Originally published by Codexlava: Read the full guide.
Start with the shape of your product
Choose Django for a complete web application with users, data and an admin your staff can use. Choose FastAPI for an API: the backend of a mobile app, a service other systems call, or a workload built around AI models and other APIs. Some products use both.
Django: a complete toolkit
Django includes an ORM and database migrations, user accounts and permissions, an admin interface, forms and templates. That makes it a practical choice for a portal, booking system or CRM where staff need to manage data from the start.
Django overview — Django Software Foundation
FastAPI: APIs from Python type hints
FastAPI uses Python type hints to validate requests and generate interactive OpenAPI documentation. It is built on Starlette and Pydantic. It suits documented APIs and work that spends time waiting for other services. You choose the database and other supporting libraries for your application.
FastAPI features — official documentation
A useful decision checklist
Consider Django when:
- People log into a web application such as a portal, booking system or CRM.
- Staff need an admin interface from the start.
- You want an established, integrated set of application tools.
Consider FastAPI when:
- The main client is a mobile app or separate JavaScript front end.
- Other systems need a clean, documented API.
- The workload calls services such as AI models or payment providers.
Consider both when:
A Django application serves the people running the business, while a separate FastAPI service serves the app or AI workload. The split should follow the product requirements.
Codexlava builds custom software in Django, FastAPI and Flask, choosing per project.
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