head to head · open source
fastapi vs HTTPie
fastapi has 104,566 GitHub stars, 10,179 forks, 78 open issues and last shipped yesterday. HTTPie has 4,055 stars, 62 forks, 197 open issues and last shipped 1.6 years ago. fastapi leads on adoption by 2,479% (104,566 vs 4,055 stars). fastapi is written in Python under MIT; HTTPie is written in various languages under a custom or non-standard licence. fastapi has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, HTTPie 2%. fastapi 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 | HTTPie | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 105K | ★ 4.1K |
| License | MIT | Custom / other |
| Written in | Python | — |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2025-03-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 10K | ⑂ 62 |
| 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 HTTPie if
- You want the HTTPie feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- You evaluated both and HTTPie 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 HTTPie
HTTPie Desktop In this repository, we publish releases of HTTPie Desktop for Mac, Windows, and Linux. The app continuously auto updates after the initial installation. Open HTTPie Desktop web app: httpie.io/app or req.new What’s new → Mac & Windows httpie.io/download → Linux Please follow the instructions below to install HTTPie for Desktop on Linux. ⚠️ The Linux package uses AppImage, and you need to install it using AppImageLauncher for the app to work: 1. Install AppImageLauncher (instructions) 2. Download HTTPie .AppImage (or HTTPie arm64.AppImage for ARM64 architecture) from the latest release page 3. Run $…
read the full HTTPie overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is fastapi or HTTPie more popular?
fastapi has 104,566 GitHub stars and HTTPie has 4,055. fastapi has the larger community by that measure.
Are fastapi and HTTPie free?
Both are open source. fastapi is licensed under MIT, and HTTPie has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between fastapi and HTTPie?
fastapi is written in Python and HTTPie in various languages. 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 HTTPie?
Choose fastapi if you want the larger community (104,566 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose HTTPie if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.