| conda-forge miniforge | Installs, runs, and updates packages and their dependencies. Uses conda, but with community maintained packages from conda-forge channel instead of commercially maintained packages. | Best |
| uv | Fast dependency (and project) management tool. A drop-in replacement for venv. This will probably become our Best tool, but for now we are playing cautious as there are some open bugs and features. If you’re comfortable using venv syntax we’d recommend this. | Good |
| pipenv | Automatically creates and manages a virtualenv for your projects. | Good |
| pixi | A fast drop-in replacement for conda. | Good |
| pyenv | Lets you easily switch between multiple versions of Python. | Good |
| virtualenv | Creates isolated Python environments, and offers more features than venv. | Good |
| venv | Creates isolated Python environments. Fewer features than other tools, but very widely used and comes built into Python. | Good |
| anaconda | Due to recent licensing ambiguity, we recommend avoiding anaconda and many of the default channels. We recommend installing miniforge and sticking to the conda-forge channel. | Avoid |