Comparison

Black vs Pylint

No clear leader: Black (72.7) and Pylint (72.2) are within the 5-point margin; treat as a tie. The attribute-by-attribute breakdown below, with a source and date on every value, is the honest way to compare them.

Machine formatsJSONMarkdownGraphQLor send Accept: application/json
Black73
Pylint72
Score
Vioscale score
Black73 / 100high · 78%
Pylint72 / 100medium · 54%
Pricing
Free tier
Black
Pylint
Model
Price level
Blackfree
Pylintfree
Transparent
Black
Pylint
Integrations
Count
Black8
Pylint10
Adoption
Dependent repos
Black105,588
Pylint117,361
Github stars
Black41,816
Pylint5,715
Package downloads weekly
Pylint
Activity
Commits last 30d
Black29
Pylint96
Release
Cadence days
Black31
Pylint24
History
Pylint20 items
License
Spdx
BlackMIT
PylintGPL-2.0
Language
Primary
BlackPython
PylintPython

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for code quality tools. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Core
Function
BlackFormatter
PylintLinter
Language scope
BlackSingle-language
PylintSingle-language
Implementation language
BlackPython
PylintPython
Capability
Autofix
Black
Pylint
Config
Config model
BlackZero-config
PylintConfig file
Extensibility
Custom rules
Black
Pylint
Deployment
Deployment
BlackBoth
PylintCLI-local
Delivery
Editor integration
Black
Pylint
CI / VCS gating
Black
Pylint
Insight
Code metrics
Black
Pylint
Performance
Incremental / monorepo aware
Black
Pylint-
Licensing
Open-source
BlackOSS
PylintOSS
Commercial
Pricing model
BlackFree
PylintFree

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

Black

An opinionated Python code formatter that automatically reformats code according to a standardized style. It produces minimal diffs for cleaner code review and reduces developer cognitive load by removing formatting decisions, allowing focus on code logic.

Independently observed

Pylint

Pylint automatically scans Python source code to identify problems with coding standards compliance, detect runtime errors, and suggest refactoring improvements. It supports extensive customization through configuration files and plugins.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

Black

Open sourceFree tier

Free and open source (MIT licensed)

as of verify ↗

Pylint

FreeFree tier

Free and open source. Commercial support services available.

as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platforms
macOS
Black
Pylint
Windows
Black
Pylint
Linux
Black
Pylint
CLI
Black
Pylint
Deployment
Self-hosted
Black
Pylint

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

Black

8 total
  • Neovim
  • conform.nvim
  • ALE
  • SublimeText
  • Pre-commit
  • Jupyter Notebooks
  • blacken-docs
  • blackdoc
Independently observed

Pylint

10 total
  • Vim
  • Emacs
  • Eclipse
  • TextMate
  • PyDev
  • Spyder
  • Editra
  • Jenkins
  • Hudson
  • Apycot
Independently observed

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.