Comparing the top Python GUI frameworks

In this article, you will learn about the top Python GUI frameworks, how to use them, and how they compare to one another. But first, let’s quickly discuss what a GUI framework is and why it’s an important aspect of programming.

What is GUI?

GUI is an acronym for Graphical User Interface. It is the interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices via graphical elements.

It’s an important aspect of software programming because it allows for interaction between the human and the computer/electronic device. In simple terms, it replaces text-based commands with user-friendly actions — the goal is to present the user with easy-to-use decision points and interfaces, which, in turn, yields a great user experience in the software application.

The top Python GUI frameworks

The top Python GUI frameworks we’ll be discussing in this article are:

• Tkinter
• PyQT 5
• PySide
• Kivy

These Python GUI frameworks are the most popular frameworks Python software developers use. Each one offers its pros and cons, which we’ll cover below.

To continue with this article, you’ll need to install the Python 3 interpreter from the official Python website.

Python Tkinter

Tkinter is the standard built-in GUI library for Python, and, with over 41,000 stars on GitHub, it’s the most popular Python GUI framework. It’s a fast and easy-to-use Python GUI library, making it the go-to library for building a Python GUI application.

Installing Tkinter

Tkinter is a built-in Python library, so it comes pre-installed with the Python installation on your computer. There’s no need to install it separately.

Tkinter at a glance

Tkinter provides many of the widgets often used in a GUI application, such as labels, buttons, checkboxes, text boxes, and canvas (for drawing shapes like triangles, rectangles, polygons, etc.).

Below is an example:

import Tkinter
mainApp = Tkinter.Tk()
# Add the codes for the widget here..
mainApp.mainloop()

When you run the Python code above, you’ll see the following:

Pros to using Tkinter in Python

• It’s part of Python, which means there’s nothing extra to download
• It uses simple syntax
• The text and canvas widgets are remarkably powerful and easy to use
• It uses native widgets on Mac and Windows

Cons to using Tkinter

• It is sometimes difficult to debug
• It is not all that beautiful-looking, unlike other frameworks

PyQT 5

PyQT is a Python GUI framework that’s built around the popular QT application framework. It runs on many platforms, including Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android.

Installing PyQT

Installing PyQT 5 is also easy and straightforward. First, we create a virtual environment. This is a very important and recommended step to take when building a new Python application.

To create a Python virtual environment, open your terminal and run the commands below in your favorite directory.

​​Python -m virtualenv pyqt_venv

To activate the virtual environment, run the command below:

source pyqt_venv/bin/activate

After activating the virtual environment, install PyQT in the virtual environment using Python pip. To do that, run the command below in your terminal:

pip install pyqt5

Using PyQT

Upon successful installation of PyQT 5, we will proceed to write a small PyQT GUI application with a set height and width. Below is what our code will look like:

import sys
from PyQt5.QtWidgets import QApplication, QWidget, QLabel


def PyQT5App():
   app = QApplication(sys.argv)
   w = QWidget()
   b = QLabel(w)
   b.setText("Hello World!")
   w.setGeometry(500, 500, 1000, 500)
   b.move(450, 240)
   w.setWindowTitle("PyQt5")
   w.show()
   sys.exit(app.exec_())


if __name__ == '__main__':
   PyQT5App()

After running the code above, you should see the following:

Pros of using PyQT

• Better documentation
• It’s more user-friendly
• Offers more UI components

Cons of PyQT

• Steep learning curve because it has components and requires time to learn it
• You have to pay for a commercial license if your application is not open-source

PySide6

PySide6, known as QT for Python, is a Python GUI framework that binds the QT framework. PySide provides access to all the GUI components and tools provided by QT.

PySide installation

Pyside can be easily installed using Python pip. Just like we did for other frameworks, we first need to create a virtual environment.

Open your terminal and run the commands below in your favorite directory:

​​Python -m virtualenv pyside_venv

To activate the virtual environment, run the command below:

source pyside_venv/bin/activate

Now, install PySide6 in the virtual environment using Python pip by running the command below in your terminal:

pip install PySide6

Example of PySide

Let’s look at a simple PySide application:

import sys
from PySide.QtCore import Qt
from PySide6.QtWidgets import (QApplication, QLabel,
                              QVBoxLayout, QWidget)
from __feature__ import snake_case, true_property


class PySideApp(QWidget):
   def __init__(self):
       QWidget.__init__(self)

       self.message = QLabel("Hello PySide World!")
       self.message.alignment = Qt.AlignCenter

       self.layout = QVBoxLayout(self)
       self.layout.add_widget(self.message)


if __name__ == "__main__":
   app = QApplication(sys.argv)

   widget = PySideApp()
   widget.show()

   sys.exit(app.exec())

Run the code above to get this output:

Pros of PySide

• PySide can be used cross-platform and has wider community support than the other Python GUI frameworks
• It offers better documentation than other frameworks and includes tutorials, examples, video guides, etc.
• Used by large organizations including Mercedes, TomTom, and Nokia

Cons of PySide

• Requires a commercial license

Kivy

Kivy is an open-source Python GUI framework that runs on Linux, Windows, OS X, Android, iOS, and Raspberry Pi. Kivy is one of the most stable Python GUI frameworks, offering an API and thorough documentation and guides for easy use and setup. It’s important to note that Kivy is written in Python and Cython.

Installing Kivy

There are multiple ways to install Kivy, which varies on the platform you’re using. For this article, we’ll install Kivy with Python pip. To learn about the other ways to install Kivy, you can check out the installation page here.

Before installing Kivy, let’s create a virtual environment for the Kivy project.

To do so, open your terminal and run the commands below in your favorite directory:

​​Python -m virtualenv kivy_venv

To activate the virtual environment, run the command below:

source kivy_venv/bin/activate

After activating our virtual environment, you can install the Kivy pre-compiled wheel in your virtual environment using Python pip. To do that, run the command below in your terminal:

pip install kivy

Using Kivy in your app

At this point, you have successfully installed Kivy. Just like Tkinter, Kivy also provides many widgets. Here’s an example of a simple Kivy application.

from kivy.app import App
from kivy.uix.button import Button


class HelloWorldApp(App):
   def build(self):
       return Button(text="Hello Kivy World")


HelloWorldApp().run()

After running the code above, you’ll see the window below:

Pros of Kivy

• Support for multiple platforms, including mobile
• With Kivy, you only need to write the code once because you can use it across multiple devices
• The widgets are easy to use with multi-touch support

Cons of using Kivy

• It doesn’t offer a native-looking user interface
• Relatively small community and adoption rate
• Because the Python interpreter is included, its package size is always large

Conclusion

It’s important to note a few things about these Python GUI frameworks. Tkinter and Kivy are free libraries, so you can use them for any of your Python projects.

PyQT and PySide, however, require that you get a license to make your project commercial. Also, Tkinter is a built-in Python library while the other three require that you install them to be able to make use of them.

Having learned a bit about a few common Python GUI frameworks, such as PySide, PyQT, Kivy, and Tkinter, you should now be able to decide on the best framework for your Python project.

I would love to hear your thoughts on the Python GUI Frameworks and the framework you use often in the comment section below.