Cartopy vs prettymaps
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.
prettymapsDraws stylized maps from OpenStreetMap data, using osmnx and matplotlib.
Key differences
- prettymaps has 8.8× as many GitHub stars as Cartopy (14.3K vs 1.6K).
- Cartopy had more development activity over the last 12 months: 226 commits vs 9.
- Cartopy is downloaded 3254× as often on PyPI (260.3K vs 80 per week).
- Cartopy is licensed under BSD-3-Clause; prettymaps under AGPL-3.0.
- Cartopy is the older project: its repository was created in 2012, prettymaps's in 2021.
By the numbers
- Cartopy
- prettymaps
Show data as a table
| Metric | Cartopy | prettymaps |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | 1,625 | 14,321 |
| PyPI downloads / week | 260,294 | 80 |
| Commits, last 12 months | 226 | 9 |
| Contributors | 127 | 20 |
| Forks | 406 | 735 |
Development activity
Commits per month to each default branch, last 12 complete months.
- Cartopy
- prettymaps
Show data as a table
| Month | Cartopy | prettymaps |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 2025 | 8 | 0 |
| Dec 2025 | 15 | 0 |
| Jan 2026 | 10 | 0 |
| Feb 2026 | 7 | 0 |
| Mar 2026 | 14 | 0 |
| Apr 2026 | 22 | 0 |
| May 2026 | 3 | 0 |
| Jun 2026 | 8 | 0 |
| Jul 2026 | 52 | 9 |
| Aug 2026 | 17 | 0 |
| Sep 2026 | 43 | 0 |
| Oct 2026 | 27 | 0 |
Side by side
| Attribute | Cartopy | prettymaps |
|---|---|---|
| Description | Cartographic projections and geospatial data plotting with matplotlib. | Draws stylized maps from OpenStreetMap data, using osmnx and matplotlib. |
| Category | Python map & geospatial visualization libraries | Python map & geospatial visualization libraries |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | Python |
| Status | Active | Maintained |
| Latest release | v0.26.0 () | v1.4.2 () |
| Last commit | ||
| Repository created | ||
| Open issues | 281 | 16 |
| Install | pip install Cartopy | pip install prettymaps |
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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prettymaps
Draws stylized maps from OpenStreetMap data, using osmnx and matplotlib.