pyspellchecker
Pure python spell checker based on work by Peter Norvig
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. The package is actively maintained, has no external dependencies, supports modern Python versions, carries no known vulnerabilities, and uses a permissive MIT license. It is well-suited for projects needing basic to intermediate spell-checking functionality across multiple languages. Install it if you need straightforward spell detection and correction without heavy dependencies.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 with recent commits and stable release history.
License · maintenance · safety
MIT (permissive) — MIT license permits commercial and private use with minimal restrictions; suitable for most projects.
last release 2026-03-07 (160 days) · last repo commit 2026-07-23 · 785 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 2,939,618 downloads/mo, #2,818 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install pyspellchecker
from pyspellchecker import SpellChecker
spell = SpellChecker()
misspelled = spell.unknown(['something', 'is', 'hapenning', 'here'])
for word in misspelled:
print(spell.correction(word))- Performance characteristics on very large word lists or documents.
- Accuracy of corrections across different language dictionaries.
- How well the distance parameter tuning affects real-world spell-checking quality.
What it is and what it does
pyspellchecker is a pure Python spell checker that identifies misspelled words and suggests corrections by comparing them against word frequency lists using Levenshtein distance. It implements Peter Norvig's spell-checking algorithm, finding candidate corrections within an edit distance of up to 2 from the original word, then ranks them by frequency. The package includes built-in dictionaries for multiple languages: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, Italian, Russian, Arabic, Basque, Latvian, Dutch, and Persian.
The library is designed for straightforward integration into Python applications. It allows you to check words against known dictionaries, get the most likely correction for a misspelled word, retrieve a set of candidate corrections, and customize the word frequency list by loading additional text or word lists. For longer words, the distance parameter can be reduced from the default 2 to 1 to improve performance and reduce false positives.
Use it for
- Validate user input in web forms or text editors to flag potential typos.
- Build a spell-checking layer into a document processing or content management system.
- Preprocess text data for NLP pipelines by identifying and correcting spelling errors.
- Create a multilingual spell checker for applications serving non-English users.
- Augment domain-specific applications with custom word lists for technical or specialized terminology.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
The package is actively maintained, has no external dependencies, supports modern Python versions, carries no known vulnerabilities, and uses a permissive MIT license. It is well-suited for projects needing basic to intermediate spell-checking functionality across multiple languages. Install it if you need straightforward spell detection and correction without heavy dependencies.
Install
pyspellchecker on PyPI
Before you install
Low friction: pure Python wheel with no runtime dependencies. Actively maintained with recent commits and stable release history.
Requires Python 3.10 or later.
License in practice
MIT license permits commercial and private use with minimal restrictions; suitable for most projects.
Quickstart
pip install pyspellchecker
from pyspellchecker import SpellChecker
spell = SpellChecker()
misspelled = spell.unknown(['something', 'is', 'hapenning', 'here'])
for word in misspelled:
print(spell.correction(word))Verify before relying
- Performance characteristics on very large word lists or documents.
- Accuracy of corrections across different language dictionaries.
- How well the distance parameter tuning affects real-world spell-checking quality.
Package facts
| License | MIT permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.10 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | None |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 160 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 2,939,618 / month, #2,818 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 :: DevelopersIntended Audience :: Information TechnologyIntended Audience :: Science/ResearchProgramming Language :: PythonProgramming 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 :: LibrariesTopic :: Utilities |
Evidence: pyspellchecker-0.9.0-py3-none-any.whl
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See also pyspelling · symspellpy · pyenchant · typos · codespell · language_tool_python · snowballstemmer · wordfreq · strsimpy · PyStemmer