# Black vs pre-commit

| Attribute | Black | pre-commit |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 72.7 (78% (high)) | 68.2 (73% (medium)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 29 | 13 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 105,588 | 35,684 |
| adoption.github_stars | 41,816 | 15,536 |
| adoption.package_downloads_weekly | 39,005,228 | 42,454,729 |
| deployment.options | `{"self_hosted":true}` | `{"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | 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. | A framework that automates the execution of code quality checks as git pre-commit hooks, eliminating the need for developers to manually install language-specific dependencies on their machines to run linters and formatters written in any programming language. |
| features.capabilities | `{"autofix":true,"metrics":false,"function":"formatter","ci_gating":true,"deployment":"both","incremental":false,"open_source":"oss","config_model":"zero_config","custom_rules":false,"impl_language":"Python","pricing_model":"free","language_scope":"single_language","editor_integration":true}` | `{"autofix":false,"metrics":false,"function":"meta_runner","ci_gating":true,"deployment":"cli_local","incremental":false,"open_source":"oss","config_model":"config_file","custom_rules":true,"impl_language":"Python","pricing_model":"free","language_scope":"multi_language","editor_integration":false}` |
| integrations.count | 8 | - |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Neovim"},{"name":"conform.nvim"},{"name":"ALE"},{"name":"SublimeText"},{"name":"Pre-commit"},{"name":"Jupyter Notebooks"},{"name":"blacken-docs"},{"name":"blackdoc"}]` | - |
| language.primary | Python | Python |
| license.spdx | MIT | MIT |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true}` | `{"cli":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","summary":"Free and open source (MIT licensed)","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://black.readthedocs.io/en/stable/","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T13:47:36.307Z"}` | `{"type":"free","sourceUrl":"https://pre-commit.com","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T09:20:48.398Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | open_source | commercial |
| pricing.price_level | free | free |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| release.cadence_days | 31 | 57 |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/psf/black/releases/tag/26.5.1","date":"2026-05-18T16:52:38Z","type":"stable","version":"26.5.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/psf/black/releases/tag/26.5.0","date":"2026-05-16T17:56:23Z","type":"stable","version":"26.5.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/psf/black/releases/tag/26.3.1","date":"2026-03-12T03:35:15Z","type":"stable","version":"26.3.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/psf/black/releases/tag/26.3.0","date":"2026-03-06T17:41:48Z","type":"stable","version":"26.3.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/psf/black/releases/tag/26.1.0","date":"2026-01-18T04:49:25Z","type":"stable","version":"26.1.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/psf/black/releases/tag/26.1a1","date":"2025-12-08T01:46:21Z","type":"prerelease","version":"26.1a1"},{"url":"https://github.com/psf/black/releases/tag/25.12.0","date":"2025-12-08T01:40:32Z","type":"stable","version":"25.12.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/psf/black/releases/tag/25.11.0","date":"2025-11-10T01:53:31Z","type":"stable","version":"25.11.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/psf/black/releases/tag/25.9.0","date":"2025-09-19T00:27:15Z","type":"stable","version":"25.9.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/psf/black/releases/tag/25.1.0","date":"2025-01-29T04:15:11Z","type":"stable","version":"25.1.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/psf/black/releases/tag/24.10.0","date":"2024-10-07T19:20:06Z","type":"stable","version":"24.10.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/psf/black/releases/tag/24.8.0","date":"2024-08-02T17:42:53Z","type":"stable","version":"24.8.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/psf/black/releases/tag/24.4.2","date":"2024-04-26T00:31:27Z","type":"stable","version":"24.4.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/psf/black/releases/tag/24.4.1","date":"2024-04-24T15:17:30Z","type":"stable","version":"24.4.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/psf/black/releases/tag/24.4.0","date":"2024-04-12T20:13:48Z","type":"stable","version":"24.4.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/psf/black/releases/tag/24.3.0","date":"2024-03-15T19:35:14Z","type":"stable","version":"24.3.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/psf/black/releases/tag/24.2.0","date":"2024-02-12T20:20:40Z","type":"stable","version":"24.2.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/psf/black/releases/tag/24.1.1","date":"2024-01-28T05:28:09Z","type":"stable","version":"24.1.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/psf/black/releases/tag/24.1.0","date":"2024-01-26T05:11:50Z","type":"stable","version":"24.1.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/psf/black/releases/tag/23.12.1","date":"2023-12-22T23:05:40Z","type":"stable","version":"23.12.1"}]` | `[{"url":"https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit/releases/tag/v4.6.2","date":"2026-08-10T22:08:59Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.6.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit/releases/tag/v4.6.1","date":"2026-07-21T20:58:53Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.6.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit/releases/tag/v4.6.0","date":"2026-04-21T20:32:56Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.6.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit/releases/tag/v4.5.1","date":"2025-12-16T21:18:45Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.5.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit/releases/tag/v4.5.0","date":"2025-11-22T21:08:24Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.5.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit/releases/tag/v4.4.0","date":"2025-11-08T21:48:28Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.4.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit/releases/tag/v4.3.0","date":"2025-08-09T18:59:03Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.3.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit/releases/tag/v4.2.0","date":"2025-03-18T21:42:20Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.2.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit/releases/tag/v4.1.0","date":"2025-01-20T18:49:11Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.1.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit/releases/tag/v4.0.1","date":"2024-10-08T16:10:45Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.0.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit/releases/tag/v4.0.0","date":"2024-10-05T19:19:45Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.0.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit/releases/tag/v3.8.0","date":"2024-07-28T20:05:15Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.8.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit/releases/tag/v3.7.1","date":"2024-05-11T01:31:03Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.7.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit/releases/tag/v3.7.0","date":"2024-03-24T17:41:43Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.7.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit/releases/tag/v3.6.2","date":"2024-02-18T18:22:07Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.6.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit/releases/tag/v3.6.1","date":"2024-02-10T19:47:57Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.6.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit/releases/tag/v3.6.0","date":"2023-12-09T21:29:42Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.6.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit/releases/tag/v3.5.0","date":"2023-10-13T16:06:55Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.5.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit/releases/tag/v3.4.0","date":"2023-09-02T17:13:27Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.4.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit/releases/tag/v3.3.3","date":"2023-06-13T23:12:35Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.3.3"}]` |
| reliability.status_page | - | yes |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | - |
| security.scorecard | 7.7 | 4.6 |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":2,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=pypi&package_name=black&per_page=100","last_12m":1,"max_severity":"HIGH"}` | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=pypi&package_name=pre-commit&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` |

## Capabilities (Code Quality Tools)

| Capability | Black | pre-commit |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Function | Formatter | Meta-runner |
| Language scope | Single-language | Multi-language |
| Implementation language | Python | Python |
| **Capability** |  |  |
| Autofix | ✓ | ✗ |
| **Config** |  |  |
| Config model | Zero-config | Config file |
| **Extensibility** |  |  |
| Custom rules | ✗ | ✓ |
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Deployment | Both | CLI-local |
| **Delivery** |  |  |
| Editor integration | ✓ | ✗ |
| CI / VCS gating | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Insight** |  |  |
| Code metrics | ✗ | ✗ |
| **Performance** |  |  |
| Incremental / monorepo aware | ✗ | ✗ |
| **Licensing** |  |  |
| Open-source | OSS | OSS |
| **Commercial** |  |  |
| Pricing model | Free | Free |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T15:00:55.012Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*