arrow
Better dates & times for Python
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. Arrow is a mature, actively maintained library with no security issues, low install friction, and a permissive license. It solves a genuine usability problem in Python's datetime ecosystem and is widely used (top 1000 on PyPI). Install it if you work with dates and times frequently and want cleaner, less verbose code.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Low friction installation with a pure-Python wheel.
- The package is actively maintained with recent commits, has been stable since its early releases, and depends only on three well-established libraries: python-dateutil, backports.zoneinfo, and tzdata.
License · maintenance · safety
permissive license (permissive) — Licensed under Apache Software License (permissive), which allows commercial use, modification, and distribution with minimal restrictions—suitable for most projects.
last release 2025-10-18 (300 days) · last repo commit 2026-06-22 · 9,049 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 80,661,261 downloads/mo, #418 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install arrow
import arrow
utc = arrow.utcnow()
local = utc.to('US/Pacific')
print(local.format('YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:ss ZZ'))What it is and what it does
Arrow is a Python library that wraps and extends the standard datetime module to provide a more developer-friendly interface for working with dates, times, and timezones. Instead of juggling multiple modules (datetime, time, calendar, dateutil, pytz), you work with a single Arrow object that is timezone-aware by default and handles common operations—parsing ISO 8601 strings, shifting times by relative offsets, converting between timezones, formatting output, and humanizing dates—with minimal boilerplate.
The library is built on top of python-dateutil, backports.zoneinfo, and tzdata, and is designed as a drop-in replacement for datetime in many scenarios. It supports Python 3.8 and later, maintains active development, and has no known security vulnerabilities. Use it when you want cleaner, less verbose code for date and time operations without learning multiple APIs.
Use it for
- Parse and manipulate ISO 8601 timestamps from APIs or logs with a single method call.
- Convert times between timezones and format them for display without verbose timezone object setup.
- Generate human-readable relative time strings ('an hour ago', '3 days from now') for user interfaces.
- Shift dates and times by relative offsets (weeks, months, hours) more intuitively than timedelta.
- Handle timezone-aware datetime operations by default instead of managing naive vs. aware objects.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
Arrow is a mature, actively maintained library with no security issues, low install friction, and a permissive license. It solves a genuine usability problem in Python's datetime ecosystem and is widely used (top 1000 on PyPI). Install it if you work with dates and times frequently and want cleaner, less verbose code.
Install
arrow on PyPI
Before you install
Low friction installation with a pure-Python wheel. The package is actively maintained with recent commits, has been stable since its early releases, and depends only on three well-established libraries: python-dateutil, backports.zoneinfo, and tzdata.
License in practice
Licensed under Apache Software License (permissive), which allows commercial use, modification, and distribution with minimal restrictions—suitable for most projects.
Quickstart
pip install arrow
import arrow
utc = arrow.utcnow()
local = utc.to('US/Pacific')
print(local.format('YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:ss ZZ'))Package facts
| License | permissive license permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.8 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 3 packagespython-dateutilbackports.zoneinfotzdata |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 300 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 80,661,261 / month, #418 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Development Status :: 5 - Production/StableIntended Audience :: DevelopersIntended Audience :: Information TechnologyLicense :: OSI Approved :: Apache Software LicenseOperating System :: OS IndependentProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3 :: OnlyProgramming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: 3.14Programming Language :: Python :: 3.8Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9Topic :: Software Development :: Libraries :: Python Modules |
Evidence: arrow-1.4.0-py3-none-any.whl
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See also delorean · iso8601 · maya · moment · pendulum · times · aniso8601 · isodate · backports-datetime-fromisoformat · prefixdate