# Mayavi vs VTK

## Key differences

- VTK has 2.3× as many GitHub stars as Mayavi (3.2K vs 1.4K).
- VTK had more development activity over the last 12 months: 5,786 commits vs 45.
- VTK is downloaded 721× as often on PyPI (1.3M vs 1.8K per week).
- Mayavi is licensed under BSD-3-Clause; VTK under BSD.
- Mayavi is written primarily in Python, VTK in C++.

| | Mayavi | VTK |
|---|---|---|
| Description | Interactive scientific data visualization and 3D plotting in Python. | Open-source library for 3d Graphics, image processing and visualization. |
| GitHub stars | 1,412 | 3,224 |
| Commits (12 months) | 45 | 5,786 |
| Contributors | 62 | 257 |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | BSD |
| Language | Python | C++ |
| Status | Active | Active |
| Install | `pip install mayavi` | `pip install vtk` |

Source: https://awesomedataviz.com/compare/mayavi-vs-vtk/ · Data updated 2026-11-01 · Content: CC BY 4.0, Awesome Dataviz (https://awesomedataviz.com).