Welcome to PyInstaller official website

PyInstaller is a program that converts (packages) Python programs into stand-alone executables, under Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. Its main advantages over similar tools are that PyInstaller works with any version of Python since 1.5, it builds smaller executables thanks to transparent compression, it is fully multi-platform, and use the OS support to load the dynamic libraries, thus ensuring full compatibility.

The main goal of PyInstaller is to be compatible with 3rd-party packages out-of-the-box. This means that, with PyInstaller, all the required tricks to make external packages work are already integrated within PyInstaller itself so that there is no user intervention required. You'll never be required to look for tricks in wikis and apply custom modification to your files or your setup scripts. As an example, libraries like PyQt and matplotlib are fully supported, without having to handle plugins or external data files manually. Check our compatibility list of SupportedPackages.

Feel free to join us in the effort! Please consult our Roadmap to check our plans. Also usage reports are welcomed: let us know if PyInstaller works for you and how, or what problems you found in using it.

Stable release

The latest stable release of PyInstaller is 1.4 (Change Log). See below for download links.

Features

  • Packaging of Python programs into standard executables, that work on computers without Python installed.
  • Multiplatform: works under Windows, Linux and Irix. Experimental Mac OS X support available (see MacOsCompatibility).
  • Multiversion: works under any version of Python from 1.5 up to 2.6. NOTE: If you're using Python 2.6 on Windows, see Python26Win.
  • Flexible packaging mode:
    • Single directory: build a directory containing an executable plus all the external binary modules (.dll, .pyd, .so) used by the program.
    • Single file: build a single executable file, totally self-contained, which runs without any external dependency.
    • Custom: you can automate PyInstaller to do whatever packaging mode you want through a simple script file in Python.
  • Explicit intelligent support for many 3rd-packages (for hidden imports, external data files, etc.), to make them work with PyInstaller out-of-the-box (see SupportedPackages).
  • Full single-file EGG support: .egg files are automatically packaged by PyInstaller as-is, so that all features are supported at runtime as well (entry points, etc.).
  • Automatic support for binary libraries used through ctypes (see CtypesDependencySupport for details).
  • Support for automatic binary packing through the well-known  UPX compressor.
  • Optional console mode (see standard output and standard error at runtime).
  • Windows-specific features:
    • Support for code-signing executables.
    • Full automatic support for CRTs: no need to manually distribute MSVCR*.DLL, redist installers, manifests, or anything else; true one-file applications that work everywhere!
    • Selectable executable icon.
    • Fully configurable version resource section and manifests in executable.
    • Support for building COM servers.
  • Mac-specific features:

License

PyInstaller is distributed under the GPL license (see the file doc/LICENSE.GPL in the source code), with a special exception which allows to use PyInstaller to build and distribute non-free programs (including commercial ones). In other words, you have no restrictions in using PyInstaller as-is, but any kind of modifications to it will have to comply with the GPL license. See also our FAQ.

(Historical note: The original Python Installer used to be distributed under a MIT-style license. Even though it was not strictly required, Gordon himself nodded the license change.)

Downloads

FileMD5Description
Release 1.4
PyInstaller 1.4 (tar.bz2)21eaee35cbe9d1493e8d107c1e58acd6Pre-Release
PyInstaller 1.4 (zip)cc3548d135096f862687a16c7a050f2dPre-Release
Pyinstaller SVN trunk (zip) Hourly snapshot

See OldDownloads for older (obsolete) packages.
See PyInstaller Logos for marketing materials.

Documentation

Bug reports

Look at the list of open bugs. You can report bugs either anonymously or after registering to this website. If you register, you will be able to followup on the tickets and receive notifications.

Maintainers

We would like to thank Gordon McMillan who wrote the original Python Installer, and William Caban for his initial development and maintenance effort without which PyInstaller? would not exist today.

Mailing List

Subversion Repository

  • You may browse the current repostory at the Repository Browser
  • Or you may check out the current version by running svn co http://svn.pyinstaller.org/trunk pyinstaller