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Allegro VS PyQt

Compare Allegro VS PyQt and see what are their differences

Allegro logo Allegro

Allegro 4 and Allegro 5 are cross-platform, libraries mainly aimed at video game and multimedia...

PyQt logo PyQt

Riverbank | Software | PyQt | What is PyQt?
  • Allegro Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-09-17
  • PyQt Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-18

Allegro features and specs

  • Cross-Platform Support
    Allegro supports multiple platforms, including Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android, allowing developers to create applications that work across diverse systems.
  • Open Source
    Being open source, Allegro is free to use and modify. This encourages community involvement and ensures continuous improvement and adaptability to user needs.
  • Comprehensive Documentation
    Allegro offers extensive documentation and numerous tutorials, making it easier for beginners to learn and for seasoned developers to find solutions to specific problems.
  • Strong Community Support
    The library is backed by an active community of developers who contribute to forums and resources, providing assistance and sharing knowledge.
  • Simple API
    Allegro features a straightforward and easy-to-understand API, making it accessible for beginners and allowing for rapid development of 2D games and multimedia applications.

Possible disadvantages of Allegro

  • Limited 3D Support
    Allegro is primarily designed for 2D graphics, and while it can handle basic 3D rendering, it is not as robust or feature-rich as dedicated 3D engines.
  • Lack of Advanced Features
    Compared to larger game engines, Allegro lacks certain advanced features like complex animation tools and integrated development environments, which may limit its use in high-end game development.
  • Smaller Ecosystem
    The ecosystem around Allegro is smaller compared to other well-established frameworks and engines like Unity or Unreal, leading to fewer third-party tools and plugins.
  • Performance Limitations
    While suitable for simple games and applications, Allegro might struggle with performance optimization and efficiency in very resource-intensive or complex projects.
  • Dependency Management
    Setting up Allegro and its dependencies can be challenging for newcomers, requiring familiarity with C/C++ build systems and package managers.

PyQt features and specs

  • Comprehensive UI library
    PyQt provides a wide range of UI components, from basic widgets to advanced tools. This allows for the creation of highly sophisticated interfaces.
  • Cross-platform
    Applications built with PyQt can run on different operating systems such as Windows, macOS, and Linux without requiring significant changes in the code.
  • Integration with Qt Designer
    Developers can use Qt Designer to design and implement their UIs visually, which can then be seamlessly integrated with Python code in PyQt.
  • Powerful event handling
    PyQt includes a highly efficient event handling system that makes it easy to manage user interactions and system events.
  • Good documentation and community support
    PyQt is well-documented, and there's a large community of developers who can provide support and share resources.
  • Python-specific advantages
    Leveraging Python's simplicity and readability, PyQt allows for rapid development and easy maintenance of applications.

Possible disadvantages of PyQt

  • License considerations
    PyQt is available under the GPL and a commercial license. If you want to create proprietary software without open-sourcing your code, you need to purchase a commercial license.
  • Steep learning curve
    While PyQt is powerful, it can have a steep learning curve for newcomers, particularly those who are not familiar with Qt and its paradigms.
  • Performance overhead
    Being a binding for Qt, some operations may have extra overhead compared to native Qt applications written in C++.
  • Dependency on external libraries
    PyQt relies on the Qt library, which means that you have to manage and distribute these dependencies along with your application.
  • Large binary sizes
    Applications created with PyQt can result in relatively large binary sizes because of the included Qt binaries.
  • Fragmentation of tools
    There can be fragmentation concerns, as PyQt must stay in sync with Qt, and different versions of Qt may introduce changes that are not immediately reflected in PyQt.

Analysis of PyQt

Overall verdict

  • PyQt is considered a good choice for developers looking to create robust, high-performance desktop applications with Python. Its ability to leverage the powerful Qt framework makes it a reliable option for both beginners and experienced developers.

Why this product is good

  • PyQt is a set of Python bindings for the Qt libraries, allowing developers to create cross-platform applications with native look and feel. It provides comprehensive support for building GUI applications and includes an extensive range of modules and functions, making it suitable for both simple and complex projects. Additionally, it benefits from a large and active community, extensive documentation, and commercial support from Riverbank Computing.

Recommended for

  • Developers looking for cross-platform GUI toolkits
  • Projects that require a modern, native look and feel
  • Development teams requiring robust commercial support
  • Python developers interested in leveraging a well-documented and extensive framework

Allegro videos

A Tiffin You Can Live In! My First Allegro Review!

More videos:

  • Review - IDRIVEACLASSIC reviews: 1970s Austin Allegro
  • Review - Williams Allegro 3 Digital Piano Review (First Look) Sounds -Features - Manual

PyQt videos

Python Top 3 GUI Frameworks In 2019 (PyQt5, wxPython, TKinter)

More videos:

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Allegro and PyQt)
Game Engine
100 100%
0% 0
Development Tools
0 0%
100% 100
Game Development
100 100%
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Rapid Application Development

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Allegro and PyQt

Allegro Reviews

We have no reviews of Allegro yet.
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PyQt Reviews

25 Python Frameworks to Master
PyQt is one of the most popular sets of Python bindings for the Qt cross-platform application framework. This framework perfectly combines the simplicity of Python as a general-purpose language and the powerful Qt application framework built in C++.
Source: kinsta.com
Which Python GUI library should you use? Comparing the Python GUI libraries available in 2023
Before the Qt Company (under Nokia) released the officially supported PySide library in 2009, Riverbank Computing had released PyQt in 1998. The main difference between these two libraries is in licensing. The free-to-use version of PyQt is licensed under GNU General Public License (GPL) v3 but PySide is licensed under GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL). This means...
10 Best Python Libraries for GUI
Developed by Riverbank Computing, PyQt5 is one of the most popular Python frameworks for GUI. The PyQt package is built around the Qt framework, which is a cross-platform framework used for creating various applications on different platforms.
Source: www.unite.ai
Top 10 Python GUI Frameworks for Developers
When it comes to creating GUIs, the PyQt5 arsenal offers the impressive QtGui and the QtDesigner module, which provide numerous visual elements that the developer can implement with a simple drag and drop. Of course, the option of creating these elements by code also exists, allowing you to create both small-scale as well as large-scale applications with ease. Python’s...

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, PyQt seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 4 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Allegro mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Allegro yet. Tracking of Allegro recommendations started around Mar 2021.

PyQt mentions (4)

  • Python vs. JavaScript: Is It a Fair Comparison?
    JavaScript is a clear winner in the category of mobile development. There are some niche frameworks to do mobile development with Python—like Kivy and PyQT—but pretty much nobody uses them. - Source: dev.to / about 3 years ago
  • what would be the best looking GUI framework to develop a desktop python application? (other than Tkinter)
    If none of those are to your liking, you can use PyQT (or Pyside) but the learning curve is much steeper. Source: about 3 years ago
  • Is there a "Windows Forms" GUI designer for Python?
    Also, there is the PyQt module which is a comprehensive set of Python bindings for the Qt GUI. It has Qt Designer. Source: almost 4 years ago
  • Best way to install qutebrowser?
    As for PyQt, that's developed entirely independently from Qt (by Riverbank Computing). The major/minor versions usually line up with the respective Qt releases (since the Qt release introduces new APIs, so a new PyQt release is needed to expose those to Python). However, it's versioned independently, and a new patch release of PyQt might be needed before/without Qt releasing a new patch release. For more details,... Source: about 4 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Allegro and PyQt, you can also consider the following products

SFML - SFML provides a simple interface to the various components of your PC, to ease the development of games and multimedia applications. It is composed of five modules: system, window, graphics, audio and network.

Qt - Powerful, flexible and easy to use, Qt will help you not only meet your tight deadline, but also reduce the maintainable code by an astonishing percentage.

raylib - Cross-platform, open-source game development library in C.

PySimpleGUI - A simple to use GUI that can create custom GUIs

Vulkan - Vulkan is a new generation graphics and compute API that provides high-efficiency, cross-platform access to modern GPUs used in a wide variety of devices from PCs and consoles to mobile phones and embedded platforms.

Tkinter - Tkinter is a Python wrapper for Tcl/Tk that offers classes to create various graphical user interfaces.