head to head · open source
fastapi vs Apache APISIX
fastapi has 102,402 GitHub stars, 9,903 forks, 78 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. Apache APISIX has 17,135 stars, 2,946 forks, 235 open issues and last shipped yesterday. fastapi leads on adoption by 498% (102,402 vs 17,135 stars). fastapi is written in Python under MIT; Apache APISIX is written in Lua under Apache-2.0. fastapi has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, Apache APISIX 17%. Apache APISIX was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (api), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| fastapi | Apache APISIX | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 102K | ★ 17K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Lua |
| Last push | 2026-09-14 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.9K | ⑂ 2.9K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick fastapi if
- You weight community size — 102K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Apache APISIX if
- You want the Apache APISIX feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Lua
- You evaluated both and Apache APISIX fits your workflow better
About fastapi
FastAPI is an MIT licensed, high performance Python web framework for building APIs with standard Python type hints, aimed at Python developers and teams that need production ready HTTP services with automatic OpenAPI documentation.
read the full fastapi overview →
About Apache APISIX
Apache APISIX is a dynamic, real time, high performance API gateway and AI gateway built on NGINX and etcd. It provides rich traffic management features, such as load balancing, dynamic upstream, canary release, circuit breaking, authentication, and observability. The project lives in the Lua and LuaJIT ecosystem, and it uses the Apache 2.0 license.
read the full Apache APISIX overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is fastapi or Apache APISIX more popular?
fastapi has 102,402 GitHub stars and Apache APISIX has 17,135. fastapi has the larger community by that measure.
Are fastapi and Apache APISIX free?
Both are open source. fastapi is licensed under MIT and Apache APISIX under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between fastapi and Apache APISIX?
fastapi is written in Python and Apache APISIX in Lua. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, fastapi or Apache APISIX?
Choose fastapi if you want the larger community (102,402 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Apache APISIX if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.