pip-chill
Like `pip freeze` but lists only the packages that are not dependencies of installed packages.
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. pip-chill solves a real problem—pip freeze is too verbose for most use cases—with zero installation friction, no dependencies, active maintenance, and a copyleft license that poses no practical barrier to use as a development tool. Install it if you regularly manage Python requirements files and want a cleaner alternative to pip freeze.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python 3.10 or later.
- Low friction: pure Python wheel with no runtime dependencies.
- Actively maintained as of March 2026, with 595 repository stars and a stable release history since 2016.
License · maintenance · safety
GPL-3.0-or-later (copyleft) — GPL-3.0-or-later (copyleft): you may use and modify pip-chill freely, but any derivative work or distribution must also be licensed under GPL-3.0 or later. This does not restrict use of the tool itself in your workflow.
last release 2026-03-15 (152 days) · last repo commit 2026-03-15 · 595 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 247,554 downloads/mo, #8,688 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
$ pip install pip-chill
$ pip-chill
# outputs top-level packages with versions
$ pip-chill --no-version
# outputs top-level packages without versions- Whether the tool correctly handles all edge cases in dependency graph resolution (e.g., circular or conditional dependencies).
- Performance characteristics with very large installed environments (thousands of packages).
What it is and what it does
pip-chill is a command-line tool that reads your current Python environment and outputs a requirements file containing only the packages you explicitly installed, omitting all their transitive dependencies. Unlike `pip freeze`, which lists every installed package regardless of whether you directly depend on it, pip-chill distinguishes between top-level packages and their dependencies, producing a cleaner and more maintainable requirements file.
The tool runs as a simple console command with optional flags to exclude version pinning, exclude pip-chill itself from the output, or include verbose dependency annotations. It has no runtime dependencies and supports Python 3.10 through 3.14, making it lightweight and easy to integrate into any Python workflow or CI/CD pipeline.
Use it for
- Generate a clean requirements.txt for a new project by capturing only the packages you explicitly installed.
- Audit and reduce bloat in an existing requirements file by removing transitive dependencies that should be implicit.
- Maintain reproducible builds by pinning only direct dependencies and letting package managers resolve transitive versions.
- Compare what you actually need versus what pip freeze reports, to understand your project's true dependency surface.
- Automate requirements file generation in CI/CD pipelines where you want to track only top-level packages.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
pip-chill solves a real problem—pip freeze is too verbose for most use cases—with zero installation friction, no dependencies, active maintenance, and a copyleft license that poses no practical barrier to use as a development tool. Install it if you regularly manage Python requirements files and want a cleaner alternative to pip freeze.
Install
pip-chill on PyPI
Before you install
Low friction: pure Python wheel with no runtime dependencies. Actively maintained as of March 2026, with 595 repository stars and a stable release history since 2016.
Requires Python 3.10 or later.
License in practice
GPL-3.0-or-later (copyleft): you may use and modify pip-chill freely, but any derivative work or distribution must also be licensed under GPL-3.0 or later. This does not restrict use of the tool itself in your workflow.
Quickstart
$ pip install pip-chill
$ pip-chill
# outputs top-level packages with versions
$ pip-chill --no-version
# outputs top-level packages without versionsVerify before relying
- Whether the tool correctly handles all edge cases in dependency graph resolution (e.g., circular or conditional dependencies).
- Performance characteristics with very large installed environments (thousands of packages).
Package facts
| License | GPL-3.0-or-later copyleft |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.10 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | None |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 152 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 247,554 / month, #8,688 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 :: DevelopersNatural Language :: EnglishProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: 3.14Topic :: Software Development |
Evidence: pip_chill-1.0.5-py3-none-any.whl
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See also pip-check · pipfile · pipreqs · pipreqs-fivetran · pex · pip-compile-multi · pytest-localftpserver · flake8-html · lorem-text · requirementslib