Comparing
Async http client/server framework (asyncio)
React data fetching with stale-while-revalidate caching — one hook for all your remote data needs with automatic revalidation.
| Metric | aiohttp | swr |
|---|---|---|
| Ecosystem | Python | npm |
| Difficulty | Beginner | Beginner |
| Weekly downloads | 0 | 3.5M↑ |
| Latest version | v3.13.5 | v2.3.3 |
| Recipes | 1 | 2↑ |
aiohttp only
Shared
swr only
Use aiohttp when you need a battle-tested async HTTP client or server, especially in applications that make many concurrent HTTP calls (scrapers, API aggregators) or build lightweight async web services. It has a mature ecosystem and is widely used in production.
Read-heavy React apps: dashboards, profiles, lists. When you want simple cache-first data with background refresh. When components far apart need to share server data without prop drilling.
For new async API projects, FastAPI (built on Starlette/uvicorn) has better developer ergonomics, automatic validation, and docs. For synchronous scripts, requests is simpler. httpx offers a compatible API with both sync and async modes if you want flexibility.
Complex mutation workflows with optimistic updates and rollbacks (react-query/TanStack Query is more powerful for this). Server-side rendering where you need full control over data fetching timing.
aiohttp
swr