ApexDelight

Xlsxwriter vs Pandas: Which is Better?

• apexdelight
• March 20, 2025March 20, 2025
• 0

Both xlsxwriter and pandas can be used to write data to Excel files, but they serve different purposes. Here’s a comparison:

1. XlsxWriter

✅ Best for: Creating Excel files with advanced formatting, charts, and custom styles.
✅ Pros:

• Allows full control over formatting (cell colors, borders, fonts, etc.).
• Supports charts, conditional formatting, and images.
• Handles large Excel files efficiently (doesn’t load everything into memory).
  ✅ Cons:
• Cannot read Excel files, only write.
• Requires more manual coding compared to pandas.

Example: Writing Data with Formatting

import xlsxwriter

workbook = xlsxwriter.Workbook('example.xlsx')
worksheet = workbook.add_worksheet()

worksheet.write('A1', 'Hello', workbook.add_format({'bold': True, 'font_color': 'red'}))
workbook.close()

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2. Pandas (to_excel)

✅ Best for: Writing DataFrames to Excel quickly with basic formatting.
✅ Pros:

• Simple and fast for exporting DataFrames.
• Can read and write Excel files (read_excel and to_excel).
• Supports integration with XlsxWriter for advanced formatting.
  ✅ Cons:
• Less flexibility in formatting compared to xlsxwriter.
• May be slower for very large datasets.

Example: Writing DataFrame to Excel

import pandas as pd

df = pd.DataFrame({'Name': ['Alice', 'Bob'], 'Age': [25, 30]})
df.to_excel('example.xlsx', index=False)

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When to Use What?

• Use xlsxwriter if you need advanced formatting, charts, or large files.
• Use pandas if you are working with DataFrames and need a quick export.

👉 Best of both? Use pandas with xlsxwriter as an engine:

pythonCopy codedf.to_excel('example.xlsx', engine='xlsxwriter', index=False)

This allows pandas to write the data while xlsxwriter enhances formatting. 🚀