026 a Back to School sale gives groups of 20+ at degree-granting institutions an extra 20% off new Standard and Pro subscriptions.

How to cancel Overleaf

Plans FAQ
  • After you cancel, the subscription runs until the end of the billing period.
  • A cancelled trial still runs for the full 7 days.
  • Projects stay in the account on the free plan. Only paid features stop.
  • Payment by invoice is possible for groups of 5+ and site licences only.

Refund rules

Leaving a university
When a Commons subscription ends or you leave the institution, the account moves to the free plan and keeps all projects. Add a personal email first so you can still log in.

Overleaf plans page and Commons docs, 7 October 2026

Overleaf for universities

Talk to sales
  • 01Group Standard: up to 10 collaborators per project, track changes, full history and the Standard AI allowance for every member.
  • 02Group Pro adds SAML SSO, unlimited collaborators and the Max AI allowance.
  • 03Overleaf Commons covers a campus or department with SSO or email enrolment, a custom portal and an admin hub with usage metrics.
  • 04Commons members get the Basic AI allowance and no AI Assistant. Commons AI adds the Max allowance.
  • 05Institutions can ask support to switch AI off for all members.
  • 06Groups at degree-granting institutions get a 40% academic discount online, and 20+ users save up to 35% on volume.

Groups of 20+ and Commons are priced on a quote, 7 October 2026.

Ratings

2.4Trustpilot · Bad 35 reviews · profile not claimed by the company
  • 4.6 G276 ratings

Is Overleaf worth it?

What users like

What users criticise

What users write in reviews, not our rating. The free plan has a 10-second compile timeout, and paid plans start at $8.25 a month for students.

Overleaf reviews

  • Great costumer service
    “They still removed the invoice and downgraded in less than 20 minutes after sending a ticket.”
    Carlos Silva · 29 May 2026 · App Store
  • Compilation time
    “This project exceeded the compile timeout limit on our free plan.”
    Olivier D’Ancona · 8 July 2026 · App Store
  • Useless until you pay.
    “Now, even a few pages and a single longtable over two pages won’t compile.”
    aurélien stolzenbach · 10 September 2025 · App Store

Latest news

  1. Digital Science launches new AI writing tools for 20+ million Overleaf users
  2. ShareLaTeX joins Overleaf

Contacts and company data

Legal entity
Digital Science UK Limited, The Smithson, 6 Briset Street, London EC1M 5NR, United Kingdom
Company
Digital Science UK Limited, 08343637, incorporated 31 December 2012
Previous name
WriteLaTeX Limited, until 28 October 2021
Status
Active, private limited company
Business (SIC)
62012, business and domestic software development
Majority shareholder
Digital Science & Research Solutions Limited, 09984464, more than 50% and less than 75%
Terms of use
English law, except for US users
EU GDPR representative
DS Digital Science GmbH, Stuttgart

Alternatives to Overleaf

How we built this profile

  1. Sources. Facts come from the company’s own website, press room, imprint and careers page, from Wikipedia, the App Store, Google Play and Trustpilot. Every source is listed on the page.
  2. Checks. Kinescope checked every number on 7 October 2026. Prices, ratings and job counts change, and we refresh them with each update.
  3. Our words. Descriptions are written by the Kinescope team. Quotes from reviews are marked with the author and source, and we do not rate the company ourselves.
  4. Corrections. The company can send new facts or corrections, and we update the profile.

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Overleaf FAQ

Yes. The free plan gives unlimited projects, 1 collaborator per project, a 10-second compile timeout, 24 hours of history and 5 AI uses a day. It has no track changes, no Git or GitHub sync and no AI Assistant.

On 7 October 2026, billed yearly: Student $98 (£76), Standard $199 (£159) and Pro $399 (£319) a year, or $8.25, $16.75 and $33.25 a month. Month to month: Student $13 (£10), Standard $25 (£18) and Pro $45 (£36). Each paid plan has a 7-day free trial.

Yes. The Student plan costs $8.25 a month on yearly billing or $13 month to month, £6.50 or £10 in the UK. It is for students, including graduate students, at a degree-granting institution, and has the same 10 collaborators and 240-second compile timeout as Standard, with 5 AI uses a day.

10 seconds. Student, Standard and Pro plans have 240 seconds. When a free project exceeds the limit, Overleaf asks the project owner to upgrade. Collaborators get the owner’s compile time on that project.

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