colorama
Cross-platform colored terminal text.
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. Colorama is a mature, zero-dependency library solving a real cross-platform problem with low install friction and no security vulnerabilities. Install it if you need colored terminal output to work on Windows or want to use ANSI-based libraries portably; skip it only if you target non-Windows platforms exclusively and have no dependency on ANSI-generating code.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Low friction: pure Python wheel with no runtime dependencies and no compiled requirements.
- Actively maintained with recent commits and stable production status.
License · maintenance · safety
permissive license (permissive) — Permissive BSD license allows unrestricted use, modification, and distribution in both open-source and commercial projects.
last release 2022-10-25 (1389 days) · last repo commit 2026-05-13 · 3,793 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 431,035,221 downloads/mo, #97 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install colorama
from colorama import just_fix_windows_console, Fore
just_fix_windows_console()
print(Fore.RED + 'colored text')- Whether the package actively fixes new issues or maintains only for backwards compatibility as stated in docs
What it is and what it does
Colorama is a lightweight library that enables ANSI escape sequences—the standard way to produce colored terminal text on Unix and Mac—to work on Windows as well. It does this by wrapping stdout and stderr to intercept ANSI codes and convert them into equivalent win32 API calls that modify the terminal state. On non-Windows platforms, it passes through without overhead.
The package provides two initialization approaches: `just_fix_windows_console()` for modern Windows 10+ systems (recommended), which enables native ANSI support, or `init()` for older Windows versions, which wraps streams to emulate ANSI behavior. It also exports simple constants like `Fore.RED`, `Back.GREEN`, and `Style.BRIGHT` for basic colored output, though it is designed to work alongside richer ANSI libraries like termcolor, Blessings, or Rich rather than replace them.
Use it for
- Enable colored output from existing Unix/Linux CLI tools and libraries when running on Windows without code changes
- Build cross-platform Python CLI applications that emit ANSI color codes and work identically on all operating systems
- Wrap third-party ANSI-generating libraries to make their output work on Windows terminals
- Add simple colored text output to Python scripts without platform-specific conditionals
- Ensure terminal applications display colors consistently across development and production environments
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
Colorama is a mature, zero-dependency library solving a real cross-platform problem with low install friction and no security vulnerabilities. Install it if you need colored terminal output to work on Windows or want to use ANSI-based libraries portably; skip it only if you target non-Windows platforms exclusively and have no dependency on ANSI-generating code.
Install
colorama on PyPI
Before you install
Low friction: pure Python wheel with no runtime dependencies and no compiled requirements. Actively maintained with recent commits and stable production status.
License in practice
Permissive BSD license allows unrestricted use, modification, and distribution in both open-source and commercial projects.
Quickstart
pip install colorama
from colorama import just_fix_windows_console, Fore
just_fix_windows_console()
print(Fore.RED + 'colored text')Verify before relying
- Whether the package actively fixes new issues or maintains only for backwards compatibility as stated in docs
Package facts
| License | permissive license permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release !=3.0.*,!=3.1.*,!=3.2.*,!=3.3.*,!=3.4.*,!=3.5.*,!=3.6.*,>=2.7 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | None |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 1,389 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 431,035,221 / month, #97 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 :: ConsoleIntended Audience :: DevelopersLicense :: OSI Approved :: BSD LicenseOperating System :: OS IndependentProgramming Language :: PythonProgramming Language :: Python :: 2Programming Language :: Python :: 2.7Programming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.7Programming Language :: Python :: 3.8Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9Programming Language :: Python :: Implementation :: CPythonProgramming Language :: Python :: Implementation :: PyPyTopic :: Terminals |
Evidence: colorama-0.4.6-py2.py3-none-any.whl
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See also colored · strip-ansi · pansi · colorclass · ansi · ansimarkup · ansi2txt · cursor · win_unicode_console