Cartopy vs ipyleaflet
A data-driven comparison of two Python map & geospatial visualization libraries: popularity, development activity, licensing and installation. Updated .
CartopyCartographic projections and geospatial data plotting with matplotlib.
ipyleafletInteractive Leaflet maps in Jupyter notebooks, built on ipywidgets.
Key differences
- Cartopy and ipyleaflet have a similar number of GitHub stars (1.6K vs 1.5K).
- Cartopy had more development activity over the last 12 months: 226 commits vs 4.
- Cartopy is downloaded 4.7× as often on PyPI (260.3K vs 55.4K per week).
- Cartopy is licensed under BSD-3-Clause; ipyleaflet under MIT.
- Cartopy is written primarily in Python, ipyleaflet in TypeScript.
- Cartopy is the older project: its repository was created in 2012, ipyleaflet's in 2014.
By the numbers
- Cartopy
- ipyleaflet
Show data as a table
| Metric | Cartopy | ipyleaflet |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | 1,625 | 1,543 |
| PyPI downloads / week | 260,294 | 55,433 |
| Commits, last 12 months | 226 | 4 |
| Contributors | 127 | 85 |
| Forks | 406 | 365 |
Development activity
Commits per month to each default branch, last 12 complete months.
- Cartopy
- ipyleaflet
Show data as a table
| Month | Cartopy | ipyleaflet |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 2025 | 8 | 0 |
| Dec 2025 | 15 | 0 |
| Jan 2026 | 10 | 1 |
| Feb 2026 | 7 | 1 |
| Mar 2026 | 14 | 0 |
| Apr 2026 | 22 | 0 |
| May 2026 | 3 | 2 |
| Jun 2026 | 8 | 0 |
| Jul 2026 | 52 | 0 |
| Aug 2026 | 17 | 0 |
| Sep 2026 | 43 | 0 |
| Oct 2026 | 27 | 0 |
Side by side
| Attribute | Cartopy | ipyleaflet |
|---|---|---|
| Description | Cartographic projections and geospatial data plotting with matplotlib. | Interactive Leaflet maps in Jupyter notebooks, built on ipywidgets. |
| Category | Python map & geospatial visualization libraries | Python map & geospatial visualization libraries |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | MIT |
| Language | Python | TypeScript |
| Status | Active | Maintained |
| Latest release | v0.26.0 () | 0.20.0 () |
| Last commit | ||
| Repository created | ||
| Open issues | 281 | 269 |
| Install | pip install Cartopy | pip install ipyleaflet |
Which should you choose?
Popularity and activity are only part of the story. Consider which ecosystem you work in, the chart types and interactions you need, how much data you render, and whether the license fits your project. Both tool pages list alternatives if neither is quite right.
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Cartopy
Cartographic projections and geospatial data plotting with matplotlib.
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ipyleaflet
Interactive Leaflet maps in Jupyter notebooks, built on ipywidgets.