<p>How can I compare strings in a case insensitive way in Python?</p>
<p>I would like to encapsulate comparison of a regular strings to a repository string, using simple and Pythonic code. I also would like to have ability to look up values in a dict hashed by strings using regular python strings.</p>

Assuming ASCII strings:
```
```
string1 = 'Hello'
string2 = 'hello'

if string1.lower() == string2.lower():
    print("The strings are the same (case insensitive)")
else:
    print("The strings are NOT the same (case insensitive)")
```
```
As of Python 3.3,
casefold()
is a better alternative:
```
```
string1 = 'Hello'
string2 = 'hello'

if string1.casefold() == string2.casefold():
    print("The strings are the same (case insensitive)")
else:
    print("The strings are NOT the same (case insensitive)")
```
```
If you want a more comprehensive solution that handles more complex unicode comparisons, see other answers.