Arrow: Better Dates & Times for Python

1.4.0 verified Tue May 12 auth: no python install: verified quickstart: verified

Arrow is a Python library that offers a sensible, human-friendly approach to dates, times, and timestamps. It aims to be a drop-in replacement for the `datetime` module, providing a more convenient API for creating, manipulating, formatting, and converting dates and times, including robust timezone handling and humanization. The current version is 1.4.0, and it maintains an active release cadence, with updates typically occurring every few months.

pip install arrow

Common errors

error ImportError: No module named arrow ↓

cause The 'arrow' library is not installed in the Python environment.

fix

Install the 'arrow' library using pip: 'pip install arrow'.

error AttributeError: 'Arrow' object has no attribute 'timestamp' ↓

cause The 'Arrow' object does not have a 'timestamp' method; 'timestamp' is an attribute.

fix

Access the 'timestamp' attribute directly: 'arrow_object.timestamp'.

error AttributeError: 'Arrow' object has no attribute 'strftime' ↓

cause The 'Arrow' object does not have a 'strftime' method; it uses 'format' for formatting.

fix

Use the 'format' method: 'arrow_object.format('YYYY-MM-DD')'.

error TypeError: fromtimestamp() argument must be int or float, not str ↓

cause Passing a string to 'arrow.get()' without specifying the format leads to this error.

fix

Specify the format when parsing a string: 'arrow.get('2023-04-15', 'YYYY-MM-DD')'.

error ValueError: Invalid format string ↓

cause Using an incorrect or unsupported format string with the 'format' method.

fix

Ensure the format string follows Arrow's formatting tokens: 'arrow_object.format('YYYY-MM-DD')'.

Warnings

breaking Arrow dropped support for Python 3.6 and 3.7 starting with version 1.3.0. Users on these Python versions must upgrade their Python environment to 3.8 or newer to use Arrow 1.3.0+. ↓

fix Upgrade Python to version 3.8 or higher. Alternatively, pin Arrow to a version less than 1.3.0 if Python upgrade is not feasible (e.g., `pip install 'arrow<1.3.0'`).

gotcha Prior to version 1.1.1, explicit `tzinfo` arguments to `arrow.get()` might not have been properly respected in all cases, potentially leading to incorrect timezone awareness for parsed dates. ↓

fix Ensure you are using Arrow version 1.1.1 or higher for reliable `tzinfo` handling with `arrow.get()`. Always verify the timezone of your `Arrow` object using `.tzinfo`.

gotcha Arrow objects are not direct subclasses of Python's built-in `datetime.datetime` objects. While they offer a similar interface, direct compatibility with libraries expecting `datetime.datetime` might require explicit conversion using the `.datetime` property. ↓

fix When interfacing with other libraries that strictly require `datetime.datetime` objects, convert your `Arrow` object using `my_arrow_obj.datetime`.

gotcha Just like standard `datetime`, `arrow` can create timezone-naive objects if no timezone information is provided during creation or parsing. Operations involving naive and aware objects can lead to `TypeError` or incorrect results. ↓

fix Whenever possible, prefer creating timezone-aware `Arrow` objects (e.g., `arrow.utcnow()`, `arrow.now(tz='America/New_York')`, or parsing strings with explicit offsets). Use `.to('timezone')` to convert between timezones safely.

Install compatibility verified last tested: 2026-05-12

python os / libc status wheel install import disk

3.10 alpine (musl) wheel - 0.07s 22.0M

3.10 alpine (musl) - - 0.07s 22.0M

3.10 slim (glibc) wheel 1.8s 0.05s 23M

3.10 slim (glibc) - - 0.05s 23M

3.11 alpine (musl) wheel - 0.12s 24.1M

3.11 alpine (musl) - - 0.13s 24.1M

3.11 slim (glibc) wheel 1.9s 0.10s 25M

3.11 slim (glibc) - - 0.10s 25M

3.12 alpine (musl) wheel - 0.09s 15.9M

3.12 alpine (musl) - - 0.10s 15.9M

3.12 slim (glibc) wheel 1.7s 0.10s 16M

3.12 slim (glibc) - - 0.09s 16M

3.13 alpine (musl) wheel - 0.09s 15.6M

3.13 alpine (musl) - - 0.09s 15.5M

3.13 slim (glibc) wheel 1.7s 0.09s 16M

3.13 slim (glibc) - - 0.10s 16M

3.9 alpine (musl) wheel - 0.07s 21.5M

3.9 alpine (musl) - - 0.07s 21.5M

3.9 slim (glibc) wheel 2.1s 0.07s 22M

3.9 slim (glibc) - - 0.06s 22M

Imports

arrow
```
import arrow
```

Quickstart verified last tested: 2026-04-24

This quickstart demonstrates how to get current times, parse date strings, format Arrow objects, perform time shifts, and humanize time differences.

import arrow

# Get current UTC time
now_utc = arrow.utcnow()
print(f"Current UTC: {now_utc}")

# Get current local time
now_local = arrow.now()
print(f"Current Local: {now_local}")

# Parse a string into an Arrow object
dt_string = '2023-10-27T10:30:00-05:00'
dt_obj = arrow.get(dt_string)
print(f"Parsed datetime: {dt_obj}")

# Format an Arrow object
formatted_dt = dt_obj.format('YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:ss ZZ')
print(f"Formatted datetime: {formatted_dt}")

# Shift an Arrow object
tomorrow = now_local.shift(days=+1)
yesterday = now_local.shift(days=-1)
print(f"Tomorrow: {tomorrow}")
print(f"Yesterday: {yesterday}")

# Humanize an Arrow object
humanized_diff = tomorrow.humanize(now_local)
print(f"Tomorrow relative to now: {humanized_diff}")