# SymPy 13 Hacker News commenters recommended SymPy and 7 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 8 of 13 months. **Verdict:** Free Python library that handles common symbolic math well and is used to avoid Maxima. Critics note slowness and gaps in integrals and differential equations. ## Why people recommend it - Handles common symbolic cases well (3 comments): "sympy handles the common cases well but there's still a gap on things like definite integrals" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47133821)) "sympy and similar packages can handle the vast majority of simple cases" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47132782)) "sympy is good enough for typical uses" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47131468)) - Well designed, worth keeping (2 comments): "Those libraries are for the most part pretty well designed" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49442509)) "don't completely dismiss SymPy" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48526021)) ## What people warn about - Slow compared to other systems (2 comments): "Last I heard Sympy was one of the worst performers, even among other open source CASs." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48566470)) "It was also way way faster than SymPy was for anything interesting." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49272668)) - Gaps in integrals and differential equations (2 comments): "sympy handles the common cases well but there's still a gap on things like definite integrals" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47133821)) "Sympy was similarly far behind in differential equations" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48579306)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Wolfram Mathematica](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mathematica.md): 103 recommend - [Symbolica](https://hackerapproved.com/p/symbolica.md): 7 recommend ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "SymPy", https://hackerapproved.com/p/sympy/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).