head to head · open source
fastapi vs SafeLine
fastapi has 102,402 GitHub stars, 9,903 forks, 78 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. SafeLine has 22,606 stars, 1,533 forks, 69 open issues and last shipped 8 days ago. fastapi leads on adoption by 353% (102,402 vs 22,606 stars). fastapi is written in Python under MIT; SafeLine is written in Go under GPL-3.0. fastapi has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, SafeLine 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 | SafeLine | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 102K | ★ 23K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-14 | 2026-09-10 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.9K | ⑂ 1.5K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick fastapi if
- You weight community size — 102K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick SafeLine if
- You want the SafeLine feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and SafeLine fits your workflow better
About fastapi
FastAPI is an MIT licensed, high performance Python web framework for building APIs with standard Python type hints, aimed at Python developers and teams that need production ready HTTP services with automatic OpenAPI documentation.
read the full fastapi overview →
About SafeLine
SafeLine is a self hosted web application firewall and reverse proxy, written in Go and licensed under GPL 3.0, that filters, monitors, and blocks malicious HTTP/S traffic before it reaches a web application — built for developers, AppSec engineers, and blue teams who want to run edge protection on their own infrastructure.
read the full SafeLine overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is fastapi or SafeLine more popular?
fastapi has 102,402 GitHub stars and SafeLine has 22,606. fastapi has the larger community by that measure.
Are fastapi and SafeLine free?
Both are open source. fastapi is licensed under MIT and SafeLine under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between fastapi and SafeLine?
fastapi is written in Python and SafeLine 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 SafeLine?
Choose fastapi if you want the larger community (102,402 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose SafeLine if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.