Django vs Flask vs FastAPI

Python has three dominant web frameworks, each with a different philosophy. Here's how they compare.

Overview

Django is "batteries-included," Flask is minimal and unopinionated, and FastAPI is built around type hints and async performance for APIs.

Django

Django ships with an ORM, admin panel, authentication and templating out of the box — ideal for full applications that need structure fast.

Flask

Flask gives you routing and a request/response cycle, and leaves the rest to you. You add a database layer, forms or auth as separate libraries.

FastAPI

FastAPI focuses purely on building fast, well-documented APIs using Python type hints for validation, with native async support.

# FastAPI: type hints double as validation
@app.get("/users/{user_id}")
async def get_user(user_id: int, active: bool = True):
    return {"user_id": user_id, "active": active}

Which Should You Choose?

• Full website with admin & auth built-in: Django
• Small service or learning project: Flask
• High-performance JSON API: FastAPI