head to head · open source
fastapi vs springdoc-openapi
fastapi has 102,409 GitHub stars, 9,906 forks, 78 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. springdoc-openapi has 3,736 stars, 603 forks, 14 open issues and last shipped 12 days ago. fastapi leads on adoption by 2,641% (102,409 vs 3,736 stars). fastapi is written in Python under MIT; springdoc-openapi is written in Java under Apache-2.0. fastapi has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, springdoc-openapi 16%. fastapi was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (openapi, openapi3), 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 | springdoc-openapi | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 102K | ★ 3.7K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-14 | 2026-09-06 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.9K | ⑂ 603 |
| 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 springdoc-openapi if
- You want the springdoc-openapi feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and springdoc-openapi 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 springdoc-openapi
springdoc openapi is on Open Collective. If you ❤️ this project consider becoming a sponsor. This project is sponsored by Table of Contents Full documentation Security contact information Versioning Introduction Getting Started Library for springdoc openapi integration with spring boot and swagger ui Spring boot with OpenAPI Demo applications. Source Code for Demo Applications. Demo Spring Boot 4 Web MVC with OpenAPI 3. Demo Spring Boot 4 WebFlux with OpenAPI 3. Demo Spring Boot 4 WebFlux with Functional endpoints OpenAPI 3. Demo Spring Boot 4 and Spring Hateoas with OpenAPI 3. Integration of the library in a Spr…
read the full springdoc-openapi overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is fastapi or springdoc-openapi more popular?
fastapi has 102,409 GitHub stars and springdoc-openapi has 3,736. fastapi has the larger community by that measure.
Are fastapi and springdoc-openapi free?
Both are open source. fastapi is licensed under MIT and springdoc-openapi under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between fastapi and springdoc-openapi?
fastapi is written in Python and springdoc-openapi in Java. 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 springdoc-openapi?
Choose fastapi if you want the larger community (102,409 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose springdoc-openapi if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.