head to head · open source
fastapi vs higress
fastapi has 104,566 GitHub stars, 10,179 forks, 78 open issues and last shipped yesterday. higress has 9,695 stars, 1,379 forks, 1,114 open issues and last shipped yesterday. fastapi leads on adoption by 979% (104,566 vs 9,695 stars). fastapi is written in Python under MIT; higress is written in Go under Apache-2.0. fastapi has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, higress 14%. fastapi was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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 | higress | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 105K | ★ 9.7K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 10K | ⑂ 1.4K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick fastapi if
- You weight community size — 105K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick higress if
- You want the higress feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and higress fits your workflow better
About fastapi
FastAPI framework, high performance, easy to learn, fast to code, ready for production Documentation : Source Code : FastAPI is a modern, fast (high performance), web framework for building APIs with Python based on standard Python type hints. The key features are: Fast : Very high performance, on par with NodeJS and Go (thanks to Starlette and Pydantic). One of the fastest Python frameworks available. Fast to code : Increase the speed to develop features by about 200% to 300%. Fewer bugs : Reduce about 40% of human (developer) induced errors. Intuitive : Great editor support. Completion everywhere. Less time…
read the full fastapi overview →
About higress
AI Gateway AI Native API Gateway Official Site Docs Blog Roadmap MCP Server QuickStart Developer Guide Wasm Plugin Hub English 中文 日本語 What is Higress? Higress is a cloud native API gateway based on Istio and Envoy, which can be extended with Wasm plugins written in Go/Rust/JS. It provides dozens of ready to use general purpose plugins and an out of the box console (try the demo here). Core Use Cases Higress's AI gateway capabilities support all mainstream model providers both domestic and international. It also supports hosting MCP (Model Context Protocol) Servers through its plugin mechanism, enabling AI Agents…
read the full higress overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is fastapi or higress more popular?
fastapi has 104,566 GitHub stars and higress has 9,695. fastapi has the larger community by that measure.
Are fastapi and higress free?
Both are open source. fastapi is licensed under MIT and higress under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between fastapi and higress?
fastapi is written in Python and higress in Go. 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 higress?
Choose fastapi if you want the larger community (104,566 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose higress if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.