head to head · open source
fastapi vs resterm
fastapi has 104,566 GitHub stars, 10,179 forks, 78 open issues and last shipped yesterday. resterm has 1,998 stars, 60 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. fastapi leads on adoption by 5,134% (104,566 vs 1,998 stars). fastapi is written in Python under MIT; resterm is written in Go under Apache-2.0. fastapi has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, resterm 3%. fastapi was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (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.
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Side by side
| fastapi | resterm | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 105K | ★ 2.0K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 10K | ⑂ 60 |
| 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 resterm if
- You want the resterm 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 resterm 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 resterm
Resterm An API as code workbench for the terminal. Resterm is your API as code, stored in plain text .http and .rest files that you can diff, review and track in version control. Edit and send requests in the terminal, or run them from scripts and CI. Request files support workflows, assertions, mock servers, tracing and profiling. No accounts, cloud sync or telemetry. Quick links: Screenshots, Quick Start, Request files, Installation, Documentation. Screenshot tour See the UI in action (click to expand) Workflows Trace and Timeline Profiler Explain RestermScript Light Theme OAuth browser demo (old UI design)…
read the full resterm overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is fastapi or resterm more popular?
fastapi has 104,566 GitHub stars and resterm has 1,998. fastapi has the larger community by that measure.
Are fastapi and resterm free?
Both are open source. fastapi is licensed under MIT and resterm under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between fastapi and resterm?
fastapi is written in Python and resterm 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 resterm?
Choose fastapi if you want the larger community (104,566 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose resterm if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.