encoders fast LabelEncoder for str and bytes to int Install pip install encoders Dev py -m pip install -e .[test,bench] use py -m pre_commit run --all-files to run pre-commit checks manually cd tests && py -m unittest discover to run tests, py bench.py to run benchmarks benchmarks bytes class fit fit(set) inverse_transform transform BytesLabelEncoder 4.40007 0.404088 0.656 2.7153 PandasLabelEncoder 5.95293 0.558918 0.337004 3.31889 SklearnLabelEncoder 4.44269 0.448736 0.874752 7.73648 string class fit fit(set) inverse_transform transform StringLabelEncoder 1.91807 0.286374 0.152906 0.597774 PandasLabelEncoder 2.36687 0.416667 0.318656 3.34337 SklearnLabelEncoder 5.9505 0.380508 0.939498 19.2761 Plans fast Counter, MultiCounter for str and bytes