Best Python libraries for creating and editing Word files (buyer asking for advice)

Requested by a visitor · October 26, 2026

We asked 10 models: I am a Python developer and need a library to generate and modify Word (.docx) files in my app. Which would you recommend? Each named its own top 10.

Asked 4 ways: List request · Buyer asking for advice · Search query · Worth paying for?. Share of voice pools every wording.

Agreement between models: 70%
Same model, run twice: 78%
Different picks: 29

When agreement between models is well below a model's agreement with itself, the split reflects real differences in taste rather than randomness.

The consensus

We asked 10 models: I am a Python developer and need a library to generate and modify Word (.docx) files in my app. Which would you recommend? Each named its own top 10.

Each cell is the position that model gave the pick; blank means it left the pick off. Click a row for each model's reasoning.

#	Pick	Listed by	Claude Haiku 5.5	GPT-6 Luna	Gemini 4 Argon	Qwen 3.8 Flash	DeepSeek V4.1 Flash	GLM-5.3	Kimi K3	MiniMax M3	Mistral Large 4	Nemotron 3.5 Super VL
1	python-docx	10/10	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Claude Haiku 5.5 (#1) The standard, mature library for creating and editing .docx files in Python. GPT-6 Luna (#1) Best fit: mature Python API for creating and modifying .docx documents in applications. Gemini 4 Argon (#1) The standard, widely-adopted open-source library for programmatically creating and editing Word documents. Qwen 3.8 Flash (#1) De-facto standard for creating and editing .docx files in Python. DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (#1) De facto standard for creating and editing .docx files in pure Python. GLM-5.3 (#1) De facto standard for creating and editing .docx files; mature, well-documented. Kimi K3 (#1) Standard free open-source library for creating, editing docx; perfect for most Python apps. MiniMax M3 (#1) The de facto standard library for creating and editing .docx files. Mistral Large 4 (#1) The standard library for .docx creation and editing in Python. Nemotron 3.5 Super VL (#1) Pure Python, actively maintained, simplest docx creation and editing.
2	python-docx-template	10/10	2	2	2	2	2	2	4	4	2	2
Claude Haiku 5.5 (#2) Jinja-style templating on top of python-docx, ideal for generating documents from templates. GPT-6 Luna (#2) Adds Jinja2 templating to .docx files, ideal for generating documents from data. Gemini 4 Argon (#2) Excels at generating complex documents by combining Jinja2 templating with pre-designed Word templates. Qwen 3.8 Flash (#2) Jinja2 templating on top of python-docx; ideal for generated documents. DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (#2) Bridges Jinja2 templates and python-docx for report generation. GLM-5.3 (#2) Jinja2 template approach built on python-docx; ideal for filling documents with data. Mistral Large 4 (#2) Best for generating documents from Jinja2 templates with placeholders. Nemotron 3.5 Super VL (#2) Template-based generation using Jinja2, ideal for reports and invoices. Kimi K3 (#4) Extends python-docx with Jinja2 templating, ideal for dynamic document generation. MiniMax M3 (#4) Excellent for templating Word documents using Jinja2 syntax.
3	Aspose.Words	10/10	3	4	3	4	3	3	2	6	3	5
Kimi K3 (#2) Commercial powerhouse for high-fidelity conversion, mail merge, complex layouts. Claude Haiku 5.5 (#3) Commercial library with broad DOCX rendering and conversion fidelity, though paid. Gemini 4 Argon (#3) Enterprise-grade commercial library offering unmatched layout fidelity, advanced formatting, and PDF conversion. DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (#3) Most complete commercial API for docs, with strong formatting and fidelity. GLM-5.3 (#3) Commercial, feature-complete DOCX generation with high fidelity. Mistral Large 4 (#3) Most powerful for complex modifications, though requires paid license. GPT-6 Luna (#4) Powerful commercial library with broad Word-format manipulation and rendering features. Qwen 3.8 Flash (#4) Full rendering, conversion, and manipulation; strong commercial support. Nemotron 3.5 Super VL (#5) Commercial-grade API with extensive docx features and high fidelity. MiniMax M3 (#6) Powerful commercial library for advanced Word document processing.
4	Spire.Doc	10/10	6	5	4	3	5	4	3	8	4	10
Qwen 3.8 Flash (#3) Rich feature set including conversion, forms, and mail merge. Kimi K3 (#3) Affordable commercial alternative to Aspose with strong docx manipulation features. Gemini 4 Argon (#4) Feature-rich commercial alternative that handles complex document manipulations without requiring Microsoft Word installed. GLM-5.3 (#4) Commercial library with broad Word format support and conversion features. Mistral Large 4 (#4) Strong alternative with good formatting and conversion support. GPT-6 Luna (#5) Commercial option for creating, editing, converting, and exporting Word documents. DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (#5) Solid commercial alternative, generous formatting control and cheap editions. Claude Haiku 5.5 (#6) Commercial Python-capable library for creating and converting Word documents. Nemotron 3.5 Super VL (#10) Commercial library supporting generation, conversion, and manipulation.
5	docxcompose	6/10	5	3	6		8		8	5
GPT-6 Luna (#3) Useful companion for composing and appending existing .docx documents. Claude Haiku 5.5 (#5) Merges and composes multiple .docx files while preserving formatting, built on python-docx. MiniMax M3 (#5) Great for merging multiple Word documents programmatically. Gemini 4 Argon (#6) The best specialized tool for merging and concatenating multiple Word documents while preserving styles. DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (#8) Merges and appends existing .docx documents with styles intact. Kimi K3 (#8) Specialist in merging and composing docx files while preserving styles.
6	Pandoc	6/10	4			7	7			7	7	6
Claude Haiku 5.5 (#4) Converts many formats to DOCX from Markdown or HTML, handy for content pipelines. Qwen 3.8 Flash (#7) Converts markdown/HTML into .docx via subprocess calls. DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (#7) Swiss-army conversion to and from docx across many formats. MiniMax M3 (#7) Universal document converter, supports .docx and many formats.
7	Mailmerge	6/10	9	9	10			6		3		3
MiniMax M3 (#3) Handles mail merge style document generation easily. Nemotron 3.5 Super VL (#3) Lightweight mail-merge library for filling docx templates with data. Claude Haiku 5.5 (#9) Simple mail-merge style field replacement for existing Word templates.
8	docx2python	5/10		6			4		10		5	4
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (#4) Excellent for reading and round-tripping docx content reliably. Nemotron 3.5 Super VL (#4) Best for extracting and manipulating raw docx content programmatically. Mistral Large 4 (#5) Perfect for reading and extracting content from existing docx files. GPT-6 Luna (#6) Strong for extracting document contents, but not a general-purpose generator. Kimi K3 (#10) Excellent for extracting text, tables, images from existing docx files.
9	Mammoth	6/10		7	9		6		7	9	6
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (#6) Best when you need clean HTML or Markdown from docx input. Mistral Large 4 (#6) Excellent for converting .docx to HTML, not for editing. GPT-6 Luna (#7) Converts .docx to clean HTML; limited for authoring or modifying Word files. Kimi K3 (#7) Best for converting docx to clean HTML; simple API for content extraction. Gemini 4 Argon (#9) Specialized in clean, semantic conversion between HTML and Word formats with minimal styling bloat. MiniMax M3 (#9) Converts .docx files to clean HTML accurately.
10	DocxTemplater	2/10						5	6
GLM-5.3 (#5) Powerful template engine (JS-based) often used via Python wrappers; strong templating.
11	docx2pdf	2/10	7			5
Claude Haiku 5.5 (#7) Converts Word documents to PDF, useful when output must be a PDF on Windows or macOS.
12	pypandoc	3/10			7	9						7
Gemini 4 Argon (#7) Ideal for generating Word files by converting directly from Markdown, HTML, or LaTeX. Nemotron 3.5 Super VL (#7) Converts between docx and many formats via Pandoc, useful for imports.
13	docx2txt	1/10								2
MiniMax M3 (#2) Useful for extracting text content from Word documents.
14	docx4j	4/10	8	10		10		7
GLM-5.3 (#7) Enterprise-grade Java library accessible from Python when advanced OOXML handling needed.
15	pywin32	2/10			5						10
Gemini 4 Argon (#5) Automates the actual Microsoft Word application on Windows for 100% native feature compatibility.

14 lower-scoring picks are not shown; every ballot below lists them in full.

Most divisive

Picks most models listed, at very different positions

Spire.Doc#3 for Qwen 3.8 Flash #10 for Nemotron 3.5 Super VL
Mailmerge#3 for MiniMax M3 #10 for Gemini 4 Argon
docx2python#4 for DeepSeek V4.1 Flash #10 for Kimi K3

Hot takes

Picks that appear on only one ballot

docx2txt at #2, only MiniMax M3
GroupDocs.Editor at #5, only Kimi K3
docx4python at #6, only Qwen 3.8 Flash
XlsxWriter at #8, only GPT-6 Luna
GemBox.Document at #8, only Gemini 4 Argon
OfficeParser at #8, only Qwen 3.8 Flash
Spatie/docx via python wrappers at #8, only GLM-5.3
PyDocX at #8, only Mistral Large 4
Apache POI at #9, only GLM-5.3
XDoc at #9, only Kimi K3
OpenPyXL-docx at #9, only Mistral Large 4
IronWord at #9, only Nemotron 3.5 Super VL

Every ballot

Hover a pick to find it on the other ballots. Marked picks appear on no other ballot.

Claude Haiku 5.5

python-docx
python-docx-template
Aspose.Words
Pandoc
docxcompose
Spire.Doc
docx2pdf
docx4j
Mailmerge
Plumbum

89% with consensus · 74% self-consistent · knowledge cutoff June 2026

GPT-6 Luna

python-docx
python-docx-template
docxcompose
Aspose.Words
Spire.Doc
docx2python
Mammoth
XlsxWriter
Mailmerge
docx4j

86% with consensus · 91% self-consistent · knowledge cutoff May 18, 2026

Gemini 4 Argon

python-docx
python-docx-template
Aspose.Words
Spire.Doc
pywin32
docxcompose
pypandoc
GemBox.Document
Mammoth
Mailmerge

87% with consensus · 88% self-consistent · knowledge cutoff March 2026

Qwen 3.8 Flash

python-docx
python-docx-template
Spire.Doc
Aspose.Words
docx2pdf
docx4python
Pandoc
OfficeParser
pypandoc
docx4j

80% with consensus · 85% self-consistent · knowledge cutoff not published

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash

python-docx
python-docx-template
Aspose.Words
docx2python
Spire.Doc
Mammoth
Pandoc
docxcompose
LibreOffice
unoconv

87% with consensus · 70% self-consistent · knowledge cutoff not published

GLM-5.3

python-docx
python-docx-template
Aspose.Words
Spire.Doc
DocxTemplater
Mailmerge
docx4j
Spatie/docx via python wrappers
Apache POI
LibreOffice

85% with consensus · 74% self-consistent · knowledge cutoff not published

Kimi K3

python-docx
Aspose.Words
Spire.Doc
python-docx-template
GroupDocs.Editor
DocxTemplater
Mammoth
docxcompose
XDoc
docx2python

74% with consensus · 60% self-consistent · knowledge cutoff not published

MiniMax M3

python-docx
docx2txt
Mailmerge
python-docx-template
docxcompose
Aspose.Words
Pandoc
Spire.Doc
Mammoth
LibreOffice

68% with consensus · 77% self-consistent · knowledge cutoff not published

Mistral Large 4

python-docx
python-docx-template
Aspose.Words
Spire.Doc
docx2python
Mammoth
Pandoc
PyDocX
OpenPyXL-docx
pywin32

88% with consensus · 89% self-consistent · knowledge cutoff not published

Nemotron 3.5 Super VL

python-docx
python-docx-template
Mailmerge
docx2python
Aspose.Words
Pandoc
pypandoc
LibreOffice
IronWord
Spire.Doc

75% with consensus · 71% self-consistent · knowledge cutoff not published

Who agrees with whom

Overlap between two models' lists, weighted toward the top · 100 means identical · Color runs from 54 (lightest) to 93 (darkest)

	Claude Haiku 5.5	GPT-6 Luna	Gemini 4 Argon	Qwen 3.8 Flash	DeepSeek V4.1 Flash	GLM-5.3	Kimi K3	MiniMax M3	Mistral Large 4	Nemotron 3.5 Super VL
Claude Haiku 5.5		81	81	79	81	79	67	65	79	71
GPT-6 Luna	81		81	74	84	76	69	63	82	71
Gemini 4 Argon	81	81		78	81	81	73	60	83	69
Qwen 3.8 Flash	79	74	78		77	77	70	56	80	69
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash	81	84	81	77		78	73	61	93	79
GLM-5.3	79	76	81	77	78		74	59	81	70
Kimi K3	67	69	73	70	73	74		57	74	54
MiniMax M3	65	63	60	56	61	59	57		58	69
Mistral Large 4	79	82	83	80	93	81	74	58		75
Nemotron 3.5 Super VL	71	71	69	69	79	70	54	69	75