pybase64
Fast Base64 encoding/decoding
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes, if you need faster base64 operations and are willing to accept C extension compilation. The package is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, supports modern Python versions (3.9–3.15), and offers broad platform coverage via prebuilt wheels. It is a straightforward drop-in replacement for the standard library with a permissive license. Install it if profiling shows base64 is a real bottleneck; otherwise, the standard library is sufficient.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python 3.9 or later.
- C extension will be compiled during install if a prebuilt wheel is not available for your platform.
- Medium install friction due to C extension compilation, but prebuilt wheels are available for many platforms (Python 3.10–3.15, macOS, Linux, Windows, and musl).
License · maintenance · safety
BSD-2-Clause (permissive) — BSD-2-Clause is permissive; you may use, modify, and distribute this package freely in commercial and private projects with minimal restrictions.
last release 2026-08-08 (6 days) · last repo commit 2026-08-09 · 182 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 22,067,015 downloads/mo, #985 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install pybase64
import pybase64
encoded = pybase64.b64encode(b'>>>foo???')
print(encoded) # b'Pj4+Zm9vPz8/'
decoded = pybase64.b64decode(encoded)
print(decoded) # b'>>>foo???'- Whether the performance gains justify the C extension compilation overhead for your specific workload and data sizes.
- Compatibility with PyPy and GraalPy beyond the wheel availability mentioned in the changelog.
What it is and what it does
pybase64 is a Python wrapper around the libbase64 C library that provides fast base64 encoding and decoding. It exposes the same API as Python's built-in base64 module (standard_b64encode, standard_b64decode, urlsafe_b64encode, urlsafe_b64decode, and b64encode/b64decode with optional altchars), making it a drop-in replacement for performance-critical code paths. The package includes a C extension that is compiled at install time; prebuilt wheels are provided for most common platforms and Python versions.
The package offers additional parameters like validate, padded, ignorechars, and canonical for fine-tuning decode behavior, and includes a command-line tool for encoding, decoding, and benchmarking. It has no runtime dependencies and is actively maintained, with recent updates addressing thread safety, Python 3.15 compatibility, and platform-specific optimizations.
Use it for
- Replace standard base64 in data-heavy applications where encoding/decoding throughput is a bottleneck.
- Decode base64 with validation enabled to catch malformed input early in request processing pipelines.
- Use the CLI tool to benchmark base64 performance or quickly encode/decode data from the command line.
- Handle URL-safe base64 variants in web APIs and JWT token processing with optimized performance.
- Process base64 data with custom alphabets (altchars) in legacy protocol implementations.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes, if you need faster base64 operations and are willing to accept C extension compilation.
The package is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, supports modern Python versions (3.9–3.15), and offers broad platform coverage via prebuilt wheels. It is a straightforward drop-in replacement for the standard library with a permissive license. Install it if profiling shows base64 is a real bottleneck; otherwise, the standard library is sufficient.
Install
pybase64 on PyPI
Before you install
Medium install friction due to C extension compilation, but prebuilt wheels are available for many platforms (Python 3.10–3.15, macOS, Linux, Windows, and musl). Active maintenance with a recent release (6 days old).
Requires Python 3.9 or later. C extension will be compiled during install if a prebuilt wheel is not available for your platform.
License in practice
BSD-2-Clause is permissive; you may use, modify, and distribute this package freely in commercial and private projects with minimal restrictions.
Quickstart
pip install pybase64
import pybase64
encoded = pybase64.b64encode(b'>>>foo???')
print(encoded) # b'Pj4+Zm9vPz8/'
decoded = pybase64.b64decode(encoded)
print(decoded) # b'>>>foo???'Verify before relying
- Whether the performance gains justify the C extension compilation overhead for your specific workload and data sizes.
- Compatibility with PyPy and GraalPy beyond the wheel availability mentioned in the changelog.
Package facts
| License | BSD-2-Clause permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.9 |
| Install friction | Medium. Platform-specific wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | None |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 6 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 22,067,015 / month, #985 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/StableIntended Audience :: DevelopersProgramming Language :: CProgramming 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 :: 3.15Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9Topic :: Software Development :: Libraries :: Python ModulesTopic :: Utilities |
Evidence: pybase64-1.5.0-cp310-cp310-macosx_10_9_x86_64.whl; pybase64-1.5.0-cp310-cp310-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl; pybase64-1.5.0-cp310-cp310-manylinux1_i686.manylinux2014_i686.manylinux_2_17_i686.manylinux_2_5_i686.whl; pybase64-1.5.0-cp310-cp310-manylinux1_x86_64.manylinux2014_x86_64.manylinux_2_17_x86_64.manylinux_2_5_x86_64.whl; pybase64-1.5.0-cp310-cp310-manylinux2014_aarch64.manylinux_2_17_aarch64.whl; pybase64-1.5.0-cp310-cp310-manylinux2014_armv7l.manylinux_2_17_armv7l.whl; pybase64-1.5.0-cp310-cp310-manylinux2014_ppc64le.manylinux_2_17_ppc64le.whl; pybase64-1.5.0-cp310-cp310-manylinux2014_s390x.manylinux_2_17_s390x.whl; pybase64-1.5.0-cp310-cp310-manylinux_2_31_riscv64.whl; pybase64-1.5.0-cp310-cp310-musllinux_1_2_aarch64.whl; pybase64-1.5.0-cp310-cp310-musllinux_1_2_armv7l.whl; pybase64-1.5.0-cp310-cp310-musllinux_1_2_i686.whl; pybase64-1.5.0-cp310-cp310-musllinux_1_2_ppc64le.whl; pybase64-1.5.0-cp310-cp310-musllinux_1_2_riscv64.whl; pybase64-1.5.0-cp310-cp310-musllinux_1_2_s390x.whl; pybase64-1.5.0-cp310-cp310-musllinux_1_2_x86_64.whl; pybase64-1.5.0-cp310-cp310-win32.whl; pybase64-1.5.0-cp310-cp310-win_amd64.whl; pybase64-1.5.0-cp310-cp310-win_arm64.whl; pybase64-1.5.0-cp311-cp311-macosx_10_9_x86_64.whl
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See also librt · unpaddedbase64 · base64io · py-multibase · binapy · pybase62 · bech32m · base2048 · pylzss · pyarmor.cli.core