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CustomTkinter VS PySimpleGUI

Compare CustomTkinter VS PySimpleGUI and see what are their differences

CustomTkinter logo CustomTkinter

CustomTkinter is a python desktop UI-library based on Tkinter, which provides modern looking and fully customizable widgets.

PySimpleGUI logo PySimpleGUI

A simple to use GUI that can create custom GUIs
  • CustomTkinter Landing page
    Landing page //
    2026-07-16
  • PySimpleGUI Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-18

CustomTkinter features and specs

  • Modern UI Appearance
    CustomTkinter provides a modern, flat, and visually appealing look for Tkinter applications, with rounded corners, better color schemes, and improved widget styling compared to standard Tkinter.
  • Easy Transition from Tkinter
    Since it's built on top of Tkinter and uses similar syntax and widget names, developers familiar with Tkinter can easily transition to CustomTkinter without a steep learning curve.
  • Built-in Dark and Light Mode
    CustomTkinter supports automatic and manual switching between dark and light appearance modes, making it easy to create apps that adapt to system themes or user preferences.
  • Customizable Themes
    The library allows for extensive customization through theme files (JSON), enabling developers to create and apply custom color schemes and styles across their entire application.
  • Cross-Platform Compatibility
    CustomTkinter works across Windows, macOS, and Linux, providing a consistent look and feel across different operating systems, which is an improvement over native Tkinter's platform-dependent appearance.

Possible disadvantages of CustomTkinter

  • Limited Widget Set
    Compared to more mature GUI frameworks like PyQt or Kivy, CustomTkinter offers a smaller set of widgets, which may require additional custom development for complex applications.
  • Performance Overhead
    The additional styling and rendering logic on top of Tkinter can introduce slight performance overhead, especially in applications with many widgets or frequent UI updates.
  • Dependency on Tkinter Limitations
    Since it's built on Tkinter, CustomTkinter inherits some of Tkinter's inherent limitations, such as less flexible layout management and fewer built-in animations compared to modern frameworks.
  • Smaller Community and Ecosystem
    As a relatively newer library, CustomTkinter has a smaller community, fewer third-party extensions, and less extensive documentation compared to more established GUI frameworks.
  • Occasional Bugs and Inconsistencies
    Being under active development, users may encounter occasional bugs, inconsistent behavior across platforms, or breaking changes between version updates that require code adjustments.

PySimpleGUI features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    PySimpleGUI is designed to be easy to use for beginners, with a simpler API compared to other GUI frameworks like Tkinter or PyQt. This reduces the learning curve for new users.
  • Cross-Platform Compatibility
    The library runs on multiple platforms including Windows, macOS, and Linux, allowing developers to write code that works across different environments.
  • Simplified Codebase
    PySimpleGUI abstracts the complexity of GUI programming, allowing developers to create graphical interfaces with less code, which can improve readability and reduce development time.
  • Integration with Other Frameworks
    PySimpleGUI can work on top of tkinter, Qt, WxPython, and Remi, thus giving users the flexibility to switch between underlying frameworks with minimal code changes.
  • Community Support
    The project is open source with active community support and frequent updates, which helps in getting assistance and improvements consistently.

Possible disadvantages of PySimpleGUI

  • Limited Advanced Features
    While PySimpleGUI is excellent for simple applications, it may lack advanced features required for complex GUI applications compared to more comprehensive frameworks like PyQt.
  • Performance
    PySimpleGUI might not be as optimized for performance as lower-level GUI frameworks, which can be a drawback for applications with intensive graphical requirements.
  • Dependency on Underlying Libraries
    PySimpleGUI's functionality is dependent on the underlying GUI frameworks it wraps, such as Tkinter or Qt, which may limit its capability to innovate beyond what those frameworks offer.
  • Lack of Native Look and Feel
    The GUI created with PySimpleGUI might not always match the native look and feel of the underlying operating system, which can affect user experience.
  • Smaller Ecosystem
    Compared to more established GUI frameworks like PyQt or Tkinter, PySimpleGUI has a smaller ecosystem, which might limit the availability of third-party extensions or plugins.

Analysis of CustomTkinter

Overall verdict

  • CustomTkinter is a solid choice for Python developers who want to build modern-looking desktop GUIs without leaving the familiar Tkinter ecosystem. It provides a good balance between ease of use and visual polish, making it especially attractive for smaller to medium-sized projects.

Why this product is good

  • Built on top of standard Tkinter, so it's easy to learn if you already know Tkinter
  • Provides modern, flat-styled widgets with rounded corners and better default aesthetics than vanilla Tkinter
  • Supports light and dark mode theming out of the box, including system theme detection
  • Cross-platform support for Windows, macOS, and Linux
  • Actively maintained with regular updates and a growing community
  • Free and open-source with a permissive license
  • Good documentation and examples to help beginners get started quickly
  • Customizable color themes and widget appearance without needing CSS-like styling

Recommended for

  • Python developers who want a quick way to modernize Tkinter-based UIs
  • Hobbyists and students building desktop apps for personal or academic projects
  • Small business or indie developers creating internal tools or utilities
  • Developers who prefer lightweight GUI frameworks over heavier alternatives like PyQt or Kivy
  • Projects that need dark mode support without complex theming systems
  • Anyone already familiar with Tkinter looking for an easy upgrade path

CustomTkinter videos

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PySimpleGUI videos

Real Python Podcast โ€“ Episode 17 โ€“ Linear Programming, PySimpleGUI, and More

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to CustomTkinter and PySimpleGUI)
Rapid Application Development
Development
21 21%
79% 79
IDE
100 100%
0% 0
Developer Tools
0 0%
100% 100

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Reviews

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

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PySimpleGUI Reviews

25 Python Frameworks to Master
Itโ€™s a great option for creating simple and easy-to-use graphical user interfaces in Python and allows you to add a GUI to your already working scripts pretty easily. PySimpleGUI wraps the power of 4 different GUI libraries, PySide, Tkinter, wxPython, and Remi.
Source: kinsta.com
Which Python GUI library should you use? Comparing the Python GUI libraries available in 2023
PySimpleGUI aims to simplify GUI application development for Python. It doesn't reinvent the wheel but provides a wrapper around other existing frameworks such as Tkinter, Qt (PySide 2), WxPython and Remi. By doing so, it not only lowers the barrier to creating a GUI but also allows you to easily migrate from one GUI framework to another by simply changing the import...
10 Best Python Libraries for GUI
PySimpleGUI was developed back in 2018 to make it easier for Python beginners to get started with GUI development. A lot of the other frameworks require more complicated work, but PySimpleGUI enables you to begin right away without worrying about the advanced intricacies of other libraries.
Source: www.unite.ai
Top 10 Python GUI Frameworks for Developers
Isnโ€™t the name of this framework a dead giveaway of what it is meant to do? Getting back to the topic, those starting fresh with Python application development may find a lot of Python GUI frameworks daunting at first. Mike B. created PySimpleGUI in 2018 to make it easier for Python newbies to get into GUI development without spending too much time getting into the...

What are some alternatives?

When comparing CustomTkinter and PySimpleGUI, you can also consider the following products

PyQt - Riverbank | Software | PyQt | What is PyQt?

Kivy - Open source Python framework for rapid development of applications that make use of innovative user interfaces, such as multi-touch apps. Installation on WindowsInstallation on Windows. Installation; What are wheels .

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

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.

MD Python Designer - A drag and drop GUI Designer that uses a combination of Tkinter and its own code.

GTK - GTK+ is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces.