palettable
Color palettes for Python
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. Palettable is a lightweight, dependency-free utility with permissive licensing and no known vulnerabilities. It's well-suited for any Python project needing color palettes for visualization or web design. The aging maintenance status (last release 2023-04-19) is a minor note—the package is stable and feature-complete—but the recent repository activity suggests it's not abandoned. Install it if you want to avoid color-picking overhead.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Installation is straightforward with no runtime dependencies and a pure-Python wheel distribution.
- The package is aging—last release was 2023-04-19—but the repository remains active with a recent commit on 2025-08-23 and 816 stars, suggesting ongoing maintenance despite infrequent releases.
License · maintenance · safety
permissive license (permissive) — Licensed under MIT (permissive), allowing unrestricted use, modification, and distribution in both open-source and commercial projects with minimal obligations beyond attribution.
last release 2023-04-19 (1213 days) · last repo commit 2025-08-23 · 816 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 1,662,651 downloads/mo, #3,672 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install palettable
from palettable.cartocolors.sequential import Viridis_20
colors = Viridis_20.hex_colors- How many distinct color palettes are included in the library and which color systems they represent (e.g., ColorBrewer, Carto, Tableau).
- Whether matplotlib integration is automatic or requires explicit configuration steps beyond importing.
- Performance characteristics when working with large numbers of colors or in high-throughput visualization pipelines.
What it is and what it does
Palettable is a pure-Python library that bundles curated color palettes for use in data visualization and web design. It originated as brewer2mpl and provides ready-to-use color schemes that can be consumed directly as lists or integrated with matplotlib to style plots. The package has no runtime dependencies, making it lightweight to install and use.
Developers typically use Palettable to avoid hand-picking colors or reinventing color-selection logic. It's useful when you need a consistent, professionally-designed palette for matplotlib plots, web interfaces, or any context where you want to apply a predefined color scheme without building one from scratch. The library supports modern Python versions (3.7 through 3.11) and is classified under Scientific/Engineering Visualization.
Use it for
- Customize matplotlib plots with professional color schemes instead of default colors.
- Supply a consistent set of colors for web application interfaces and dashboards.
- Build data visualization tools that need multiple predefined color palettes for different contexts.
- Create accessible visualizations by selecting from palettes designed with perceptual uniformity in mind.
- Prototype multi-series plots quickly without manually defining RGB or hex color values.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
Palettable is a lightweight, dependency-free utility with permissive licensing and no known vulnerabilities. It's well-suited for any Python project needing color palettes for visualization or web design. The aging maintenance status (last release 2023-04-19) is a minor note—the package is stable and feature-complete—but the recent repository activity suggests it's not abandoned. Install it if you want to avoid color-picking overhead.
Install
palettable on PyPI
Before you install
Installation is straightforward with no runtime dependencies and a pure-Python wheel distribution. The package is aging—last release was 2023-04-19—but the repository remains active with a recent commit on 2025-08-23 and 816 stars, suggesting ongoing maintenance despite infrequent releases.
License in practice
Licensed under MIT (permissive), allowing unrestricted use, modification, and distribution in both open-source and commercial projects with minimal obligations beyond attribution.
Quickstart
pip install palettable
from palettable.cartocolors.sequential import Viridis_20
colors = Viridis_20.hex_colorsVerify before relying
- How many distinct color palettes are included in the library and which color systems they represent (e.g., ColorBrewer, Carto, Tableau).
- Whether matplotlib integration is automatic or requires explicit configuration steps beyond importing.
- Performance characteristics when working with large numbers of colors or in high-throughput visualization pipelines.
Package facts
| License | permissive license permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.7 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | None |
| Maintenance | Aging 1,213 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 1,662,651 / month, #3,672 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | License :: OSI Approved :: MIT LicenseProgramming Language :: PythonProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.7Programming Language :: Python :: 3.8Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9Topic :: Scientific/Engineering :: Visualization |
Evidence: palettable-3.3.3-py2.py3-none-any.whl
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