Comparing
FastAPI framework, high performance, easy to learn, fast to code, ready for production
The next generation HTTP client
| Metric | fastapi | httpx |
|---|---|---|
| Ecosystem | Python | Python |
| Difficulty | Beginner ✓ | Intermediate |
| Weekly downloads | 0 | 119.1M↑ |
| Latest version | v0.135.2 | v0.28.1 |
| Recipes | 1 | 2↑ |
fastapi only
Shared
httpx only
Use FastAPI when building REST or GraphQL APIs in Python, especially when you need async support, automatic OpenAPI/Swagger docs, request validation, or are building microservices. It's the best choice for new Python API projects.
Use httpx when building FastAPI or asyncio applications that call external APIs. Also reach for it when you need HTTP/2 support, a requests-compatible API with async support, or a single library that works in both sync and async contexts.
FastAPI is API-only — it has no templating, admin interface, or ORM. For full-stack web apps with server-rendered HTML, Django is better. For tiny internal tools, Flask's smaller learning curve might be preferable.
For simple synchronous scripts where you already use requests, there's little reason to switch — requests has a larger ecosystem of auth libraries and middleware. For high-volume async scraping at scale, aiohttp's lower-level control may be more efficient.
fastapi
httpx