head to head · open source
fastapi vs api-gateway
fastapi has 102,409 GitHub stars, 9,906 forks, 78 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. api-gateway has 642 stars, 180 forks, 29 open issues and last shipped yesterday. fastapi leads on adoption by 15,852% (102,409 vs 642 stars). fastapi is written in Python under MIT; api-gateway is written in Java under Apache-2.0. fastapi has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, api-gateway 28%. api-gateway was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (api, openapi), 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.
← all 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| fastapi | api-gateway | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 102K | ★ 642 |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-14 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.9K | ⑂ 180 |
| 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 api-gateway if
- You want the api-gateway feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and api-gateway 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 api-gateway
Membrane API Gateway for REST, OpenAPI, and GraphQL with first class Legacy Support for XML, SOAP, and WSDL Built on the Java platform , Membrane bridges legacy and modern APIs. It supports XML to JSON transformation, WSDL to OpenAPI conversion,SOAP to REST integration, and validation against OpenAPI and WSDL . For modern APIs, Membrane supports technologies such as OAuth 2, JWT, and AI, along with a broad range of transformation, and observability features. It is easy to set up and deploy, either as a container or as a Java application. Try Membrane in 5 Minutes Start the API Gateway Run Membrane as a container …
read the full api-gateway overview →
More in Developer Tools
Related comparisons
More API Development & Testing projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the API Development & Testing field.
Frequently asked questions
Is fastapi or api-gateway more popular?
fastapi has 102,409 GitHub stars and api-gateway has 642. fastapi has the larger community by that measure.
Are fastapi and api-gateway free?
Both are open source. fastapi is licensed under MIT and api-gateway under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between fastapi and api-gateway?
fastapi is written in Python and api-gateway in Java. 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 api-gateway?
Choose fastapi if you want the larger community (102,409 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose api-gateway if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.