What is the difference between venv, pyvenv, pyenv, virtualenv, virtualenvwrapper, pipenv, etc.

Better Stack Team

Updated on February 3, 2023

venv, pyvenv, and pyenv are all tools that can be used to create isolated Python environments. virtualenv and virtualenvwrapper are similar tools that can also create isolated Python environments. pipenv is a tool that combines virtualenv with pip, the Python package manager.

Here is a brief overview of each tool:

venv is a built-in module in Python 3.3 and later versions that allows you to create isolated Python environments. It is similar to virtualenv, but it is installed by default with Python.
pyvenv is a script that comes with Python 3.3 and later versions that allows you to create virtual environments. It is a wrapper around the venv module, and it provides the same functionality as venv.
pyenv is a third-party tool that allows you to manage multiple Python versions on the same machine and create virtual environments. It is not related to venv or virtualenv, but it provides similar functionality.
virtualenv is a third-party tool that allows you to create isolated Python environments. It is not installed by default with Python, but it can be installed using pip.
virtualenvwrapper is a set of shell scripts that provide additional functionality on top of virtualenv. It allows you to manage multiple virtual environments more easily and provides some additional features such as the ability to specify which virtual environment should be used for a particular project.
pipenv is a tool that combines virtualenv with pip. It allows you to create virtual environments and manage Python packages for your projects. It is designed to be more user-friendly than using virtualenv and pip separately.