asv
Airspeed Velocity: A simple Python history benchmarking tool
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes, if you maintain a Python package and want systematic performance tracking. The active maintenance, permissive license, and lack of known vulnerabilities make it safe to adopt. Medium install friction is reasonable for the functionality gained. Not necessary for one-off benchmarking or small projects where ad-hoc performance testing suffices.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python 3.9+; virtualenv must be available; project must be in a git repository for historical benchmarking.
- Medium install friction due to 11 runtime dependencies including virtualenv, build, and pympler.
- Actively maintained with a recent release (48 days old) and steady repository activity; supports modern Python versions (3.9+).
License · maintenance · safety
BSD-3-Clause (permissive) — BSD-3-Clause permissive license allows commercial and private use with minimal restrictions; attribution required.
last release 2026-06-27 (48 days) · last repo commit 2026-08-04 · 1,012 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 657,049 downloads/mo, #5,481 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install asv
# In your project root, create asv.conf.json with benchmark suite config
# Then run:
asv run
# Generate and serve results:
asv publish
asv preview- Whether the web frontend requires specific server configuration beyond static hosting
- Performance overhead of benchmarking itself on large test suites
- Compatibility with CI/CD platforms beyond what the fact sheet indicates
What it is and what it does
asv is a benchmarking framework designed to measure and track performance changes in Python projects across their version history. It runs a suite of benchmarks against different commits or releases, stores results, and renders them in an interactive web interface that can be hosted on any static server. The tool is built around the idea that performance regressions matter and should be visible alongside code changes.
The package depends on virtualenv to isolate benchmark environments, build and packaging for managing project builds, and pympler for memory profiling. It also uses json5, pyyaml, tabulate, and colorama for configuration, output formatting, and terminal display. This dependency chain means installation requires a working Python environment with pip and some system-level tooling, but the payoff is a complete benchmarking pipeline that integrates with version control history.
Use it for
- Track performance regressions in a library across commits to catch slowdowns before they reach users.
- Generate a public performance dashboard for a project to demonstrate optimization work and stability.
- Compare benchmark results across Python versions to identify version-specific performance issues.
- Monitor memory usage trends in a package over time using profiling integration.
- Validate that optimization changes actually improve performance before merging to main.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes, if you maintain a Python package and want systematic performance tracking.
The active maintenance, permissive license, and lack of known vulnerabilities make it safe to adopt. Medium install friction is reasonable for the functionality gained. Not necessary for one-off benchmarking or small projects where ad-hoc performance testing suffices.
Install
asv on PyPI
Before you install
Medium install friction due to 11 runtime dependencies including virtualenv, build, and pympler. Actively maintained with a recent release (48 days old) and steady repository activity; supports modern Python versions (3.9+).
Requires Python 3.9+; virtualenv must be available; project must be in a git repository for historical benchmarking.
License in practice
BSD-3-Clause permissive license allows commercial and private use with minimal restrictions; attribution required.
Quickstart
pip install asv
# In your project root, create asv.conf.json with benchmark suite config
# Then run:
asv run
# Generate and serve results:
asv publish
asv previewVerify before relying
- Whether the web frontend requires specific server configuration beyond static hosting
- Performance overhead of benchmarking itself on large test suites
- Compatibility with CI/CD platforms beyond what the fact sheet indicates
Package facts
| License | BSD-3-Clause permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.9 |
| Install friction | Medium. Platform-specific wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 11 packagesasv-runnerjson5buildtabulatevirtualenvpackagingimportlib-metadatatomlicoloramapyyamlpympler |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 48 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 657,049 / month, #5,481 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/StableEnvironment :: ConsoleEnvironment :: Web EnvironmentOperating 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 :: 3.9Topic :: Software Development :: Testing |
Evidence: asv-0.6.6-cp314-cp314t-macosx_10_15_x86_64.whl; asv-0.6.6-cp314-cp314t-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl; asv-0.6.6-cp314-cp314t-manylinux2014_x86_64.manylinux_2_17_x86_64.whl; asv-0.6.6-cp314-cp314t-musllinux_1_2_x86_64.whl; asv-0.6.6-cp314-cp314t-win_amd64.whl; asv-0.6.6-cp36-abi3-macosx_10_9_x86_64.whl; asv-0.6.6-cp36-abi3-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl; asv-0.6.6-cp36-abi3-manylinux2014_x86_64.manylinux_2_17_x86_64.whl; asv-0.6.6-cp36-abi3-musllinux_1_2_x86_64.whl; asv-0.6.6-cp36-abi3-win_amd64.whl
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See also asv-runner · pytest-codspeed · fev · codeflash-benchmark · pyperf · pytest-benchmark · google-benchmark · msbench-utils · motmetrics · mteb