head to head · open source
fastapi vs karate
fastapi has 104,566 GitHub stars, 10,179 forks, 78 open issues and last shipped yesterday. karate has 9,002 stars, 2,048 forks, 18 open issues and last shipped yesterday. fastapi leads on adoption by 1,062% (104,566 vs 9,002 stars). fastapi is written in Python under MIT; karate is written in Java under MIT. fastapi has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, karate 23%. 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 | karate | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 105K | ★ 9.0K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Java |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 10K | ⑂ 2.0K |
| 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 karate if
- You want the karate feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and karate 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 karate
Karate The open source tool that combines API testing, mocks, performance testing, and UI automation into a single, unified framework. 📖 Documentation: docs.karatelabs.io Looking for the old README? The previous README monolith is preserved at: github.com/karatelabs/karate/tree/v1.5.2.RC2 Anchor links (e.g. syntax guide , configuration ) can be appended to navigate directly to specific sections. Karate v2 development notes See README V2.md for v2 module descriptions, feature highlights, and migration notes.
read the full karate overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is fastapi or karate more popular?
fastapi has 104,566 GitHub stars and karate has 9,002. fastapi has the larger community by that measure.
Are fastapi and karate free?
Both are open source. fastapi is licensed under MIT and karate under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between fastapi and karate?
fastapi is written in Python and karate 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 karate?
Choose fastapi if you want the larger community (104,566 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose karate if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.