head to head · open source
fastapi vs serverless-express
fastapi has 104,566 GitHub stars, 10,179 forks, 78 open issues and last shipped yesterday. serverless-express has 5,262 stars, 671 forks, 101 open issues and last shipped 7 months ago. fastapi leads on adoption by 1,887% (104,566 vs 5,262 stars). fastapi is written in Python under MIT; serverless-express is written in JavaScript under Apache-2.0. fastapi has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, serverless-express 13%. 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 | serverless-express | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 105K | ★ 5.3K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-04-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 10K | ⑂ 671 |
| 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 serverless-express if
- You want the serverless-express feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and serverless-express 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 serverless-express
v5.0.0 Released! Includes Node.js 24 support and removal of deprecated APIs. See UPGRADE.md for upgrade instructions from v4. Serverless Express by Starting a new software project? Check out Code Genie a Full Stack App Generator that delivers a complete AWS Serverless project with source code, based on your data model. Including: 1. A React Next.js Web App hosted on Amplify Hosting 1. Serverless Express REST API running on API Gateway and Lambda 1. Cognito User Pools for Identity/Authentication 1. DynamoDB Database 1. Cloud Development Kit (CDK) for Infrastructure as Code (IAC) 1. Continuous Integration/Delivery…
read the full serverless-express overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is fastapi or serverless-express more popular?
fastapi has 104,566 GitHub stars and serverless-express has 5,262. fastapi has the larger community by that measure.
Are fastapi and serverless-express free?
Both are open source. fastapi is licensed under MIT and serverless-express under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between fastapi and serverless-express?
fastapi is written in Python and serverless-express 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 serverless-express?
Choose fastapi if you want the larger community (104,566 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose serverless-express if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.