Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

RapidAPI VS Django REST framework

Compare RapidAPI VS Django REST framework and see what are their differences

RapidAPI logo RapidAPI

API marketplace for finding and connecting to the world's top APIs.

Django REST framework logo Django REST framework

Django REST framework is a toolkit for building web APIs.
  • RapidAPI Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-12
  • Django REST framework Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-18

RapidAPI features and specs

  • Wide Variety of APIs
    RapidAPI offers a vast collection of APIs across different categories, making it easier for developers to find the exact functionality they need for their applications.
  • Unified Billing
    Developers can manage multiple API subscriptions through a single billing system, simplifying financial administration and expense tracking.
  • Ease of Integration
    RapidAPI provides comprehensive documentation and sample code, making it straightforward for developers to integrate APIs into their projects.
  • Testing Environment
    The platform offers an in-browser testing environment, which allows developers to test API endpoints and responses without building a complete application.
  • User Community and Support
    RapidAPI has a supportive community and active forums, along with customer support to help developers troubleshoot and optimize their API usage.

Possible disadvantages of RapidAPI

  • Cost
    While some APIs on RapidAPI are free, many are premium and can become costly depending on usage, which might not be suitable for hobbyists or small projects.
  • Variable Quality
    The quality and reliability of APIs can vary since they are provided by different developers and companies, which may lead to inconsistencies in performance.
  • Dependency
    Relying on third-party APIs means that any downtime or issues with the API provider directly impact your application’s functionality.
  • Limited Customization
    Using third-party APIs through RapidAPI might limit the customization options available, as developers are bound by the functionality and limitations set by the API provider.
  • Learning Curve
    For developers unfamiliar with RapidAPI or API integration, there might be a learning curve in understanding how to properly use the platform and integrate various APIs.

Django REST framework features and specs

  • Rich Feature Set
    Django REST framework (DRF) offers a comprehensive toolkit for building Web APIs, including serialization, authentication, and viewsets, which facilitate the creation of complex RESTful services with minimal effort.
  • Integration with Django
    DRF seamlessly integrates with Django's ORM and associated components, allowing for a coherent and efficient development process that leverages all of Django’s features and tools.
  • Robust Documentation
    DRF has extensive, clear, and well-structured documentation, which helps developers understand its features, integrations, and best practices quickly.
  • Community Support
    A large and active community supports DRF, meaning developers can find plenty of resources, tutorials, third-party packages, and forums for troubleshooting and enhancing their applications.
  • Flexibility
    DRF provides a lot of flexibility through class-based views and a highly customizable architecture, allowing developers to tweak their APIs to meet specific project requirements.
  • Authentication Options
    DRF supports multiple built-in authentication methods such as token-based authentication, OAuth, and JWT, along with the ability to create custom authentication mechanisms.

Possible disadvantages of Django REST framework

  • Learning Curve
    Although DRF is powerful, it comes with a steep learning curve, especially for beginners who are not familiar with Django or RESTful concepts, which can lead to a longer onboarding process.
  • Performance Overhead
    The abstraction and additional features provided by DRF can introduce some performance overhead, making raw Django views or other minimal frameworks sometimes more suitable for highly performance-sensitive applications.
  • Complexity
    For small projects or simple APIs, DRF might be overkill due to its inherent complexity and the numerous options it provides, which can slow down initial setup and development.
  • Tight Coupling with Django
    DRF is tightly coupled with Django, meaning that it’s not a suitable choice if you are looking to use a different web framework or need more flexibility in the choice of the underlying web framework.
  • Documentation Depth
    While the documentation is generally excellent, some advanced features are not as deeply covered, which can make implementing more complex customizations challenging without diving into the source code.

RapidAPI videos

How to Use RapidAPI [Quick Start] — API Discovery to Integration

More videos:

  • Demo - API Demo Night with Rakuten RapidAPI

Django REST framework videos

Django Vs Django Rest Framework 2020

More videos:

  • Review - Getting Started With Django REST Framework

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to RapidAPI and Django REST framework)
API Tools
71 71%
29% 29
APIs
68 68%
32% 32
Developer Tools
100 100%
0% 0
API Management
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare RapidAPI and Django REST framework

RapidAPI Reviews

Top 20 Open Source & Cloud Free Postman Alternatives (2024 Updated)
Not really 100% relatd, but RapidAPI is a marketplace for APIs that also provides tools for testing and managing APIs. It allows developers to connect to thousands of APIs easily.
Source: medium.com
Best API Monitoring and Observability Tools in 2023
RapidAPI is a platform that helps users find, connect to, and manage their APIs. It allows users to centralize and monitor worldwide operations under one roof and improve efficiency by CI/CD integration.
Source: apitoolkit.io

Django REST framework Reviews

We have no reviews of Django REST framework yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, RapidAPI seems to be a lot more popular than Django REST framework. While we know about 63 links to RapidAPI, we've tracked only 3 mentions of Django REST framework. 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.

RapidAPI mentions (63)

  • 7 API Platforms Every Programmer Should Know
    RapidAPI RapidAPI is a leading API platform designed to provide developers with convenient API discovery, integration, and management services. As a global API marketplace, RapidAPI brings together thousands of APIs from different providers, covering a wide range of technologies and application fields. - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
  • Mastering Text Extraction from Multi-Page PDFs Using OCR API: A Step-by-Step Guide
    Create a Rapid API Account: If you don't have an account, sign up at the Rapid API Hub. - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
  • Rapid API Hub Made Easy: Your Comprehensive Guide to Subscribing and Starting with APIs
    Rapid API Hub stands as a premier API marketplace that connects developers with a plethora of APIs, offering the tools needed to discover, connect, and manage APIs on a unified platform. Whether your goal is to enhance your application with external data, improve functionality, or integrate new services, Rapid API Hub opens the door to a wide array of opportunities. - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
  • How to display API data on map using React?
    To consume API, we have to create an account on Rapid API . Then, search for booking com:. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • How to share/publicize potentially useful APIs for AI apps? (Rental real estate example)
    You seem to be looking for something like RapidAPI? Source: almost 2 years ago
View more

Django REST framework mentions (3)

  • API framework choice?
    Django Rest Framework seems like the most mature and works great with Django. But its strength, if I understand correctly, is for auto-creating all the necessary endpoints for manipulating models, which might be useful for data entry applications. I know that it's super flexible and probably my use case will be covered, but it seems that this it might get complicated. Source: almost 3 years ago
  • Django REST difference between permission classes and authentication classes
    There is one last thing I'm a little confused on with Django Rest Framework and that's the different between permission classes and authentication classes. Source: about 3 years ago
  • How to disable admin-style browsable interface of django-rest-framework?
    I am using django-rest-framework. It provides an awesome Django admin style browsable self-documenting API. But anyone can visit those pages and use the interface to add data (POST). How can I disable it? Source: over 3 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing RapidAPI and Django REST framework, you can also consider the following products

Postman - The Collaboration Platform for API Development

APILayer - API marketplace and ready to run app backends for your mobile app and website.

Amazon API Gateway - Create, publish, maintain, monitor, and secure APIs at any scale

JSONREPO - JSONREPO is an API platform created for developers seeking fast, reliable, and scalable APIs

Apigee - Intelligent and complete API platform

Zapier - Connect the apps you use everyday to automate your work and be more productive. 1000+ apps and easy integrations - get started in minutes.