Benchmark of several Python Excel writing modules

baseline.txt

Versions:
    python      : 2.7.1
    openpyxl    : 2.2.5
    pyexcelerate: 0.6.6
    xlsxwriter  : 0.7.3
    xlwt        : 1.0.0

Dimensions:
    Rows = 10000
    Cols = 50

Times:
    pyexcelerate          :   4.14
    xlwt                  :   6.09
    xlsxwriter (optimised):   7.58
    xlsxwriter            :   8.99
    openpyxl   (optimised):  10.55
    openpyxl              :  14.06

bench_excel_writers.py

# encoding: utf-8
##############################################################################
#
# Simple Python program to benchmark several Python Excel writing modules.
#
# python bench_excel_writers.py [num_rows] [num_cols]
#
# Run with --unicode to measure performance with non-ASCII text

import sys
from time import clock

import openpyxl
import pyexcelerate
import xlsxwriter
import xlwt

from openpyxl.cell import get_column_letter

# This allows testing whether Unicode processing imposes extra overhead:
UNICODE_CELL_TEMPLATE = u"\u23F1 Row: %d Col: %d"
ASCII_CELL_TEMPLATE = "Row: %d Col: %d"

if '--unicode' in sys.argv:
    sys.argv.remove('--unicode')
    CELL_TEMPLATE = UNICODE_CELL_TEMPLATE
else:
    CELL_TEMPLATE = ASCII_CELL_TEMPLATE

# Default to 1000 rows x 50 cols.
if len(sys.argv) > 1:
    row_max = int(sys.argv[1])
    col_max = 50
else:
    row_max = 1000
    col_max = 50

if len(sys.argv) > 2:
    col_max = int(sys.argv[2])


def print_elapsed_time(module_name, elapsed):
    """ Print module run times in a consistent format. """
    print("    %-22s: %6.2f" % (module_name, elapsed))


def time_xlsxwriter():
    """ Run XlsxWriter in default mode. """
    start_time = clock()

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

    for row in range(row_max // 2):
        for col in range(col_max):
            worksheet.write_string(row * 2, col, CELL_TEMPLATE % (row, col))
        for col in range(col_max):
            worksheet.write_number(row * 2 + 1, col, row + col)

    workbook.close()

    elapsed = clock() - start_time
    print_elapsed_time('xlsxwriter', elapsed)


def time_xlsxwriter_optimised():
    """ Run XlsxWriter in optimised/constant memory mode. """
    start_time = clock()

    workbook = xlsxwriter.Workbook('xlsxwriter_opt.xlsx',
                                   {'constant_memory': True})
    worksheet = workbook.add_worksheet()

    for row in range(row_max // 2):
        for col in range(col_max):
            worksheet.write_string(row * 2, col, CELL_TEMPLATE % (row, col))
        for col in range(col_max):
            worksheet.write_number(row * 2 + 1, col, row + col)

    workbook.close()

    elapsed = clock() - start_time
    print_elapsed_time('xlsxwriter (optimised)', elapsed)


def time_openpyxl():
    """ Run OpenPyXL in default mode. """
    start_time = clock()

    workbook = openpyxl.workbook.Workbook()
    worksheet = workbook.active

    for row in range(row_max // 2):
        for col in range(col_max):
            colletter = get_column_letter(col + 1)
            worksheet.cell('%s%s' % (colletter, row * 2 + 1)).value = CELL_TEMPLATE % (row, col)
        for col in range(col_max):
            colletter = get_column_letter(col + 1)
            worksheet.cell('%s%s' % (colletter, row * 2 + 2)).value = row + col

    workbook.save('openpyxl.xlsx')

    elapsed = clock() - start_time
    print_elapsed_time('openpyxl', elapsed)


def time_openpyxl_optimised():
    """ Run OpenPyXL in optimised mode. """
    start_time = clock()

    workbook = openpyxl.workbook.Workbook(optimized_write=True)
    worksheet = workbook.create_sheet()

    for row in range(row_max // 2):
        string_data = [CELL_TEMPLATE % (row, col) for col in range(col_max)]
        worksheet.append(string_data)

        num_data = [row + col for col in range(col_max)]
        worksheet.append(num_data)

    workbook.save('openpyxl_opt.xlsx')

    elapsed = clock() - start_time
    print_elapsed_time('openpyxl   (optimised)', elapsed)


def time_pyexcelerate():
    """ Run pyexcelerate in "faster" mode. """
    start_time = clock()

    workbook = pyexcelerate.Workbook()
    worksheet = workbook.new_sheet('Sheet1')

    for row in range(row_max // 2):
        for col in range(col_max):
            worksheet.set_cell_value(row * 2 + 1, col + 1, CELL_TEMPLATE % (row, col))
        for col in range(col_max):
            worksheet.set_cell_value(row * 2 + 2, col + 1, row + col)

    workbook.save('pyexcelerate.xlsx')
    elapsed = clock() - start_time

    print_elapsed_time('pyexcelerate', elapsed)


def time_xlwt():
    """ Run xlwt in default mode. """
    start_time = clock()

    workbook = xlwt.Workbook()
    worksheet = workbook.add_sheet('Sheet1')

    for row in range(row_max // 2):
        for col in range(col_max):
            worksheet.write(row * 2, col, CELL_TEMPLATE % (row, col))
        for col in range(col_max):
            worksheet.write(row * 2 + 1, col, row + col)

    workbook.save('xlwt.xls')

    elapsed = clock() - start_time
    print_elapsed_time('xlwt', elapsed)


print("")
print("Versions:")
print("    %-12s: %s" % ('python', sys.version[:5]))
print("    %-12s: %s" % ('openpyxl', openpyxl.__version__))
print("    %-12s: %s" % ('pyexcelerate', pyexcelerate.__version__))
print("    %-12s: %s" % ('xlsxwriter', xlsxwriter.__version__))
print("    %-12s: %s" % ('xlwt', xlwt.__VERSION__))
print("")

print("Dimensions:")
print("    Rows = %d" % row_max)
print("    Cols = %d" % col_max)
print("")

print("Times:")
time_pyexcelerate()
time_xlwt()
time_xlsxwriter_optimised()
time_xlsxwriter()
time_openpyxl_optimised()
time_openpyxl()
print("")

output.txt

Versions:
    python      : 2.7.2
    openpyxl    : 2.2.1
    pyexcelerate: 0.6.6
    xlsxwriter  : 0.7.2
    xlwt        : 1.0.0

Dimensions:
    Rows = 10000
    Cols = 50

Times:
    pyexcelerate          :  10.63
    xlwt                  :  16.93
    xlsxwriter (optimised):  20.37
    xlsxwriter            :  24.24
    openpyxl   (optimised):  26.63
    openpyxl              :  35.75

unicode.txt

Versions:
    python      : 2.7.1
    openpyxl    : 2.2.5
    pyexcelerate: 0.6.6
    xlsxwriter  : 0.7.3
    xlwt        : 1.0.0

Dimensions:
    Rows = 10000
    Cols = 50

Times:
    pyexcelerate          :   4.37
    xlwt                  :   6.65
    xlsxwriter (optimised):   7.75
    xlsxwriter            :   9.05
    openpyxl   (optimised):  10.07
    openpyxl              :  13.77