An Overview of Companies using the FastAPI and Django Python Web Frameworks

Choosing the wrong Python web framework can be quite costly down the road if chosen incorrectly. In 2025, most developers find themselves torn between Django’s batteries-included approach and FastAPI’s lightning-fast performance.

One way to make a decision as to which framework to use for your web development project is to look at the companies that are currently using either FastAPI or Django and understand why these companies made the decision to go with that framework.

 » Fun tidbit: Python is ranked at #1 consistently for the last two years by the TIOBE Index Survey as the most useful programming language.

FastAPI

After launching in 2018, FastAPI soon became back-end developers’ favorite, enabling them to create high-performing APIs with async functionalities.

Additionally, FastAPI is widely used to build RESTful APIs, microservices, interactive data dashboards, and real-time apps, showcasing its versatility for various high-performance and scalable backend needs.

» FastAPI is among the top 10 most starred Python repositories on GitHub.

Key features of FastAPI

• High performance with async functionality

• Light weight stack

• Validate and serialize data by leveraging Python’s type hinting and Pydantic models

• Automatic interactive API documentation via Swagger UI

• Growing community with many new plugins and tools to enhance its functionality

What companies are using FastAPI

• Uber: One of the most used ride-sharing apps uses FastAPI for its back-end APIs needed for real-time and highly concurrent data processing.

• Netflix: They leverage FastAPI for asynchronous APIs to support data streaming. Netflix engages millions of users and provides a high-resolution video streaming experience to its users.

• Microsoft: Microsoft uses FastAPI within its ecosystem by support WSGI and ASGI, enabling FastAPI to integrate seamlessly with Azure functions.

Django

With almost 2 million websites live in production, Django is the most widely used Python framework. It’s generally the go-to framework when for developers looking for a robust all in one data-driven web solutions.

» Django 5.2, released on April 2, 2025, includes groundbreaking features such as composite primary key support (CompositePrimaryKey) and automatic model importing in the Django shell.

Key features of Django

• Built in admin panel for managing application data

• Ease of use with database abstraction methods

• Built in authentication support like login, log out and password management

• Secure session management

• Efficient form handling

• Huge developer community

• Plenty of third party packages to choose from

What companies are using Django

• Instagram: Django helped Instagram scale the application to process huge amounts of user data every single second. The out-of-the-box nature of Django allowed the team to focus on the frontend of the app instead of back-end infrastructure.

• Pintrest: Django was chosen for its ability to handle complex social features and content management at scale, such as sharing user’s boards and subscribing to users.

• Spotify: While Django isn’t the primary main backend, Spotify uses it to connect diverse services like machine learning functionality. The primarily use Django for specific microservices and internal tooling instead of their core streaming infrastructure.

Key Comparisons: Django and FastAPI

Why do companies like Instagram choose Django while Netflix opts for FastAPI? The answer lies in their core differences.

Below is a table comparing the key functionality that drives these decisions:

Summary

Django and FastAPI are two of the most popular Python web frameworks – each built for different needs.

• Django is a full-stack framework ideal for building secure, data-driven web apps quickly, trusted by giants like Instagram and Pinterest.

• FastAPI, on the other hand, is modern, async-first, and perfect for building high-performance APIs and microservices – used by Netflix, Uber, and even Microsoft.

Final thoughts: Django and FastAPI are not competitors; instead, each represents the diversity of solutions available in Python’s ecosystem to address any emerging use case and business need.

Happy coding!

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