---
id: piccolo
version: "1.36.0"
license: MIT
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# piccolo — A fast, user friendly ORM and query builder which supports asyncio.

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 706.8K/mo

## 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 above — verify before relying.

Piccolo is an async-first ORM and query builder for Python that supports both sync and async workflows, with built-in migrations, a playground, and admin interface.

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

pip install piccolo
uv add piccolo
poetry add piccolo

## Installing piccolo

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.

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)

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.

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_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 706.8K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

async ORM Python, asyncio database query builder, async SQL ORM, Python async database, async migrations ORM, type-annotated ORM, fast async database ORM, async-first, type-annotated, query-builder

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