compare
pandas vs Polars
The same facts for both, read from GitHub every night, and the relation a person reviewed.
| Fact | pandas | Polars |
|---|---|---|
| Language | Python | Rust |
| Licence | BSD-3-Clause | MIT |
| Stars | 50k | 40k |
| Latest | v3.0.6 | py-2.0.0 |
| Last push | 2026-10-06 | 2026-10-06 |
| Release cadence | about 48 days between releases | about 21 days between releases |
| Active contributors | 47+ commit authors on the default branch in the last 90 days | 56+ commit authors on the default branch in the last 90 days |
| Flags | none | none |
How they relate
Polars replaces pandas. Alternatives to pandas →
Full replacementMulti-threaded DataFrames with lazy queries, in Rust with Python bindings, and a different API.
Published benchmarks, each linked to its source. The numbers depend on the hardware and the workload they were measured on.
PDS-H (TPC-H derived) queries at scale factor 10
Total time on AWS c7a.24xlarge: Polars 1.30 streaming 3.89 s, in-memory 9.68 s, pandas 2.2.3 365.71 s.
pandas
Polars
- py-2.0.02026-10-06Python Polars 2.0.0
- py-2.0.0-rc.22026-09-20Python Polars 2.0.0-rc.2pre-release
- py-1.44.22026-09-09Python Polars 1.44.2
- py-2.0.0-rc.12026-09-02Python Polars 2.0.0-rc.1pre-release
- py-1.44.12026-08-26Python Polars 1.44.1
pandas
unsigned The latest release, v3.0.6, carries no signature GitHub could verify.
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Polars
✓ signed The latest release, py-2.0.0, carries a signature GitHub verified.
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