Why PyMySQL?

MySQL is an immensely popular RDBMS, and you usually need to talk to it when writing a web application in Python. The defacto standard, MySQLdb, is a C extension module that has a reputation of being difficult to compile, especially if you're on a Mac (like I am). Additionally, end-users need to wait for new binaries to be compiled for each new release of Python, and MySQLdb will never run on Jython, IronPython, or PyPy (without something like cpyext or IronClad). We also maintain 100% compatibility between Python 2 and Python 3, so all advancements made on the 2.x trunk will be immediately available on Python 3.

We are developing a drop-in replacement for MySQLdb that "just works" without the hassle of compiling and installing C extensions and without worrying what platform you're on.