Kivy
Shares rank 42 of 45 GUI frameworks by recommenders
Free Python framework for building cross-platform apps; people praise its friendly community, though iOS builds and general limitations draw criticism.
Free Python framework for building cross-platform apps; people praise its friendly community, though iOS builds and general limitations draw criticism.
7 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 71%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 2.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Enables cross-platform app development
“Special thanks to the Kivy Community for enabling cross-platform development.”
Comment from 29 Mar 2026 in “Hadak – a location-based word search connecting users to nearby providers” Friendly, helpful contributors
“Kivy is great, and the contributors are friendlier than most.”
Comment from 18 Sep 2026 in “Flet 1.0 – Build cross-platform apps in Python” Gets the job done
“It was a little clunky, but it got the job done.”
Comment from 18 Sep 2026 in “Flet 1.0 – Build cross-platform apps in Python” Used directly with Termux
“A better option iirc is to use something like kivy directly with termux”
Comment from 28 Apr 2026 in “Phone is about to stop being yours”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Clunky and painful to use
“It was a little clunky, but it got the job done.”
Comment from 18 Sep 2026 in “Flet 1.0 – Build cross-platform apps in Python” “I tried using Kivy some years ago and also found it pretty painful”
Comment from 18 Sep 2026 in “Flet 1.0 – Build cross-platform apps in Python” Build issues, especially on iOS
“compiling for iOS is just a bit of a moving target”
Comment from 18 Sep 2026 in “Flet 1.0 – Build cross-platform apps in Python” “too many limitations and build issues in practice”
Comment from 17 Sep 2026 in “Flet 1.0 – Build cross-platform apps in Python”
Other GUI frameworks people recommend
The four most recommended other GUI frameworks, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qt | 191 | 133 | 59% | 12 | 15 yrs7 owners | — |
| GTK | 85 | 118 | 42% | 12 | — | — |
| Windows Forms | 76 | 33 | 70% | 12 | 15 yrs3 owners | Approved |
| SwiftUI | 75 | 121 | 38% | 11 | 4 yrs8 owners | — |
| KivyThis page | 5 | 2 | 71% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
7 of the 8 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“compiling for iOS is just a bit of a moving target”
“It was a little clunky, but it got the job done.”
“I tried using Kivy some years ago and also found it pretty painful”
“Kivy is great, and the contributors are friendlier than most.”
“too many limitations and build issues in practice”
“A better option iirc is to use something like kivy directly with termux”
“Special thanks to the Kivy Community for enabling cross-platform development.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.