---
id: plotbin
version: "3.2.0"
license: Other/Proprietary License
license_treatment: unclear
maintenance: active
---

# plotbin — PlotBin: Plotting Binned Maps and Other Utilities

License: unclear · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 289.2K/mo

## 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 above — 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

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

- License: Other/Proprietary License (unclear)
- Python support: unspecified
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 289.2K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

binned map plotting, 2d map visualization, scientific plotting utilities, matplotlib binned data, spatial data visualization, heatmap binning, scientific-visualization, spatial-data

[View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/packages/plotbin) · [View on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/plotbin/)