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There are different definitions for both which is really confusing.

Can someone please clarify the difference between them?

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    Sharing your research helps everyone. Link the posts and articles you've read and explain what you took away from them and what you didn't understand. This demonstrates that you’ve taken the time to try to help yourself, it saves us from reiterating obvious answers, and most of all it helps you get a more specific and relevant answer. See also: How to Ask Commented May 10, 2020 at 15:00
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    Python documentation differentiates between instance objects and method objects. Could it be the source of your confusion> Commented May 10, 2020 at 15:05
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    @PM77-1 That is referring to an outdated concept from Python 2.x, and it has nothing to do with the distinction between the terms "instance" and "object". The distinction made in the documentation is between "method object" (meaning: an object which is/represents a method) and "function object" (meaning: an object which is/represents a function). The term "instance object" is redundant, and is not being contrasted with "method object". Commented May 2, 2024 at 22:48
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    See also stackoverflow.com/questions/1215881, and stackoverflow.com/questions/2885385 and may more. The same terminology applies across (basically) all OO languages. Commented Oct 15, 2024 at 3:01

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In Python, everything is an object. Moreover in Python objects are instances of classes, so it follows that every object is also an instance of some class*.

However, we generally use the term instance in preference to object when we want to discuss the behaviour of instances of a specific class or classes

Instances of Foo provide the following operations ...

No two instances of Bar may compare as equal ...

So we might say that object is the most general term, whereas instances refers to the set of objects which are instances of a particular class or classes, and instance is a specific object which is an instance of a particular class.

In short, they are the same thing, but we use these terms in different contexts.

*Python enables this circular definition by making object an instance of type, and type an instance of object, and both object and type are instances of themselves.

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Would it be fair to say, then, that instance refers to a relationship, while object does not?
You're right I think, it's implicit, isn't it? Feel free to edit if you want to improve the answer.
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instance and object are effectively the same thing. When you create an instance of a class, that instance is an object.

Put another way, every instance is an object. That is the literal definition of an object: an instance of a class.

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12 Comments

I don't agree. Yes, instances are objects. But not all objects are instances. Essentially everything in python is an object, even the class itself.
@JohanSchiff do you have an example of an object that is not, ultimately, an instance of a class?
@JohanSchiff I suppose we generally use instance in relation to a particular class, as, as you say, in most contexts the fact that all objects are also instances is not a particularly observation. A different story wit metaprogramming though. Anyway, we are mostly in agreement I think; cheers!
@snakecharmerb Now tell me with absolute clarity, what is the difference between an instance and an object? It would be better if you write an answer.
@NirajRaut: Every instance is an object.
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