Pipenv
Ranked 8 of 8 Python package managers by recommenders
Python dependency tool that people call good enough and a default choice. Common caveat: slow dependency resolution and weak handling of virtualenvs and Python versions.
Python dependency tool that people call good enough and a default choice. Common caveat: slow dependency resolution and weak handling of virtualenvs and Python versions.
21 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 6
- criticize it
- 15
- approval share
- 29%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 6 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 0.4 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not 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
Good enough for everyday use
“pipenv wasn’t perfect, but it was enough”
Comment from 16 May 2026 in “'No Way to Prevent This,' Says Only Package Manager Where This Regularly Happens” “Heck, pipenv is still quite useful.”
Comment from 25 Feb 2026 in “Ask HN: Why would anyone still use Poetry now that uv exists?” “I always thought pipenv was good”
Comment from 26 Dec 2025 in “How uv got so fast” Preferred default unless another reason
“I would much rather use pipenv, if it only had the speed of uv.”
Comment from 19 Mar 2026 in “Astral to Join OpenAI” “I too use pipenv unless there's a reason not to.”
Comment from 26 Dec 2025 in “How uv got so fast”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Very slow dependency resolution and hangs
“pipenv taking 30 minutes to resolve a lock file for a relatively small project”
Comment from 26 May 2026 in “Migrating from Go to Rust” “pipenv was even worse in terms of just hanging during package resolution.”
Comment from 20 Mar 2026 in “Astral to Join OpenAI” Weak venv and Python version handling
“they were a hassle due to not handling venvs and Py versions”
Comment from 30 Dec 2025 in “Go Away Python” “relied on pyenv to do a local build, which is incredibly finicky on heterogenous fleets of computers”
Comment from 19 Mar 2026 in “Astral to Join OpenAI” Crashes and frequent fights
“pipenv (which kept crashing though it was an official recommendation)”
Comment from 30 Dec 2025 in “Go Away Python” “Pipenv was still a fight, though I won every time one way or another.”
Comment from 24 Oct 2026 in “Bringing uv and ty together”
Other Python package managers people recommend
The four most recommended other Python package managers, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| uv | 533 | 100 | 84% | 12 | 1 yr9 owners | Approved |
| pip | 46 | 95 | 33% | 12 | 8 yrs3 owners | — |
| Poetry | 20 | 30 | 40% | 8 | — | — |
| Python venv | 17 | 10 | 63% | 10 | — | — |
| PipenvThis page | 6 | 15 | 29% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
All 23 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Pipenv was still a fight, though I won every time one way or another.”
“Pipenv actively created a competing format even though the PEP already was accepted”
“I don't like software like pipenv who install the venv who knows where in a global directory of their choosing”
“Both uv and pipenv tools are bad because they aren't necessary”
“I've now had to use uv, poetry, pipenv, hatch”
“pipenv taking 30 minutes to resolve a lock file for a relatively small project”
“pipenv wasn’t perfect, but it was enough”
“Pipenv is a pile of shite”
“pipenv was even worse in terms of just hanging during package resolution.”
“I would much rather use pipenv, if it only had the speed of uv.”
“relied on pyenv to do a local build, which is incredibly finicky on heterogenous fleets of computers”
“I think it was useful because I was using different python versions maybe.”
“Heck, pipenv is still quite useful.”
“meta-dependencies (dependabot, pnpm/yarn, poetry/venv/pipenv, snap/flatpak)”
“nonsense details like pipenv and whichever version of the JVM is present”
“Poetry, Pipenv, pyenv, venv and Conda were all fakers for me”
“they were a hassle due to not handling venvs and Py versions”
“they did a good job abstracting dependencies, but not venvs and Python version”
“pipenv (which kept crashing though it was an official recommendation)”
“lockfile format only kept the platform identifiers of the platform you locked it on”
“I too use pipenv unless there's a reason not to.”
“I always thought pipenv was good”
“I remember thinking the same about pipenv, too.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.