Things uv does better by pip by default: - really hard to install a package globally by accident (pip: forgetting to activate venv) - really easy to distinguish de and main dependencies (pip: create different files for different groups and set up their relationship) - distinguish direct dependencies from indirect dependencies, making it easy to find when a package is not needed anymore (pip: I bet most devs are either not tracking sub dependencies or mixing all together with pip freeze) - easily use different python versions for different projects (pip: not really)
With uv it just works. With pip, technically you can make it work, and I bet you'll screw something up along the way.
> - really hard to install a package globally by accident (pip: forgetting to activate venv)
This is different as of Python 3.11. Please see https://peps.python.org/pep-0668/ for details. Nowadays, to install a package globally, you first have to have a global copy of pip (Debian makes you install that separately), then you have to intentionally bypass a security marker using --break-system-packages.
Also, you don't have to activate the venv to use it. You can specify the path to the venv's pip explicitly; or you can use a different copy of pip (e.g. a globally-installed one) passing it the `--python` argument (you have been able to do this for about 3 years now).
(Pedantically, yes, you could use a venv-installed copy of pip to install into the system environment, passing both --python and --break-system-packages. I can't prove that anyone has ever done this, and I can't fathom a reason beyond bragging rights.)
> - really easy to distinguish [dev] and main dependencies
As of 25.1, pip can install from dependency groups described in pyproject.toml, which is the standard way to group your dependencies in metadata.
> distinguish direct dependencies from indirect dependencies, making it easy to find when a package is not needed anymore
As of 25.1, pip can create PEP 751 standard lockfiles.
> easily use different python versions for different projects
If you want something to install Python for you, yes, that was never in pip's purview, by design.
If you want to use an environment based off an existing Python, that's what venv is for.