pyppeteer
Headless chrome/chromium automation library (unofficial port of puppeteer)
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
No, unless you have an existing codebase already using pyppeteer. The maintainer explicitly recommends playwright-python as an alternative, and the package has been dormant for 908 days with no active maintenance. While it remains functional and has no known vulnerabilities, choosing a maintained alternative is safer for new projects. If you must use it, treat it as legacy and plan a migration path.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- First run downloads ~150MB of Chromium if not already present; requires Python >= 3.8; asyncio-based API requires async/await syntax.
- Low install friction with a pure-wheel distribution.
- Maintenance is dormant—last release was 908 days ago and the maintainer explicitly recommends considering playwright-python as an alternative.
License · maintenance · safety
MIT (permissive) — MIT license permits commercial and private use with minimal restrictions. Suitable for most projects, though the dormant maintenance status means you assume responsibility for any future compatibility issues.
last release 2024-02-18 (908 days) · last repo commit 2024-06-29 · 3,941 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 1,300,257 downloads/mo, #4,087 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install pyppeteer
import asyncio
from pyppeteer import launch
async def main():
browser = await launch()
page = await browser.newPage()
await page.goto('https://example.com')
await page.screenshot({'path': 'example.png'})
await browser.close()
asyncio.get_event_loop().run_until_complete(main())- Whether playwright-python has become the de facto standard replacement and what migration path exists.
- Current compatibility with modern Chrome/Chromium versions given the 908-day release gap.
- Whether dormant status means security patches will be applied if vulnerabilities are discovered.
What it is and what it does
Pyppeteer is an unofficial Python port of the Puppeteer JavaScript library, providing async-based control over headless Chrome and Chromium browsers. It lets you automate browser tasks—navigating pages, taking screenshots, executing JavaScript, and extracting data—from Python code. The library wraps browser automation via the DevTools protocol and depends on websockets, urllib3, and other utilities for communication and event handling.
The package is designed for web scraping, automated testing, and screenshot generation. It uses Python's asyncio for concurrent operations and accepts both dictionary and keyword arguments for options, adapting Puppeteer's JavaScript API to Python conventions. However, the maintainer has flagged the project as unmaintained and explicitly recommends playwright-python as an alternative, signaling that this package is no longer receiving active development or security updates.
Use it for
- Capture full-page screenshots or PDFs of websites for archival, testing, or reporting.
- Scrape dynamically-rendered content from JavaScript-heavy sites where static HTTP requests fail.
- Run automated browser-based tests to verify UI behavior and page interactions.
- Extract computed DOM properties and evaluate custom JavaScript within page context.
- Monitor web pages for changes or validate that specific elements render correctly.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
No, unless you have an existing codebase already using pyppeteer.
The maintainer explicitly recommends playwright-python as an alternative, and the package has been dormant for 908 days with no active maintenance. While it remains functional and has no known vulnerabilities, choosing a maintained alternative is safer for new projects. If you must use it, treat it as legacy and plan a migration path.
Install
pyppeteer on PyPI
Before you install
Low install friction with a pure-wheel distribution. Maintenance is dormant—last release was 908 days ago and the maintainer explicitly recommends considering playwright-python as an alternative. The package remains functional but receives no active updates.
First run downloads ~150MB of Chromium if not already present; requires Python >= 3.8; asyncio-based API requires async/await syntax.
License in practice
MIT license permits commercial and private use with minimal restrictions. Suitable for most projects, though the dormant maintenance status means you assume responsibility for any future compatibility issues.
Quickstart
pip install pyppeteer
import asyncio
from pyppeteer import launch
async def main():
browser = await launch()
page = await browser.newPage()
await page.goto('https://example.com')
await page.screenshot({'path': 'example.png'})
await browser.close()
asyncio.get_event_loop().run_until_complete(main())Verify before relying
- Whether playwright-python has become the de facto standard replacement and what migration path exists.
- Current compatibility with modern Chrome/Chromium versions given the 908-day release gap.
- Whether dormant status means security patches will be applied if vulnerabilities are discovered.
Package facts
| License | MIT permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.8,<4.0 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 7 packagesappdirsimportlib-metadatapyeetqdmurllib3websocketscertifi |
| Maintenance | Dormant 908 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 1,300,257 / month, #4,087 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Development Status :: 3 - AlphaIntended Audience :: DevelopersLicense :: OSI Approved :: MIT LicenseNatural Language :: EnglishProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.7Programming Language :: Python :: 3.8Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9 |
Evidence: pyppeteer-2.0.0-py3-none-any.whl
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