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Qt VS PySimpleGUI

Compare Qt VS PySimpleGUI and see what are their differences

Qt logo 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.

PySimpleGUI logo PySimpleGUI

A simple to use GUI that can create custom GUIs
  • Qt Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-22
  • PySimpleGUI Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-18

Qt features and specs

  • Cross-Platform Development
    Qt allows developers to write applications that can run on multiple platforms, including Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS, without the need for significant code changes.
  • Rich Documentation
    Qt provides extensive and well-maintained documentation, making it easier for developers to learn and troubleshoot the framework.
  • Mature and Stable
    Being a mature framework, Qt has a long history of stability and a strong track record in producing robust applications.
  • Comprehensive UI Components
    Qt offers a wide range of built-in UI components, which can significantly speed up the development process and provide a native look and feel on different platforms.
  • Strong Community Support
    Qt has an active and helpful community, which can be beneficial for developers seeking support or looking to collaborate on projects.
  • Performance
    Applications built with Qt tend to be efficient and performant, due to close-to-the-metal coding options and optimizations available in the framework.
  • Tooling
    Qt Creator, the official IDE for Qt, offers powerful tools for designing, coding, testing, and debugging applications, enhancing productivity.

Possible disadvantages of Qt

  • Licensing Costs
    Though Qt offers an open-source option, commercial licenses can be expensive, which can be a significant constraint for smaller businesses or independent developers.
  • Learning Curve
    The framework can have a steep learning curve for beginners, especially for those unfamiliar with C++ or the specific paradigms Qt employs.
  • Large Executable Size
    Applications built with Qt can have larger executable sizes compared to those built with more lightweight frameworks, which might be a concern for some applications.
  • Dependency on C++
    While Qt has bindings for other languages like Python (PyQt, PySide), its core is based on C++, which might not be ideal for developers looking for a more modern or different programming language.
  • Complexity in Customization
    While Qt offers many features out-of-the-box, deep customization, especially for non-standard requirements, can become complex and time-consuming.
  • Build Times
    Due to its comprehensive nature, applications using Qt can have longer build times, which can slow down the development cycle.

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.

Qt videos

Review of Qt 5.4

More videos:

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PySimpleGUI videos

Real Python Podcast – Episode 17 – Linear Programming, PySimpleGUI, and More

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Qt and PySimpleGUI)
Development Tools
84 84%
16% 16
Rapid Application Development
Cross-Platform Development
Developer Tools
69 69%
31% 31

User comments

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Reviews

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

Qt Reviews

Top 5 Flutter Alternatives for Cross-Platform Development
Qt is a versatile C++ framework known for its efficiency and flexibility. With Qt, developers can create cross-platform applications with native-like performance.
Source: www.miquido.com
Exploring 15 Powerful Flutter Alternatives
Qt is a mature, cross-platform native framework for building apps and devices using C++. Qt sees extensive use in embedded systems requiring slick UIs on low-power devices with limited memory. It compiles nearly identically to straight C++ while adding conveniences like signals and slots that feel akin to JavaScript event handling. But apps targeting desktops, servers, and...
Best GUI frameworks for Go
Qt is a cross-platform application development framework widely used for developing desktop, mobile, and embedded systems. Qt provides a powerful, easy-to-use, and flexible C++ class library for building GUIs and other types of applications. Qt has a wide range of built-in widgets, including buttons, labels, list boxes, and more.
10 Best Tools to Develop Cross-Platform Desktop Apps 
Written in C++, this cross-platform framework is used for native embedded, desktop, and mobile applications using GUI widgets and quick modules using QML language. C++ is a backend and QML (QtQuick 2) is a frontend side. Its meta-object compiler runs before the build. Qt can be used in several programming languages like Python, JavaScript, and others due to language...
Top Cross-Platform App Development Frameworks
Qt is a pretty mature GUI and cross-platform app development framework that dates back to 1995. Developers can use Qt for crafting applications for mobiles, embedded platforms, or desktops. As Qt is based on C++, any developer with a decent C++ experience (pretty easily found) can help you craft a cross-platform app using Qt with a single codebase.
Source: www.pangea.ai

PySimpleGUI Reviews

25 Python Frameworks to Master
It’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
Isn’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 Qt and PySimpleGUI, you can also consider the following products

wxWidgets - wxWidgets: Cross-Platform GUI Library

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

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

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

Electron - Build cross platform desktop apps with web technologies

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