head to head · open source
fastapi vs xh
fastapi has 104,566 GitHub stars, 10,179 forks, 78 open issues and last shipped yesterday. xh has 8,165 stars, 152 forks, 37 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. fastapi leads on adoption by 1,181% (104,566 vs 8,165 stars). fastapi is written in Python under MIT; xh is written in Rust under MIT. fastapi has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, xh 2%. 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 | xh | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 105K | ★ 8.2K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-29 |
| Forks | ⑂ 10K | ⑂ 152 |
| 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 xh if
- You want the xh feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and xh 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 xh
xh xh is a friendly and fast tool for sending HTTP requests. It reimplements as much as possible of HTTPie's excellent design, with a focus on improved performance. Installation via cURL (Linux & macOS) via Powershell (Windows) via a package manager \ Make sure that you have Rust 1.85 or later installed \ \ You will need to install the MMRL CLI \ \ \ Built with native tls only. \ \ \ \ Available since Debian 13 and Ubuntu 25.04. Built with native tls only. \ \ \ \ \ Enable COPR repo via sudo dnf copr enable ducaale/xh [Huber]: [Mise]: [Magisk]: [KernelSU]: [Termux]: [Flox]: [Hermit]: via pre built binaries The…
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Frequently asked questions
Is fastapi or xh more popular?
fastapi has 104,566 GitHub stars and xh has 8,165. fastapi has the larger community by that measure.
Are fastapi and xh free?
Both are open source. fastapi is licensed under MIT and xh under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between fastapi and xh?
fastapi is written in Python and xh 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 xh?
Choose fastapi if you want the larger community (104,566 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose xh if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.