# Why uv Became the Go-To Python Package Manager in 2026

> Source: <https://dev.to/moksh/why-uv-became-the-go-to-python-package-manager-in-2026-2kag>
> Published: 2026-06-29 08:09:17+00:00

Installing 23 packages from a warm cache takes pip about 6.6 seconds, while **uv** handles the same task in just 0.12 seconds. On larger projects involving Django, Celery, Pandas, and scikit-learn, pip needs around 90 seconds, whereas uv finishes in roughly 8 seconds.

uv is a single binary that consolidates five separate tools into one: pip, pip-tools, virtualenv, pyenv, and pipx. In March 2026, OpenAI acquired Astral, the company behind uv, to bring it into their Codex AI platform.

The traditional Python project setup required juggling five different tools, each with its own configuration format. uv streamlines this into a single, unified workflow:

`pyenv install`

becomes `uv python install`

`python -m venv`

becomes `uv venv`

`pip install`

becomes `uv add`

`pip-compile`

becomes `uv lock`

`pipx install`

becomes `uv tool install`

```
# macOS / Linux
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

# Windows
powershell -ExecutionPolicy ByPass -c "irm https://astral.sh/uv/install.ps1 | iex"

# Self-update
uv self update
```

**New Project:** Running `uv init`

automatically updates `pyproject.toml`

, regenerates `uv.lock`

, and installs your dependencies. The `uv run`

command handles execution, so you no longer need to manually activate virtual environments.

**Python Version Management:** uv can install multiple Python versions side by side (for example, `uv python install 3.11 3.12 3.13`

) and automatically respects existing `.python-version`

files.

**Global CLI Tools:** uv replaces `pipx`

for running standalone CLI utilities like `ruff`

or `cowsay`

without polluting your global environment.

On a benchmark with a 200-package lockfile, uv completes the full resolve and install cycle in 1.5 seconds total (0.4s for resolving, 1.1s for installing). By comparison, pip takes 20.5 seconds and Poetry takes 16.0 seconds.

**From pip:** `uv pip`

works as a drop-in replacement, supporting all standard pip flags so you can transition without changing your existing commands.

**From Poetry:** The `migrate-to-uv`

utility converts your `[tool.poetry]`

sections to the standard `[project]`

format, making migration straightforward.

**From pyenv:** No changes are needed. uv reads your existing `.python-version`

files directly, so the switch is seamless.

```
- name: Install uv
  uses: astral-sh/setup-uv@v5
  with:
    version: "latest"
    enable-cache: true
- name: Install dependencies
  run: uv sync --frozen
```

The `--frozen`

flag ensures that dependencies match exactly what is in `uv.lock`

, and `enable-cache: true`

ensures that subsequent CI builds finish in seconds rather than minutes.

`setup.py`

-based packages may require `uv pip install --no-build-isolation`

to build correctly.uv replaces five separate tools with a single binary that runs 10 to 100 times faster. With backing from OpenAI and over 45,000 GitHub stars, it has become the go-to standard for Python dependency management. If you are still running `pip install -r requirements.txt`

by hand, it is time to make the switch.