Difference to cryptography module?

[ValueRaider]

Why do both cryptography and pycryptodome exist?

Both have the same sales pitch - a self-contained package of cryptographic primitives. cryptography offers a high-level API, but that's no reason to duplicate effort on the low-level. Both have significant contributing communities (although cryptography is bigger) so there must be a good reason for both projects to exist separately. What am I missing?

Context: I'm adding some decryption functionality to a project and can't decide which module to use.

[crass]

One of the main differences is that cryptography uses openssl as a backend whereas pycryptodome has no dependencies. According to pycrypto's website, cryptography is "recommended for new applications" and has a "newer API with fewer gotchas", while pycryptodome is "recommended for existing software that depends on PyCrypto" and is a "fork of PyCrypto. Most applications should run unmodified.". So the question becomes, is openssl an asset or a liability?