{"slug": "pixi", "name": "pixi", "category": "dev-libs", "category_name": "Libraries and frameworks", "description": "Fast package and environment manager for Conda and PyPI dependencies, built by prefix.dev.", "recommenders": 5, "commenters": 5, "warners": 0, "score": 4.262, "rising": -0.31, "first": "2025-11-03", "latest": "2026-09-17", "why": "Recommended as a faster, saner \"uv for the Conda ecosystem\", with reproducible, self-contained per-folder environments and only a small user-level install.", "why_is_quote": false, "has_verdict": true, "sentiment": {"recommend": 6, "neutral": 0, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [3, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0], "listed": true, "loved": ["Better Conda", "Fast solver"], "caveat": "Often unnecessary", "short_quote": "pixi (https://github.com/prefix-dev/pixi) which kinda is a uv for the Conda ecosystem. Highly recommend!", "icon": false, "domain": "pixi.sh", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://pixi.sh", "pricing": "open source", "aliases": ["pixi", "Pixi"], "verdict": [{"text": "Recommended as a faster, saner \"uv for the Conda ecosystem\"", "cites": [{"id": 759698336, "item_id": 47481146, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47481146", "by": "roflcopter69", "date": "2026-03-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "pixi (https://github.com/prefix-dev/pixi) which kinda is a uv for the Conda ecosystem. Highly recommend!", "excerpt": "+1 for Conda. I also have to mention pixi (https://github.com/prefix-dev/pixi) which kinda is a uv for the Conda ecosystem. Highly recommend!", "context": "", "use_case": "Conda ecosystem package management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Thoughts on OpenAI acquiring Astral and uv/ruff/ty"}, {"id": 742435696, "item_id": 46402231, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46402231", "by": "optionalsquid", "date": "2025-12-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "You could use pixi instead, as a much nicer/saner alternative to conda", "excerpt": "You could use pixi instead, as a much nicer/saner alternative to conda: https://pixi.sh Though in this particular case, you don't even need conda. You just need python 3.13 and a virtual environment. If you have uv installed, then it's even easier: git clone https://github.com/apple/ml-sharp.git cd ml-sharp uv sync uv run sharp", "context": "", "use_case": "Python environment management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple releases open-source model that instantly turns 2D photos into 3D views"}, {"id": 742426656, "item_id": 46401666, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46401666", "by": "optionalsquid", "date": "2025-12-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "You can also use pixi[1] if you want conda with uv's solver", "excerpt": "You can also use pixi[1] if you want conda with uv's solver, that does appears to be faster than the mamba solver. Though the main reasons I recommend pixi, are that it doesn't have a tendency to break random stuff due to polluting your environment by default, and that it does a much better job of making your environments reproducible, among another benefits [1] https://pixi.sh/", "context": "", "use_case": "Python/conda environments", "switched_from": "", "story": "How uv got so fast"}, {"id": 732933712, "item_id": 45808357, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45808357", "by": "roflcopter69", "date": "2025-11-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "pixi turned out to be just what I needed", "excerpt": "I know, it's the title of their own post, but making it sound like pixi is only for robotics is underselling pixi quite heavily. Pixi is basically uv but for the conda ecosystem in the sense that it has all the goodness (fast and reliable dependency solver, smart caching, using hardlinks for environment installs to speed things up and save space) and makes the whole environment/dependency management for conda project", "context": "software needs to run on older macOS versions, Intel and Arm Macs", "use_case": "conda-ecosystem environment management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Pixi: Reproducible Package Management for Robotics"}]}, {"text": ", with reproducible, self-contained per-folder environments", "cites": [{"id": 742426656, "item_id": 46401666, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46401666", "by": "optionalsquid", "date": "2025-12-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "You can also use pixi[1] if you want conda with uv's solver", "excerpt": "You can also use pixi[1] if you want conda with uv's solver, that does appears to be faster than the mamba solver. Though the main reasons I recommend pixi, are that it doesn't have a tendency to break random stuff due to polluting your environment by default, and that it does a much better job of making your environments reproducible, among another benefits [1] https://pixi.sh/", "context": "", "use_case": "Python/conda environments", "switched_from": "", "story": "How uv got so fast"}, {"id": 795817313, "item_id": 49738582, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49738582", "by": "tetris11", "date": "2026-09-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "requires only a small user-level installation and a folder specific deployment", "excerpt": "I love Guix, I just hate that it requires such an invasive installation for it to work. Compare it to pixi for example which has all the same features (pixi shell, pixi run, pixi pack, etc.) and requires only a small user-level installation and a folder specific deployment", "context": "", "use_case": "package/environment management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Back to the future: modules for Guix packages (2022)"}]}, {"text": " and only a small user-level install.", "cites": [{"id": 795817313, "item_id": 49738582, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49738582", "by": "tetris11", "date": "2026-09-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "requires only a small user-level installation and a folder specific deployment", "excerpt": "I love Guix, I just hate that it requires such an invasive installation for it to work. Compare it to pixi for example which has all the same features (pixi shell, pixi run, pixi pack, etc.) and requires only a small user-level installation and a folder specific deployment", "context": "", "use_case": "package/environment management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Back to the future: modules for Guix packages (2022)"}]}, {"text": " The only caveat raised is that projects needing just Python and PyPI packages may not need Conda tooling at all, since plain uv works.", "cites": [{"id": 742435696, "item_id": 46402231, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46402231", "by": "optionalsquid", "date": "2025-12-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "You could use pixi instead, as a much nicer/saner alternative to conda", "excerpt": "You could use pixi instead, as a much nicer/saner alternative to conda: https://pixi.sh Though in this particular case, you don't even need conda. You just need python 3.13 and a virtual environment. If you have uv installed, then it's even easier: git clone https://github.com/apple/ml-sharp.git cd ml-sharp uv sync uv run sharp", "context": "", "use_case": "Python environment management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple releases open-source model that instantly turns 2D photos into 3D views"}]}], "praise": [{"label": "Better Conda", "summary": "Described as a nicer, saner alternative to conda, essentially uv for the Conda ecosystem.", "quotes": [{"id": 759698336, "item_id": 47481146, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47481146", "by": "roflcopter69", "date": "2026-03-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "pixi (https://github.com/prefix-dev/pixi) which kinda is a uv for the Conda ecosystem. Highly recommend!", "excerpt": "+1 for Conda. I also have to mention pixi (https://github.com/prefix-dev/pixi) which kinda is a uv for the Conda ecosystem. Highly recommend!", "context": "", "use_case": "Conda ecosystem package management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Thoughts on OpenAI acquiring Astral and uv/ruff/ty"}, {"id": 742435696, "item_id": 46402231, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46402231", "by": "optionalsquid", "date": "2025-12-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "You could use pixi instead, as a much nicer/saner alternative to conda", "excerpt": "You could use pixi instead, as a much nicer/saner alternative to conda: https://pixi.sh Though in this particular case, you don't even need conda. You just need python 3.13 and a virtual environment. If you have uv installed, then it's even easier: git clone https://github.com/apple/ml-sharp.git cd ml-sharp uv sync uv run sharp", "context": "", "use_case": "Python environment management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple releases open-source model that instantly turns 2D photos into 3D views"}, {"id": 732933712, "item_id": 45808357, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45808357", "by": "roflcopter69", "date": "2025-11-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "pixi turned out to be just what I needed", "excerpt": "I know, it's the title of their own post, but making it sound like pixi is only for robotics is underselling pixi quite heavily. Pixi is basically uv but for the conda ecosystem in the sense that it has all the goodness (fast and reliable dependency solver, smart caching, using hardlinks for environment installs to speed things up and save space) and makes the whole environment/dependency management for conda project", "context": "software needs to run on older macOS versions, Intel and Arm Macs", "use_case": "conda-ecosystem environment management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Pixi: Reproducible Package Management for Robotics"}]}, {"label": "Fast solver", "summary": "Uses uv's solver and caching, which commenters say is faster than mamba and speeds up installs.", "quotes": [{"id": 742426656, "item_id": 46401666, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46401666", "by": "optionalsquid", "date": "2025-12-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "You can also use pixi[1] if you want conda with uv's solver", "excerpt": "You can also use pixi[1] if you want conda with uv's solver, that does appears to be faster than the mamba solver. Though the main reasons I recommend pixi, are that it doesn't have a tendency to break random stuff due to polluting your environment by default, and that it does a much better job of making your environments reproducible, among another benefits [1] https://pixi.sh/", "context": "", "use_case": "Python/conda environments", "switched_from": "", "story": "How uv got so fast"}, {"id": 732933712, "item_id": 45808357, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45808357", "by": "roflcopter69", "date": "2025-11-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "pixi turned out to be just what I needed", "excerpt": "I know, it's the title of their own post, but making it sound like pixi is only for robotics is underselling pixi quite heavily. Pixi is basically uv but for the conda ecosystem in the sense that it has all the goodness (fast and reliable dependency solver, smart caching, using hardlinks for environment installs to speed things up and save space) and makes the whole environment/dependency management for conda project", "context": "software needs to run on older macOS versions, Intel and Arm Macs", "use_case": "conda-ecosystem environment management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Pixi: Reproducible Package Management for Robotics"}]}, {"label": "Reproducible environments", "summary": "Keeps environments isolated and reproducible instead of polluting the user's setup.", "quotes": [{"id": 742426656, "item_id": 46401666, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46401666", "by": "optionalsquid", "date": "2025-12-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "You can also use pixi[1] if you want conda with uv's solver", "excerpt": "You can also use pixi[1] if you want conda with uv's solver, that does appears to be faster than the mamba solver. Though the main reasons I recommend pixi, are that it doesn't have a tendency to break random stuff due to polluting your environment by default, and that it does a much better job of making your environments reproducible, among another benefits [1] https://pixi.sh/", "context": "", "use_case": "Python/conda environments", "switched_from": "", "story": "How uv got so fast"}, {"id": 795817313, "item_id": 49738582, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49738582", "by": "tetris11", "date": "2026-09-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "requires only a small user-level installation and a folder specific deployment", "excerpt": "I love Guix, I just hate that it requires such an invasive installation for it to work. Compare it to pixi for example which has all the same features (pixi shell, pixi run, pixi pack, etc.) and requires only a small user-level installation and a folder specific deployment", "context": "", "use_case": "package/environment management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Back to the future: modules for Guix packages (2022)"}, {"id": 732933712, "item_id": 45808357, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45808357", "by": "roflcopter69", "date": "2025-11-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "pixi turned out to be just what I needed", "excerpt": "I know, it's the title of their own post, but making it sound like pixi is only for robotics is underselling pixi quite heavily. Pixi is basically uv but for the conda ecosystem in the sense that it has all the goodness (fast and reliable dependency solver, smart caching, using hardlinks for environment installs to speed things up and save space) and makes the whole environment/dependency management for conda project", "context": "software needs to run on older macOS versions, Intel and Arm Macs", "use_case": "conda-ecosystem environment management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Pixi: Reproducible Package Management for Robotics"}]}, {"label": "Light install", "summary": "Needs only a small user-level installation, unlike more invasive tools such as Guix.", "quotes": [{"id": 795817313, "item_id": 49738582, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49738582", "by": "tetris11", "date": "2026-09-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "requires only a small user-level installation and a folder specific deployment", "excerpt": "I love Guix, I just hate that it requires such an invasive installation for it to work. Compare it to pixi for example which has all the same features (pixi shell, pixi run, pixi pack, etc.) and requires only a small user-level installation and a folder specific deployment", "context": "", "use_case": "package/environment management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Back to the future: modules for Guix packages (2022)"}]}, {"label": "Niche builds", "summary": "Streamlined builds in Conda-only niches like ROS and Python WASM distributions with emscripten-forge.", "quotes": [{"id": 732919168, "item_id": 45807448, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45807448", "by": "ivaniscoding", "date": "2025-11-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Pixi is the only tool that streamlined my build process.", "excerpt": "I think people have been sleeping on Pixi. There has been a lot of hype about uv lately and lots of the praise apply to Pixi as well! Pixi shines in those niches where Conda was the only option. It seems ROS is one of them. I have been using Pixi with emscripten-forge to create Python WASM distributions. It\u2019s another niche with a lack of tooling. Pixi is the only tool that streamlined my build process. Keep up with t", "context": "", "use_case": "building Python WASM distributions", "switched_from": "", "story": "Pixi: Reproducible Package Management for Robotics"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "Often unnecessary", "summary": "For projects that only need Python and PyPI packages, plain uv may be enough.", "quotes": [{"id": 742435696, "item_id": 46402231, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46402231", "by": "optionalsquid", "date": "2025-12-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "You could use pixi instead, as a much nicer/saner alternative to conda", "excerpt": "You could use pixi instead, as a much nicer/saner alternative to conda: https://pixi.sh Though in this particular case, you don't even need conda. You just need python 3.13 and a virtual environment. If you have uv installed, then it's even easier: git clone https://github.com/apple/ml-sharp.git cd ml-sharp uv sync uv run sharp", "context": "", "use_case": "Python environment management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple releases open-source model that instantly turns 2D photos into 3D views"}]}], "who": [{"by": "jacobtomlinson", "context": "author of a post on Python package managers", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45968346", "date": "2025-11-18"}, {"by": "roflcopter69", "context": "software needs to run on older macOS versions, Intel and Arm Macs", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45808357", "date": "2025-11-03"}], "tags": ["for Conda users", "for Python developers", "for robotics/ROS", "for WASM builds"], "use_cases": ["package/environment management", "conda ecosystem package management", "python environment management", "python/conda environments", "python package management", "conda-ecosystem environment management"], "compared": [{"slug": "uv", "name": "uv", "co": 6, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "conda", "name": "Conda", "co": 5, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45695712", "title": "Pixi: Reproducible Package Management for Robotics", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49713868", "title": "Back to the future: modules for Guix packages (2022)", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47443675", "title": "Thoughts on OpenAI acquiring Astral and uv/ruff/ty", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46401539", "title": "Apple releases open-source model that instantly turns 2D photos into 3D views", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46393992", "title": "How uv got so fast", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45968309", "title": "Python package managers: uv vs. pixi?", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"recommend": 3}, "2025-12": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 795817313, "item_id": 49738582, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49738582", "by": "tetris11", "date": "2026-09-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "requires only a small user-level installation and a folder specific deployment", "excerpt": "I love Guix, I just hate that it requires such an invasive installation for it to work. Compare it to pixi for example which has all the same features (pixi shell, pixi run, pixi pack, etc.) and requires only a small user-level installation and a folder specific deployment", "context": "", "use_case": "package/environment management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Back to the future: modules for Guix packages (2022)"}, {"id": 759698336, "item_id": 47481146, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47481146", "by": "roflcopter69", "date": "2026-03-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "pixi (https://github.com/prefix-dev/pixi) which kinda is a uv for the Conda ecosystem. Highly recommend!", "excerpt": "+1 for Conda. I also have to mention pixi (https://github.com/prefix-dev/pixi) which kinda is a uv for the Conda ecosystem. Highly recommend!", "context": "", "use_case": "Conda ecosystem package management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Thoughts on OpenAI acquiring Astral and uv/ruff/ty"}, {"id": 742435696, "item_id": 46402231, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46402231", "by": "optionalsquid", "date": "2025-12-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "You could use pixi instead, as a much nicer/saner alternative to conda", "excerpt": "You could use pixi instead, as a much nicer/saner alternative to conda: https://pixi.sh Though in this particular case, you don't even need conda. You just need python 3.13 and a virtual environment. If you have uv installed, then it's even easier: git clone https://github.com/apple/ml-sharp.git cd ml-sharp uv sync uv run sharp", "context": "", "use_case": "Python environment management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple releases open-source model that instantly turns 2D photos into 3D views"}, {"id": 742426656, "item_id": 46401666, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46401666", "by": "optionalsquid", "date": "2025-12-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "You can also use pixi[1] if you want conda with uv's solver", "excerpt": "You can also use pixi[1] if you want conda with uv's solver, that does appears to be faster than the mamba solver. Though the main reasons I recommend pixi, are that it doesn't have a tendency to break random stuff due to polluting your environment by default, and that it does a much better job of making your environments reproducible, among another benefits [1] https://pixi.sh/", "context": "", "use_case": "Python/conda environments", "switched_from": "", "story": "How uv got so fast"}, {"id": 735493536, "item_id": 45968346, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45968346", "by": "jacobtomlinson", "date": "2025-11-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "For Python package management I use a mixture of pixi, uv and conda depending on the task I'm doing.", "excerpt": "Author of the post here. For Python package management I use a mixture of pixi, uv and conda depending on the task I'm doing. I wrote up a long form post about the history of these tools, why each one exists, and why I settled on these choices in my workflow. I hope this is interesting to folks who want to learn more about why Python package tooling is so fragmented!", "context": "author of a post on Python package managers", "use_case": "Python package management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Python package managers: uv vs. pixi?"}, {"id": 732933712, "item_id": 45808357, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45808357", "by": "roflcopter69", "date": "2025-11-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "pixi turned out to be just what I needed", "excerpt": "I know, it's the title of their own post, but making it sound like pixi is only for robotics is underselling pixi quite heavily. Pixi is basically uv but for the conda ecosystem in the sense that it has all the goodness (fast and reliable dependency solver, smart caching, using hardlinks for environment installs to speed things up and save space) and makes the whole environment/dependency management for conda project", "context": "software needs to run on older macOS versions, Intel and Arm Macs", "use_case": "conda-ecosystem environment management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Pixi: Reproducible Package Management for Robotics"}, {"id": 732919168, "item_id": 45807448, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45807448", "by": "ivaniscoding", "date": "2025-11-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Pixi is the only tool that streamlined my build process.", "excerpt": "I think people have been sleeping on Pixi. There has been a lot of hype about uv lately and lots of the praise apply to Pixi as well! Pixi shines in those niches where Conda was the only option. It seems ROS is one of them. I have been using Pixi with emscripten-forge to create Python WASM distributions. It\u2019s another niche with a lack of tooling. Pixi is the only tool that streamlined my build process. Keep up with t", "context": "", "use_case": "building Python WASM distributions", "switched_from": "", "story": "Pixi: Reproducible Package Management for Robotics"}]}