I was looking at the Python Package Index (PyPi) and noticed 2 very similar packages: opencv-contrib-python and opencv-python and wondering what the difference was. I looked at them and they had the exact same description and version numbers.

As per PyPi documentation:

There are four different packages (see options 1, 2, 3 and 4 below):

Packages for standard desktop environments:

Option 1 - Main modules package: pip install opencv-python

Option 2 - Full package (contains both main modules and contrib/extra modules): pip install opencv-contrib-python (check contrib/extra modules listing from OpenCV documentation)

Packages for server (headless) environments:

Option 3 - Headless main modules package: pip install opencv-python-headless

Option 4 - Headless full package (contains both main modules and contrib/extra modules): pip install opencv-contrib-python-headless

Do not install multiple different packages in the same environment