MATLAB is a proprietary product of MathWorks, so users are subject to vendor lock-in. Although MATLAB Builder product can deploy MATLAB functions as library files which can be used with .NET or Java application building environment, future development will still be tied to the MATLAB language.

Each toolbox is purchased separately. If an evaluation license is requested, the MathWorks sales department requires detailed information about the project for which MATLAB is to be evaluated. Overall the process of acquiring a license is expensive in terms of money and time. If granted (which it often is), the evaluation license is valid for two to four weeks. A student version of MATLAB is also available.

It has been reported that EU competition regulators are investigating whether MathWorks refused to sell licenses to a competitor.

License
Graphics and graphical user interface programming
Function handles
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