Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

FastAPI VS Ruby on Rails

Compare FastAPI VS Ruby on Rails and see what are their differences

FastAPI logo FastAPI

FastAPI is an Open Source, modern, fast (high-performance), web framework for building APIs with Python 3.6+ based on standard Python type hints.

Ruby on Rails logo Ruby on Rails

Ruby on Rails is an open source full-stack web application framework for the Ruby programming...
  • FastAPI Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-14
  • Ruby on Rails Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-23

We recommend LibHunt Ruby for discovery and comparisons of trending Ruby projects. Also, to find more open-source ruby alternatives, you can check out libhunt.com/r/rails

FastAPI features and specs

  • High Performance
    Built on Starlette and Pydantic, FastAPI is one of the fastest frameworks for Python, providing high performance due to its asynchronous request handling.
  • Automatic Interactive API Documentation
    FastAPI automatically generates interactive API documentation via Swagger UI and ReDoc, which are very helpful for development and testing.
  • Type Checking and Validation
    With Pydantic models and Python type hints, FastAPI provides automatic data validation and type checking, reducing the chance of runtime errors.
  • Ease of Use
    Its syntax and design make it easy to learn for Python developers, offering a smooth development experience while reducing boilerplate code.
  • Asynchronous Support
    FastAPI supports asynchronous programming, allowing for better performance for I/O-bound operations, making it optimal for handling many simultaneous connections.
  • Extensive Documentation
    It has comprehensive and well-structured documentation, which is very useful for both beginners and advanced users.
  • Community and Ecosystem
    FastAPI has a growing community and ecosystem, with many plugins and integrations available to extend its functionality.

Possible disadvantages of FastAPI

  • Learning Curve for Asynchronous Programming
    Although FastAPI itself is easy to learn, grasping the concepts of asynchronous programming in Python can be challenging for beginners.
  • Complex Dependencies
    Using Pydantic for advanced validation can make the request models complex, requiring a deeper understanding of Pydantic and its functionalities.
  • Early Stage Libraries
    Some third-party libraries and extensions specifically tailored for FastAPI might still be in early stages of development and lack long-term stability.
  • Limited Real-World Examples
    Although the documentation is extensive, there might be limited real-world examples and case studies readily available compared to more mature frameworks.
  • Deployment Complexity
    Deploying FastAPI applications might be more complex in comparison to traditional synchronous frameworks, mainly due to the need for asynchronous server setups.

Ruby on Rails features and specs

  • Rapid Development
    Ruby on Rails uses conventions over configurations which allows developers to build applications quickly. It comes with a wealth of built-in tools and libraries that streamline the development process.
  • Community Support
    Rails has a vibrant and active community. This means a lot of third-party libraries (gems) are available, and you can easily find help and resources.
  • Convention over Configuration
    Rails emphasizes convention over configuration, which reduces the number of decisions developers need to make. This can increase productivity and consistency across projects.
  • Built-in Testing
    Rails comes with a strong built-in testing framework, making it easier to test your application and ensure that it works as expected.
  • Scalability Options
    Although it has a reputation for not being the most scalable framework, Rails can be made scalable with good architecture and the right tools.
  • RESTful Design
    Rails promotes RESTful application design, which means that it aligns well with best practices in web development and makes it easier to build APIs.

Possible disadvantages of Ruby on Rails

  • Performance
    Ruby on Rails can be slower than some other frameworks, particularly for applications that require a lot of computation or have high traffic.
  • Learning Curve
    While Rails makes many things easier with its conventions, this can create a steep learning curve for newcomers who need to understand the 'Rails way' of doing things.
  • Scalability Concerns
    Due to its monolithic nature, scaling Rails can be challenging, requiring significant architectural changes and optimizations.
  • Lesser Flexibility
    The conventions that make Rails easy to use can also be limiting. When you need to do something outside the typical Rails flow, it may be harder to implement.
  • Runtime Speed
    Ruby, the language that Rails is built on, is generally slower in terms of execution speed compared to other languages like Java or C++.
  • Memory Consumption
    Rails applications can consume a lot of memory, which can be a concern for large-scale applications or those with limited resources.

FastAPI videos

FastAPI from the ground up

More videos:

  • Tutorial - 30 Days of Python - Day 14 - Web App with Flask, FastAPI, ngrok, and Invictify - Python TUTORIAL
  • Review - [PT] Python - API com FastAPI - Chat | twitch.tv/codeshow

Ruby on Rails videos

Ruby On Rails Biggest Waste Of Time In 2020 | Ruby on Rails Dead

More videos:

  • Tutorial - Ruby on Rails Tutorial | Build a Book Review App - Part 1

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to FastAPI and Ruby on Rails)
Developer Tools
36 36%
64% 64
Web Frameworks
23 23%
77% 77
API Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Python Web Framework
23 23%
77% 77

User comments

Share your experience with using FastAPI and Ruby on Rails. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare FastAPI and Ruby on Rails

FastAPI Reviews

The 20 Best Laravel Alternatives for Web Development
FastAPI, as the name hints, is a swift mover. Built on Starlette, it’s all about speed and performance with Python. Crafting API masterpieces at the speed of light, now that’s something.
25 Python Frameworks to Master
Since its release in 2018, it has rapidly gained popularity due to its great performance and simplicity. In fact, according to PyPi Stats, FastAPI has over 9 million monthly downloads, surpassing even full-stack frameworks like Django.
Source: kinsta.com
3 Web Frameworks to Use With Python
myapp/ is the main directory of your FastAPI application. It includes all the other files and directories needed for the application.static/ is a directory used to store static assets such as CSS, JavaScript, and image files. These assets are served directly by the web server and are typically used to add visual styling and interactivity to the application.css/, img/, js/...
Best Alternatives to FastAPI App Free for Windows (2021)
FastAPI Alternative – So many alternatives app to FastAPI that you must to know out there. And, looking for an ideal software was not easy matter. Lucky you, at this page you can find the best replacement app for FastAPI. So what you are waiting for, get the latest FastAPI alternative app for Windows 10 from this page.
Top 5 Back-End Frameworks to Consider for Web Development in 2021
FastAPI is a modern, fast (high-performance), web framework for building APIs with Python 3.6+ based on standard Python type hints. It is fast when compared to other major Python frameworks like Flask and Django. FastAPI gives great flexibility to fulfill businesses’ API needs in today’s evolving world.

Ruby on Rails Reviews

  1. Stan
    · Founder at SaaSHub ·
    The most productive web framework

    Yes, there are other more trending frameworks; however, nothing reaches the productivity of Rails. It's simply unbeatable if you have a small team.

    For example both SaaSHub and LibHunt were built on Rails.

    🏁 Competitors: Django, Laravel

Top 9 best Frameworks for web development
The best frameworks for web development include React, Angular, Vue.js, Django, Spring, Laravel, Ruby on Rails, Flask and Express.js. Each of these frameworks has its own advantages and distinctive features, so it is important to choose the framework that best suits the needs of your project.
Source: www.kiwop.com
Top 5 Laravel Alternatives
In terms of documentation, guidelines, and libraries, Ruby on Rails is the superior framework for smaller applications. Since it entered the online scene before Laravel, its community is larger and more well-liked among programmers. When compared to other Laravel alternatives, Ruby’s code is much simpler to understand and write.
Top 10 Phoenix Framework Alternatives
While modern frameworks try to minimize the tradeoffs to a limited extent, none of them has come closer to the implementation of the Phoenix Framework, which offers Ruby on Rails levels of productivity while being one of the fastest frameworks available in the market.
10 Ruby on Rails Alternatives For Web Development in 2022
Once a prolific web development technology, in 2021, both Ruby and Ruby on Rails are considered dying technologies. The data speaks for itself. In October 2021, Ruby lost 3 ranks in the Tiobe Index compared to October 2020 and became the 16th most searched programming language. The same decline in Ruby on Rails popularity is demonstrated by Google Trends. The language...
Get Over Ruby on Rails — 3 Alternative Web Frameworks Worth Checking Out
Disclaimer: I started working on this article before the big controversy about Basecamp happened. I don’t want to make any point about this in the article. Regardless of what DHH and others are saying on different topics, Ruby on Rails is still a great piece of software and will continue to be. But there are some great alternatives as well that I would like to highlight.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, FastAPI should be more popular than Ruby on Rails. It has been mentiond 286 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

FastAPI mentions (286)

  • Building Weather & History Story Cards with Python and FastAPI
    By the end of this tutorial, you’ll see how I used FastAPI and Jinja2 to turn raw JSON into a dynamic timeline of weather and history that feels informative and fun. - Source: dev.to / 5 days ago
  • Build Code-RAGent, an agent for your codebase
    The only thing left to do then was to build something that could showcase the power of code ingestion within a vector database, and it immediately clicked in my mind: "Why don't I ingest my entire codebase of solved Go exercises from Exercism?" That's how I created Code-RAGent, your friendly coding assistant based on your personal codebases and grounded in web search. It is built on top of GPT-4.1, powered by... - Source: dev.to / 6 days ago
  • Understanding the Relation Between FastAPI and Uvicorn
    FastAPI and Uvicorn are two essential building blocks when developing high-performance Python APIs. - Source: dev.to / 7 days ago
  • Python: Why Quart Might Be the Better Choice over FastAPI
    Python's diverse ecosystem of web frameworks offers developers a wide range of choices for building robust and efficient applications. In the realm of asynchronous frameworks, Quart and FastAPI have emerged as popular options. While FastAPI has gained considerable attention for its speed and developer-friendly features, Quart presents a compelling alternative, especially for those already familiar with the Flask... - Source: dev.to / 17 days ago
  • Partner Models for Payments: How Rapyd Powers Partner Payment Solutions
    Let's look at how to use Rapyd to build a simple system where you can onboard merchants, add products, receive payments, and receive payouts, all powered by Rapyd's API. To fully integrate this system, businesses can sign up as a Rapyd partner to access additional capabilities for managing merchant transactions. In this tutorial, you'll see how to use the FastAPI framework in Python to create endpoints for each... - Source: dev.to / 28 days ago
View more

Ruby on Rails mentions (140)

  • Indie Hacking with Open Source Tools: Innovating on a Budget
    This ecosystem is fueled by repositories hosting powerful languages, functions, and versatile tools—from backend frameworks like Django and Ruby on Rails to containerization with Docker and distributed version control via Git. Moreover, indie hackers can also utilize open source design tools (e.g. GIMP, Inkscape) and analytics platforms such as Matomo. - Source: dev.to / about 14 hours ago
  • Charybdis ORM: Building High-Performance Distributed Rust Backends with ScyllaDB
    Ruby on Rails (RoR) is one of the most renowned web frameworks. When combined with SQL databases, RoR transforms into a powerhouse for developing back-end (or even full-stack) applications. It resolves numerous issues out of the box, sometimes without developers even realizing it. For example, with the right callbacks, complex business logic for a single API action is automatically wrapped within a transaction,... - Source: dev.to / 10 days ago
  • Ask HN: What's the ideal stack for a solo dev in 2025
    As it's just you I'd stick with Ruby on Rails 8[1] as you already know it and I think it could realistically easily achieve what you're proposing. There's lots of libraries to for calling out external AI services. e.g. Something like FastMCP[2] From the sound of it that's all you need. I'd use Hotwire[3] for the frontend and Hotwire Native if you want to rollout an app version quickly. I'd back it with... - Source: Hacker News / about 1 month ago
  • Open Source: A Goldmine for Indie Hackers – Unleashing Creativity and Collaboration
    One of the standout benefits of open source software is its cost-effectiveness. Indie hackers can leverage robust tools such as MySQL and Python, which eliminate the financial barrier to high-quality software solutions. Frameworks like Django and Ruby on Rails enable swift development cycles, reducing the time-to-market for innovative ideas. This low-cost, high-efficiency approach allows entrepreneurs to focus on... - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • Indie Hacking with Open Source Tools: Innovating on a Budget
    Frameworks such as Django and Ruby on Rails simplify web development, while tools like Docker ensure consistency across environments. - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing FastAPI and Ruby on Rails, you can also consider the following products

Django - The Web framework for perfectionists with deadlines

Laravel - A PHP Framework For Web Artisans

Flask - a microframework for Python based on Werkzeug, Jinja 2 and good intentions.

ExpressJS - Sinatra inspired web development framework for node.js -- insanely fast, flexible, and simple

ASP.NET - ASP.NET is a free web framework for building great Web sites and Web applications using HTML, CSS and JavaScript.

Yii Framework - Yii is a high-performance component-based PHP framework best for Web 2.0 development.