pyenv
Shares rank 5 of 7 version managers by recommenders
People recommend pyenv for installing any Python version without compiling it locally and keeping versions per user. Critics say it is clunky and slower than uv.
People recommend pyenv for installing any Python version without compiling it locally and keeping versions per user. Critics say it is clunky and slower than uv.
17 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 7
- criticize it
- 10
- approval share
- 41%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 7 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 0.7 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
Installs any Python version without compiling
“pyenv and uv are wonderful ways to install whatever version you want without having to compile them locally”
Comment from 21 Nov 2025 in “The Qtile Window Manager: A Python-Powered Tiling Experience” “you can use pyenv and uv to install multiple versions of Python”
Comment from 10 Aug 2026 in “Docker Sandboxes – Disposable, isolated sandboxes for AI agents” Works fine for most uses
“pyenv works fine but uv is faster & adds some nice extra features with uvx”
Comment from 30 Dec 2025 in “Go Away Python” “pyenv and pip (just pyenv really) are a little clunky, but work too.”
Comment from 26 Aug 2026 in “Python's pre-declared constants are kinda weird”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Clunky and finicky to use
“pyenv and pip (just pyenv really) are a little clunky, but work too.”
Comment from 26 Aug 2026 in “Python's pre-declared constants are kinda weird” “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” Slower and more complex than uv
“pyenv works fine but uv is faster & adds some nice extra features with uvx”
Comment from 30 Dec 2025 in “Go Away Python” “compared to uv it was infinitely more complex”
Comment from 2 Jan 2026 in “Can Bundler Be as Fast as Uv?”
Other version managers people recommend
The four most recommended other version 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mise | 137 | 22 | 86% | 12 | 1 yr4 owners | Approved |
| asdf version manager | 17 | 3 | 85% | 8 | — | Approved |
| rustup | 14 | 5 | 74% | 8 | — | Approved |
| SDKMAN | 12 | 1 | 92% | 2 | — | — |
| pyenvThis page | 7 | 10 | 41% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
14 of the 17 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“pyenv and pip (just pyenv really) are a little clunky, but work too.”
“you can use pyenv and uv to install multiple versions of Python”
“pyenv has been standard tooling for far longer than uv”
“pyenv is a wrapper for something that experienced pip+venv users would find trivial”
“which is also slow to load”
“iterating locally was always a fight to getting molecule to pick up the right pyenv”
“my pyenv struggles basically ceased once I started using it”
“similar to Conda or pyenv it just wasn't something I was going to like”
“relied on pyenv to do a local build, which is incredibly finicky on heterogenous fleets of computers”
“they keep python and node versions in environments local to your user, rather than the system”
“Poetry, Pipenv, pyenv, venv and Conda were all fakers for me”
“compared to uv it was infinitely more complex”
“pyenv works fine but uv is faster & adds some nice extra features with uvx”
“pyenv and uv are wonderful ways to install whatever version you want without having to compile them locally”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.