uv
Fast Python package and project manager from Astral, written in Rust.
HN commenters praise uv for making Python environments, versions and lockfiles far less painful1234, and many also note its speed.5678 The most common complaints are an awkward, fragmented CLI and painful dependency upgrades9101112, and some say the speed barely matters in practice.131415
Why people recommend it
Simpler workflows · 3
Commenters say uv takes much of the pain out of managing Python projects and environments.
“Uv hasn't fixed all issues, but made it far less painful.”
“you might come for the speed, but you stay because it works so well.”
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“I can use uv here and now to greatly simplify my workflows, so I use it.”
Speed · 3
Several users find uv much faster than the tools it replaced.
“uv offers a lot of actual valuable features and simplified some of my flows, so it's now my main Python project manager”
“I definitely appreciate a 16x speedup if possible.”
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“experience its speed and other useful features that you fully get why so many people switch from pip or poetry”
Envs and locking · 3
Users like how uv handles virtual environments, sane locking and reproducible syncs.
“I use it because it's smart enough to manage virtual environments for each environment and tool”
“Highly recommend if you are still on pip.”
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“we just run `uv lock --upgrade` every 2 weeks through GH actions.”
Python versions · 3
uv can pin and install Python versions and keep them apart from the system Python.
“I highly recommend UV”
“I recommend you stick with uv and set the env var: UV_MANAGED_PYTHON=true”
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“these self-contained Pythons which I use via uv”
Scripts and installs · 3
Users like it for scripts with inline dependencies and for installing tools straight from git.
“The one use I can give it is for running scripts with inline dependencies. I have found it a noticeable improvement over pipx there.”
“it makes it very convenient to install directly from a git repository and then to subsequently update from same repository”
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“To me this script feels like the best of both worlds and something genuinely sane to build upon.”
Agent-friendly · 3
Commands like "uv run pytest" let coding agents run tests without setting up an environment first.
“Run "uv run pytest"”
“I start every one of my coding agent sessions with "run uv run pytest"”
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“such as using `uv` for running Python when needed”
Caveats and dissent
CLI UX · 3
Users call the CLI fragmented, with key commands hidden under "uv pip" or missing entirely.
“I love uv for so many things, but updating dependencies to latest versions that are compatible with everything else in the project is so much more painful in uv than in poetry.”
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Dependency upgrades · 2
Upgrading dependencies is described as more painful than in Poetry and does not update pyproject.toml.
“I love uv for so many things, but updating dependencies to latest versions that are compatible with everything else in the project is so much more painful in uv than in poetry.”
“I love using uv and would be supper happy if it allowed me not only to add and remove”
Speed overrated · 3
Some argue faster installs make little real difference to development time.
“the acclaimed 10x more speed doesn't really matter for installing dependencies”
“I remain baffled about these posts getting excited about uv’s speed.”
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“The one use I can give it is for running scripts with inline dependencies. I have found it a noticeable improvement over pipx there.”
Compatibility issues · 3
Users report problems with WSL2 setups, tkinter on uv-managed Python, and certificate handling.
“WSL2 + Windows filesystem + uv did not work well together.”
“uv offers a lot of actual valuable features and simplified some of my flows, so it's now my main Python project manager”
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Ownership worries · 2
Some fans worry about uv's long-term future after the reported acquisition of Astral.
“I think it's one of the best tools around for Python ecosystem”
“I love uv and the other tooling Astral has built.”
Often compared with
Who recommends it in their own words
From the makers not counted in the ranking
“These are the Python distributions we use in uv (https://github.com/astral-sh/uv)”
“(I work on uv)”
Threads where it came up
- uv: Deduplicate all files in the wheel cache 6 mentions
- Bringing uv and ty together 5 mentions
- Uv is fantastic, but its package management UX is a mess 3 mentions
- Astral to Join OpenAI 3 mentions
- How uv got so fast 3 mentions
- Uv 0.12.0 2 mentions
Data: uv.json. Quotes are verbatim; the verdict and theme labels are written by a model from these comments, and every clause links to its sources.
All comments 45
“uv is life-changing”
“uv seems to be hyped a lot and I still do not understand why.”
“These days all my project use uv for project management and ruff for linting and formatting.”
“I love Astral’s tools”
“Uv hasn't fixed all issues, but made it far less painful.”
“Were it not for astral tooling like uv, I would have abandoned it in a few weeks.”
“uv offers a lot of actual valuable features and simplified some of my flows, so it's now my main Python project manager”
“So I am happy to have uv.”
“I've standardized my config scripts on using language managers for those tools (go, cargo, uv)”
“I tried using that model for a uv/Python project”
“I love `uv`”
“I use it because it's smart enough to manage virtual environments for each environment and tool”
“The one use I can give it is for running scripts with inline dependencies. I have found it a noticeable improvement over pipx there.”
“I can use uv here and now to greatly simplify my workflows, so I use it.”
“rather than this uv thing which is a lot of different things at once”
“it makes it very convenient to install directly from a git repository and then to subsequently update from same repository”
“use uv - things like that.”
“such as using `uv` for running Python when needed”
“I love uv, but man the ux needs some work.”
“it's nicer/easier to use uv pip”
“these self-contained Pythons which I use via uv”
“I highly recommend UV”
“We get UV to generate a requirements.txt”
“other than `uv` and `ty`, I don't feel a whole lot has improved in Python land”
“WSL2 + Windows filesystem + uv did not work well together.”
“uv became a friend”
“we just run `uv lock --upgrade` every 2 weeks through GH actions.”
“I love uv for so many things, but updating dependencies to latest versions that are compatible with everything else in the project is so much more painful in uv than in poetry.”
“installing it with uv fits my workflow better”
“then it can do `uv add {dependency}`”
“the acclaimed 10x more speed doesn't really matter for installing dependencies”
“you might come for the speed, but you stay because it works so well.”
“whether uv has something similar, and indeed it does appear to”
“Sometimes I even prefer nix-shells over uv for quick one-off Python scripts.”
“write the Python Environment Management tooling in rust - so that it could never footgun itself”
“I think it's one of the best tools around for Python ecosystem”
“I love uv and the other tooling Astral has built.”
“Highly recommend if you are still on pip.”
“switched to uv from poetry”
“Run "uv run pytest"”
“uv solved packaging.”
“I definitely appreciate a 16x speedup if possible.”
“experience its speed and other useful features that you fully get why so many people switch from pip or poetry”
“I remain baffled about these posts getting excited about uv’s speed.”
“I love using uv and would be supper happy if it allowed me not only to add and remove”