piccolo
A fast, user friendly ORM and query builder which supports asyncio.
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. Piccolo is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, low install friction, and a permissive MIT license. It fills a clear niche for developers building async Python applications who want a modern, type-annotated ORM with built-in admin and auth features. Start with the playground and docs to evaluate fit for your use case.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python 3.10 or later.
- Async code must run in an asyncio event loop; sync usage is also supported but the package is designed around async-first patterns.
- Low install friction with a pure-Python wheel distribution.
License · maintenance · safety
MIT (permissive) — MIT license is permissive, allowing use in commercial and proprietary projects with minimal restrictions—only requiring attribution and including a copy of the license.
last release 2026-07-27 (18 days) · last repo commit 2026-08-07 · 1,937 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 706,802 downloads/mo, #5,269 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install 'piccolo[postgres]'
from piccolo.orm import Table, Varchar, Integer
await Band.select(Band.name).where(Band.popularity > 100)- Whether the built-in User model and authentication features are production-ready or require additional configuration.
- Performance characteristics under high concurrency or large result sets compared to other async ORMs.
- Extent of tab completion support in different IDEs beyond iPython and VSCode.
- Whether Piccolo Admin and Piccolo API are included or require separate installation.
What it is and what it does
Piccolo is an ORM and query builder built for async Python applications, supporting both sync and async workflows. It provides a clean, expressive syntax for selecting, joining, updating, and deleting records, and includes batteries like migrations, a User model with authentication, a built-in playground for learning, and an admin GUI. The package is fully type-annotated and designed to work with modern Python versions (3.10+).
You use it either as a traditional ORM (creating objects, saving, fetching, and removing them) or as a query builder (composing select, join, update, and delete queries directly). It integrates with ASGI frameworks and includes utilities for scaffolding web apps. The ecosystem extends to Piccolo Admin and Piccolo API, though those are separate packages.
Use it for
- Build async web applications using Piccolo as the database layer with type-safe queries.
- Scaffold a new ASGI web app with built-in authentication and admin interface using the `piccolo asgi new` command.
- Write async data pipelines or background tasks that need clean, expressive database access without blocking.
- Manage database schema and migrations in an async-first codebase with Piccolo's migration system.
- Query and manipulate data using either ORM-style or query-builder-style syntax depending on the task.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
Piccolo is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, low install friction, and a permissive MIT license. It fills a clear niche for developers building async Python applications who want a modern, type-annotated ORM with built-in admin and auth features. Start with the playground and docs to evaluate fit for your use case.
Install
piccolo on PyPI
Before you install
Low install friction with a pure-Python wheel distribution. The package is actively maintained with a recent release (18 days old) and steady commit activity. Seven runtime dependencies are all well-established libraries, posing no unusual installation risk.
Requires Python 3.10 or later. Async code must run in an asyncio event loop; sync usage is also supported but the package is designed around async-first patterns.
License in practice
MIT license is permissive, allowing use in commercial and proprietary projects with minimal restrictions—only requiring attribution and including a copy of the license.
Quickstart
pip install 'piccolo[postgres]'
from piccolo.orm import Table, Varchar, Integer
await Band.select(Band.name).where(Band.popularity > 100)Verify before relying
- Whether the built-in User model and authentication features are production-ready or require additional configuration.
- Performance characteristics under high concurrency or large result sets compared to other async ORMs.
- Extent of tab completion support in different IDEs beyond iPython and VSCode.
- Whether Piccolo Admin and Piccolo API are included or require separate installation.
Package facts
| License | MIT permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.10.0 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 7 packagesblackcoloramaJinja2targinflectiontyping-extensionspydantic |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 18 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 706,802 / month, #5,269 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Framework :: AsyncIOLicense :: OSI Approved :: MIT LicenseProgramming Language :: PythonProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: 3.14Programming Language :: Python :: Implementation :: CPythonTopic :: DatabaseTyping :: Typed |
Evidence: piccolo-1.36.0-py3-none-any.whl
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See also piccolo-admin · piccolo-api · tortoise-orm · ormar · databases · asyncpg-trek · sqladmin · fastapi-users-db-sqlalchemy · django-query-builder · asyncpg