shouldiuse.io

VERDICT

Should I use attrs 26.1.0 documentation?

Python Classes Without Boilerplate - attrs.org

Worth it. If your team writes Python with lots of classes, attrs is a free, massively proven win — install it and move on. Non-developers and non-Python projects have no reason to touch it.

Confidence

High. Based on 20+ public sources including PyPI, GitHub, Reddit, Python forums, and security scanners.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support qualityNo support data in sources
  • Security posture

Pricing

$0

Open source

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes

Best for

  • Class-heavy Python codebases
  • Data transformation scripts
  • Devs outgrowing plain dicts
  • Type-checked codebases (Pyrefly supports it)

Not for

  • Non-developers — it's a code library, not an app
  • Non-Python stacks (JS, Go, Ruby)
  • Projects already content with stdlib dataclasses
  • Teams needing vendor SLAs or support contracts

Gotchas - check before you buy

medium

No commercial support; you depend on volunteer maintainers and sponsors.

low

Legacy attr.s/attr.ib decorators coexist with the modern API; prefer modern.

low

CVE-2025-6069 (quadratic complexity) was reported and patched; stay current.

low

shows no dedicated security page.

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Auto-generates __init__, __repr__, __eq__ so you skip boilerplate
  • Flexible per-field validators draw specific user praise
  • 15.8B downloads; adoption is effectively universal
  • Actively maintained; 26.1.0 shipped March 2026
  • Credible, richer alternative to stdlib dataclasses

Cons

  • Python-only; nothing here for other stacks
  • Legacy attr.s/attr.ib API lingers, confusing newcomers
  • No vendor or commercial support option
  • Overlaps with free stdlib dataclasses, forcing a choice
  • No security page published on

Sources & method

Analyzed 9/20/2026 - 10 sources - No known vulnerabilities in 26.1.0; one historic CVE was patched. No dedicated security page published.

official x3review x3security x2news x2
  • CVE-2025-6069, Listed by Snyk for python-attrs, involving a quadratic complexity case; reported as patched in RLSA-2025:23530.

Key stats

  • Value for money: 5/5

    Rating

  • $0

    Starting price

  • 10

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 5/5. Free and open source, forever
  • Ease of use: 4/5. Decorators kill boilerplate; small learning curve
  • Feature depth: 4/5. Validators, converters, field transformers included
  • Support quality. No support data in sources
  • Security posture: 4/5. 26.1.0 clean; one patched historic CVE
  • $0 Starting price Free, open source via PyPI
  • Yes Free tier Entire library, no limits
  • 15.8B PyPI downloads 865.7M in last 30 days
  • Feb 2015 First release 10+ years of maintenance

Pricing

Open source

$0

  • Full library on PyPI, conda-forge, Linux distros
  • No paid tiers or usage limits

Security

No known vulnerabilities in 26.1.0; one historic CVE was patched.

  • CVE-2025-6069Listed by Snyk for python-attrs, involving a quadratic complexity case; reported as patched in RLSA-2025:23530.⁹

No dedicated security page published.

What users say

Developers praise attrs for eliminating boilerplate and flexible validators, routinely weighing it against dataclasses.

“Yes, attrs is a really good package. One of the things I really like and use is the flexible way in which you can add validators for each ...”
Reddit, r/Python
“In the thread the package attrs was mentioned as an alternative to @dataclass. I've had a look at it, and it looks very promising.”
Python Discussions
Full analysis

Based on 20+ public sources including PyPI, GitHub, Reddit, Python forums, and security scanners.

Free, battle-tested Python library that kills class boilerplate. No-brainer for Python devs; irrelevant to everyone else.

Methodology

Based on 20+ public sources including PyPI, GitHub, Reddit, Python forums, and security scanners.

Sources

  1. attrs - PyPIpypi.org
    official
  2. attrs 26.1.0 documentationattrs.org
    official
  3. Releases - python-attrs/attrsgithub.com
    official
  4. attrs downloads on pepy.techpepy.tech
    news
  5. attrs on libraries.iolibraries.io
    news
  6. Is it good advice to use the attrs package? - Redditreddit.com
    review
  7. attr.s and attr.ib - Reddit r/learnpythonreddit.com
    review
  8. Good ways to use attrs? - Python Discussionsdiscuss.python.org
    review
  9. CVE-2025-6069 in python-attrs - Snyksecurity.snyk.io
    security
  10. attrs on Meterianmeterian.io
    security

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