django-guardian
Per object permissions for Django
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. django-guardian is a mature, actively maintained library with no known vulnerabilities, low install friction, and permissive licensing. It solves a real problem—per-object permissions—that Django's built-in system does not address. Use it when you need fine-grained access control beyond model-level permissions.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires running `python manage.py migrate` to create guardian database tables after installation.
- Low friction install with only django and typing_extensions as runtime dependencies.
- The package is actively maintained with a recent release (23 days old) and has been stable since its early releases, supporting Django 3.2 through 5.2 and Python 3.10–3.14.
License · maintenance · safety
BSD-2-Clause (permissive) — BSD-2-Clause is permissive, allowing commercial use, modification, and distribution with minimal restrictions—suitable for most projects.
last release 2026-07-22 (23 days) · last repo commit 2026-07-30 · 3,910 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 1,082,111 downloads/mo, #4,395 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install django-guardian
# In settings.py:
INSTALLED_APPS = (..., 'guardian')
AUTHENTICATION_BACKENDS = (
'django.contrib.auth.backends.ModelBackend',
'guardian.backends.ObjectPermissionBackend',
)
# Then:
from guardian.shortcuts import assign_perm
assign_perm('change_group', user, obj=group_instance)- Performance impact when checking permissions on large numbers of objects or users.
- Compatibility with custom authentication backends beyond those documented.
What it is and what it does
django-guardian extends Django's built-in permission system to support per-object (row-level) access control. Instead of granting a user permission to change all instances of a model, you can grant permission to change a specific instance. It works by adding an extra authentication backend and database tables to track object-level grants for users and groups.
The package integrates directly into Django's permission checking—you use the same `has_perm()` method but pass an object instance as a third argument. It also provides admin integration through `GuardedModelAdmin` so you can manage object permissions in the Django admin panel. The library is widely used in production and supports modern Django versions (3.2–5.2) and Python 3.10+.
Use it for
- Grant specific team members access to edit only their own projects or documents in a multi-tenant app.
- Implement row-level security where users can only view/modify records they own or have been assigned.
- Build admin panels where staff can manage permissions for individual model instances without code changes.
- Control access to sensitive objects (e.g., reports, files) on a per-user or per-group basis within a single model.
- Enforce organizational hierarchies where managers can only access records for their department or team.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
django-guardian is a mature, actively maintained library with no known vulnerabilities, low install friction, and permissive licensing. It solves a real problem—per-object permissions—that Django's built-in system does not address. Use it when you need fine-grained access control beyond model-level permissions.
Install
django-guardian on PyPI
Before you install
Low friction install with only django and typing_extensions as runtime dependencies. The package is actively maintained with a recent release (23 days old) and has been stable since its early releases, supporting Django 3.2 through 5.2 and Python 3.10–3.14.
Requires running `python manage.py migrate` to create guardian database tables after installation.
License in practice
BSD-2-Clause is permissive, allowing commercial use, modification, and distribution with minimal restrictions—suitable for most projects.
Quickstart
pip install django-guardian
# In settings.py:
INSTALLED_APPS = (..., 'guardian')
AUTHENTICATION_BACKENDS = (
'django.contrib.auth.backends.ModelBackend',
'guardian.backends.ObjectPermissionBackend',
)
# Then:
from guardian.shortcuts import assign_perm
assign_perm('change_group', user, obj=group_instance)Verify before relying
- Performance impact when checking permissions on large numbers of objects or users.
- Compatibility with custom authentication backends beyond those documented.
Package facts
| License | BSD-2-Clause permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.10 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 2 packagesdjangotyping_extensions |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 23 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 1,082,111 / month, #4,395 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 :: Web EnvironmentFramework :: DjangoFramework :: Django :: 3.2Framework :: Django :: 4.1Framework :: Django :: 4.2Framework :: Django :: 5.0Framework :: Django :: 5.1Framework :: Django :: 5.2Intended Audience :: DevelopersLicense :: OSI Approved :: BSD LicenseOperating System :: OS IndependentProgramming Language :: PythonProgramming Language :: Python :: 3 :: OnlyProgramming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: 3.14Topic :: SecurityTopic :: Software Development :: Libraries :: Python Modules |
Evidence: django_guardian-3.3.3-py3-none-any.whl
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See also djangorestframework-guardian · django-object-actions · dry-rest-permissions · bridgekeeper · djangorestframework-role-filters · django-prbac · django-read-only · django-hijack · rules · drf-access-policy