What is Black?
A Python code formatter that enforces consistent, opinionated formatting across projects. Designed to speed up code review and reduce formatting debates by automatically formatting code to a standard style.
Black pricing
We don't have Black's full plan breakdown yet (its pricing page resisted automated reading). Here's what we could confirm. Always check live pricing for exact numbers.
Free and open source (MIT license)
What Black does
The capabilities that matter for code quality tools, normalised so it lines up with every alternative. “-” means we haven't confirmed it, not that it's missing.
- Function
- Formatter
- Language scope
- Single-language
- Implementation language
- -
- Autofix
- ✓
- Config model
- -
- Custom rules
- -
- Deployment
- CLI-local
- Editor integration
- ✓
- CI / VCS gating
- ✓
- Code metrics
- -
- Incremental / monorepo aware
- -
- Open-source
- OSS
- Pricing model
- Free
Platform & deployment
Independently observed- CLI
- Self-hosted
Integrations (2)
Independently observed- GitHub Actions
- Jupyter Notebooks
Black alternatives
Other code quality tools we track, ranked by the same independent score.
The Vioscale score: one lens on the evidence
Not user reviews and not a paid placement: a confidence-weighted blend of the independent signals below (adoption, activity, security posture, and more), which you can sort and re-weight yourself. Vendors can correct their listing but can never move their rank, and stars are weighted low as a vanity metric. It is one way to read the evidence for Black, not the verdict.
| Signal | Score | Weight | Contribution | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Package Downloads | 99 | 0.20 | 19.8 | ✓ |
| Capabilities | 58 | 0.12 | 7.1 | ✓ |
| Github Activity | 49 | 0.14 | 6.7 | ✓ |
| Release Cadence | 85 | 0.08 | 6.5 | ✓ |
| Github Stars | 87 | 0.04 | 3.3 | ✓ |
| Integrations | 14 | 0.06 | 0.9 | ✓ |
| Security Posture | 0 | 0.10 | 0.0 | - |
| Stackoverflow Activity | 0 | 0.09 | 0.0 | - |
Computed . Re-weight it by intent, or see the full method.
All data & sourcesshow ↓
Every value we hold, with its source, retrieval date, and confidence. This is the evidence behind the score: don't trust it, verify it.
Activity
| Attribute | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Commits last 30d | 34 | mediumsource · 2026-08-01 · 65% |
Adoption
Features
| Attribute | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Capabilities | {"autofix":true,"function":"formatter","ci_gating":true,"deployment":"cli_local","open_source":"oss","pricing_model":"free","language_scope":"single_language","editor_integration":true} | mediumsource · 2026-08-05 · 60% |
Integrations
| Attribute | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Count | 2 | mediumsource · 2026-08-05 · 60% |
Language
| Attribute | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Primary | Python | highsource · 2026-08-01 · 98% |
License
| Attribute | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Spdx | MIT | highsource · 2026-08-01 · 95% |
Pricing
Release
| Attribute | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Cadence days | 27 | mediumsource · 2026-08-01 · 70% |