Comparing
Render rich text, tables, progress bars, syntax highlighting, markdown and more to the terminal
Typer, build great CLIs. Easy to code. Based on Python type hints
| Metric | rich | typer |
|---|---|---|
| Ecosystem | Python | Python |
| Difficulty | Beginner ✓ | Intermediate |
| Weekly downloads | 0 | 0↑ |
| Latest version | v14.3.3 | v0.24.1 |
| Recipes | 1 | 4↑ |
rich only
Shared
typer only
Use Rich in any CLI tool or long-running script where you want readable output: progress bars for downloads or processing loops, syntax-highlighted code, formatted tables, structured log output, or pretty-printed Python objects for debugging.
Use Typer when you're already writing typed Python code and want to expose it as a CLI with minimal boilerplate. It's especially good for tools used internally or distributed as packages where IDE support matters.
Rich adds 1-2MB to your package size and a startup cost. For library code that should be output-agnostic, stick to logging. For applications deployed purely as web services with no terminal interaction, Rich adds nothing.
Typer's magic can be surprising — if you need precise control over how arguments are parsed, displayed, or composed, drop down to Click directly. For simple one-file scripts, Click or even argparse may be clearer.
rich
typer