Comparing the Top 12 Best Python Web Frameworks for Developers

Python is a versatile programming language known for its simplicity and cross-platform compatibility. It is one of the most popular programming languages. Due to its popularity and large community base, Python has many libraries and web frameworks that can help simplify the development of your projects. With the dozens of available options, choosing a particular Python web framework can become a struggle.

In this blog post, we will take a look at the top 12 best Python web frameworks, highlighting their advantages and disadvantages.

1. Django

Django is an open-source Python web framework that follows the Model-View-Template (MVC) architectural pattern. In terms of Python web framework popularity, it is certainly at the top, and many consider it to be the best Python framework overall. Django is particularly known for its rapid development of secure websites. This popular Python framework comes with built-in features that handle tasks such as authentication, form handling, routing, and database management.

Advantages

• Django provides a rapid and efficient development process.
• It has a seamless integration with front-end frameworks.
• It is designed to handle a wide range of applications.
• It has an integrated authentication system.
• It has protection against security threats such as SQL injection and cross-site scripting (XSS).

Disadvantages

• It is perceived as overkill for small projects.
• It can lead to slow websites if there are high levels of requests to be handled.
• It is not suitable for real-time applications.
• It requires a level of skill to use efficiently.

2. Flask

Flask is a lightweight, simple-to-use Python web framework that provides the basic tools needed for web development. It does not come with many built-in features like Django but still performs sufficiently well in development. It is suited for smaller, simpler projects.

Advantages

• It is lightweight and simple.
• It provides more flexibility to project structure.
• It has a built-in development server.
• It is easy to learn due to its simplicity.

Disadvantages

• It does not come with helpful built-in features such as authentication or form validation.
• It requires developers to manually manage multiple extensions in the application.
• It is not suitable for large-scale applications.

3. FastAPI

FastAPI is a high-performance Python web framework for writing and building APIs in Python. As one of the most popular Python web frameworks, it is known for its speed, ease of use, bug reduction, and robustness. FastAPI is based on standard Python type hints. It is also one of the fastest Python web development frameworks.

Advantages

• It is easy to learn and use.
• It is suitable for high-performance applications.
• It provides automatic validation and serialization.
• It can handle a large number of simultaneous connections
• It is easy to test and maintain due to its dependency injection system.

Disadvantages

• It is not entirely suitable for projects not based on API development.
• Debugging asynchronous code in FastAPI can be difficult.

4. Pyramid

Pyramid is a highly versatile and flexible Python web app framework used to develop a wide range of applications. It is suitable for projects of all sizes as it is highly scalable.

Advantages

• It has flexible and customizable components.
• It adopts the “Start Small, Grow Big” philosophy in a wide range of applications.
• It can handle complex applications efficiently.
• It has a built-in authentication and authorization feature.

Disadvantages

• It is not easy to use for beginners.
• It requires a lot of manual configurations.
• It has limited built-in features.

5. Web2Py

Web2Py is an open-source full-stack Python web framework for building and maintaining web applications. It has support for Windows, macOS, and Linux. It has a web server that simplifies Python development.

Advantages

• It is easy to use.
• It provides tools such as a web server, database, and a development environment.
• It is cross-platform.
• It has many security features and protects against external attacks.
• It can be deployed on various platforms

Disadvantages

• It is not suitable for large-scale applications.
• It has a smaller ecosystem compared to Django and Flask.
• It does not support asynchronous programming.
• It does not support Python3.

6. Robyn

Robyn is one of the best Python frameworks in terms of its simplicity and high performance. It merges Python’s capabilities with Rust runtime. It does not require an external server for production, making it faster and more efficient. It provides features such as dynamic URL routing, websockets, middlewares, hot reloading, support for synchronous and asynchronous functions.

Advantages

• It is lightweight and fast.
• Being built using Rust, it is highly performant and efficient.
• It has a straightforward API, which makes it easier to learn for developers with Python knowledge.

Disadvantages

• It has a relatively smaller ecosystem.
• It has a limited set of features.
• It is not suitable for high-scale applications

7. Bottle

Bottle is a small and lightweight Python web framework also known for its simplicity. It belongs to the category of small-scale frameworks. Bottle was initially created for constructing web APIs. It is used for prototyping and learning purposes.

Advantages

• It is simple and easy to use.
• It is highly flexible and customizable.
• It has no external dependencies, which means there is no need to install additional libraries.
• It provides a built-in easy-to-use routing system.
• It provides a built-in web server for development and testing.

Disadvantages

• It is not suitable for large-scale applications.
• It lacks built-in features such as authentication and form handling.
• It has a small ecosystem.
• It does not provide built-in security features to protect against external attacks.

8. CherryPy

CherryPy is a lightweight, minimalist, and object-oriented Python web server framework that allows developers to build web applications in a way that mirrors a normal Python application. It is open-source and can run on any Python framework.

Advantages

• It is lightweight and fast.
• It allows developers to make use of classes and methods in building applications.
• It comes with a built-in web server which makes testing and debugging seamless.
• It is highly flexible and customizable.
• It has a built-in session management feature.

Disadvantages

• It is not suitable for large or complex applications.
• It has a small ecosystem.
• It requires developers to manually configure many aspects of the application.
• It does not come with built-in security features.

9. CubicWeb

CubicWeb is an open-source framework built upon semantic web principles. It is known for its reusability and modularity. It provides a flexible environment for development and is best used for data-centric applications.

Advantages

• It is suitable for applications that require data modeling.
• It is built around the concept of cubes which promotes code reusability.
• It includes a workflow engine that allows users to manage business processes in the application.
• It has built-in support for internationalization.
• It is highly customizable.

Disadvantages

• It has a steep learning curve.
• Data modeling features of CubicWeb can be resource-intensive.
• It is not ideal for small applications.
• It has a small ecosystem.

10. PyScript

PyScript is an open-source framework that allows you run your Python code in the browser. With PyScript, developers can write Python scripts that directly interacts with the browser, just like JavaScript does.

Advantages

• It is easy to run.
• Applications can be easily shared using links.
• It can be run on any browser.
• It has support for data visualization libraries directly in the browser.

Disadvantages

• It is slow in execution, especially for complex applications.
• It has a slow initial load time since Python runtime and libraries need to be loaded in the browser.
• It has limited features since not all libraries are supported.
• It is not suitable for applications that require high performance.

11. Sanic

Sanic is one of the top Python web frameworks open-sourced, with a focus on asynchronous web development so it can handle simultaneous connections and real-time applications. An important advantage of the Sanic web framework is its speed in handling requests.

Advantages

• It can handle many requests concurrently without blocking.
• It is designed for high-performance applications.
• It has built-in support for WebSockets which facilitates real-time communication.
• It is easy to use.
• It can run on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Disadvantages

• It has a small ecosystem.
• It does not provide built-in security features.
• Managing asynchronous code can lead to increased code complexity.

12. Tornado

Tornado is an open-source Python web framework used to develop high-performance web applications. It is designed to handle more than 10,000 connections simultaneously, which makes it ideal for real-time web services and applications.

Advantages

• It handles simultaneous connections efficiently.
• It has built-in support for WebSockets.
• It has a built-in web server.
• It allows for non-blocking I/O operations.
• It can run on various operating systems.
• It provides support for user authentication.

Disadvantages

• It has a steep learning curve.
• It is minimalistic and does not provide built-in features such as authentication.

Conclusion

In this blog post, we have discussed the top 12 Python web frameworks, their advantages, and their disadvantages. This guide will help you to choose the best Python web framework for your project.