head to head · open source
fastapi vs lambda-api
fastapi has 104,542 GitHub stars, 10,173 forks, 78 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. lambda-api has 1,470 stars, 127 forks, 47 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. fastapi leads on adoption by 7,012% (104,542 vs 1,470 stars). fastapi is written in Python under MIT; lambda-api is written in JavaScript under MIT. fastapi has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, lambda-api 9%. 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 | lambda-api | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 105K | ★ 1.5K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Python | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-10-29 |
| Forks | ⑂ 10K | ⑂ 127 |
| 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 lambda-api if
- You want the lambda-api feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and lambda-api 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 lambda-api
Lightweight web framework for your serverless applications Lambda API is a lightweight web framework for AWS Lambda using AWS API Gateway Lambda Proxy Integration or ALB Lambda Target Support. This closely mirrors (and is based on) other web frameworks like Express.js and Fastify, but is significantly stripped down to maximize performance with Lambda's stateless, single run executions. Using AWS SDK v2? lambda api@v1 is using AWS SDK v3. If you are using AWS SDK v2, please use lambda api@v0.12.0. Simple Example For a full tutorial see How To: Build a Serverless API with Serverless, AWS Lambda and Lambda API. Why…
read the full lambda-api overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is fastapi or lambda-api more popular?
fastapi has 104,542 GitHub stars and lambda-api has 1,470. fastapi has the larger community by that measure.
Are fastapi and lambda-api free?
Both are open source. fastapi is licensed under MIT and lambda-api under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between fastapi and lambda-api?
fastapi is written in Python and lambda-api in JavaScript. 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 lambda-api?
Choose fastapi if you want the larger community (104,542 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose lambda-api if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.