plotbin

What it is and what it does

PlotBin is a scientific plotting library that specializes in visualizing binned two-dimensional maps and related spatial data. It wraps Matplotlib, NumPy, and SciPy to provide utilities for creating and displaying binned map visualizations.

The package is lightweight, distributed as a pure-Python wheel, and requires only the three core scientific Python libraries. It is actively maintained with a release 35 days ago and has been in production use since 2018. However, its license is custom and non-standard: it permits non-commercial use and personal modification but explicitly prohibits redistribution, which may restrict its use in commercial products or shared codebases.

Use it for:

• Visualize binned spatial data or density maps using Matplotlib as the rendering backend.
• Create two-dimensional map plots with built-in binning utilities for scientific research.
• Build internal research tools that process and display spatially binned data without redistribution concerns.
• Prototype spatial data visualization workflows using NumPy and SciPy arrays as input.

Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying

PlotBin provides utilities to create and display binned maps and other two-dimensional map visualizations using NumPy, SciPy, and Matplotlib.

Yes, if your use case is non-commercial or internal research. The package is actively maintained, has low install friction, and provides specialized map-plotting utilities on top of standard scientific libraries. However, do not install if you intend to redistribute the code or integrate it into a commercial product—the custom license explicitly prohibits redistribution. Verify the license terms match your use case first.

Install

plotbin on PyPI

pip install plotbin

uv add plotbin

poetry add plotbin

Installing plotbin

Before you install

Low install friction; a pure-Python wheel with only three standard scientific dependencies. Last release 35 days ago with active maintenance status.

License in practice

License treatment is unclear: the package uses a custom proprietary license that permits non-commercial use and personal modification, but explicitly prohibits redistribution. Verify your use case against the copyright notice (2013-2026 Michele Cappellari) before integrating into commercial or redistributed software.

Quickstart

pip install plotbin

import plotbin
import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

Verify before relying

• Whether the non-commercial restriction applies to your intended use case
• Exact Python version support (requires_python is unspecified in metadata)
• Specific capabilities and API surface beyond general binned map plotting

Package facts

Evidence: plotbin-3.2.0-py3-none-any.whl

Tags

More Scientific/Engineering packages