head to head · open source
fastapi vs rustunnel
fastapi has 104,566 GitHub stars, 10,179 forks, 78 open issues and last shipped yesterday. rustunnel has 660 stars, 48 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. fastapi leads on adoption by 15,743% (104,566 vs 660 stars). fastapi is written in Python under MIT; rustunnel is written in Rust under AGPL-3.0. fastapi has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, rustunnel 7%. 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 | rustunnel | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 105K | ★ 660 |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-31 |
| Forks | ⑂ 10K | ⑂ 48 |
| 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 rustunnel if
- You want the rustunnel feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and rustunnel 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 rustunnel
rustunnel The open source tunnel that scales with you. Don't pay for idle time. Secure, Rust fast, and Pay as you go. Expose local services through a public server over encrypted WebSocket connections with TLS termination, HTTP/TCP proxying, a live dashboard, Prometheus metrics, and audit logging. You can self host or use our managed service. Using an AI agent? rustunnel ships an MCP server — one click setup for Cursor (then add your API token): For Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Windsurf, and others, see the agent integration guide or the agent manual at rustunnel.com/agents.md. Table of Contents Hosted service…
read the full rustunnel overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is fastapi or rustunnel more popular?
fastapi has 104,566 GitHub stars and rustunnel has 660. fastapi has the larger community by that measure.
Are fastapi and rustunnel free?
Both are open source. fastapi is licensed under MIT and rustunnel under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between fastapi and rustunnel?
fastapi is written in Python and rustunnel in Rust. 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 rustunnel?
Choose fastapi if you want the larger community (104,566 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose rustunnel if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.