Compare CherryPy and Falcon

CherryPy allows developers to build web applications in much the same way they would build any other object-oriented Python program. CherryPy has built-in tools for sessions, static files, cookies, file uploads, caching, encoding, authorization, compression, and many more.

Falcon is a minimalist WSGI library for building web APIs, app backends and microservices. Compared to Django and Flask, it is fast, extensible, reliable, and encourages RESTful style. It doesn't come with batteries included and is ideal for applications that require a high level of customization. The fminimalist design allows developers to select the best strategies and 3rd-party packages from the Python ecosystem.

Let's see how CherryPy and Falcon compare on various factors and features and which to choose when.

CherryPy

Falcon

Overall

Type

Type
A minimalist, object-oriented and popular web framework for Python.
Type
The minimalist REST and app backend framework for Python with a focus on reliability, correctness, and performance at scale.

Author

Release Date

Release Date
2002
Release Date
2012

License

License
BSD License

Website

Website
cherrypy.org
Adoption and Ease of Use

Popularity [?]

Popularity [?]
1 Star
Used by 6,600 projects.
Popularity [?]
1 Star
Used by 5,000 projects.

Used by

Used by
Used in production services at Netflix and Hulu
Used by
LinkedIn, Leadpages, Wargaming, and Rackspace.

Jobs [?]

Jobs [?]
0.5 Star
16 job openings which list CherryPy in the job description.
Jobs [?]
1.5 Stars
100 job openings which list Falcon as a requirement.

Performance [?]

Performance [?]
5 Stars
Very fast. Extensions could impact performance adversely.
Performance [?]
5 Stars
Very fast, even when compared to microframeworks like Flask. See the benchmarks. *Caution* - The benchmarks are from the vendor itself.

Flexibility

Flexibility
5 Stars
Very flexible and simple. Doesn't force anything on developers.
Flexibility
5 Stars
Very flexible. Ideal for applications that require a high degree of customization and performance tuning.

Ease of Learning

Ease of Learning
5 Stars
Straightforward and easy to learn. Being around for almost 20 years, it has a good amount of tutorials online.
Ease of Learning
5 Stars
Has a slight learning curve but there are some great online resources, courses tutorials and YouTube videos.
Database Support

RDBMS Support

RDBMS Support
Through Plugins or Extensions
Through Plugins or Extensions
No built-in ORM framework. Leaves it up to developers to choose their own such as SQLAlchemy.
RDBMS Support
Built-in Support
Built-in
Doesn't ship with one but developers can use the database library of their choice such as SQLAlchemy.

NoSQL Support

NoSQL Support
No built-in support for NoSQL databases but developers can use libraries to talk to MongoDB, DynamoDB etc.
NoSQL Support
Doesn't come with built-in libraries but makes it easy for developers to use library of their choice such as MongoEngine to interact with MongoDB.
Web & Core Features

Admin Dashboard

Admin Dashboard
Through Plugins or Extensions
Through Plugins or Extensions
No built-in admin panel.
Admin Dashboard
Through Plugins or Extensions
Through Plugins or Extensions
Does not ship with a web-based admin.

REST Support

REST Support
No built-in support but can be implemented easily. Read this guide to implement.
REST Support
Encourages the REST architectural style by design. Resource classes implement HTTP method handlers that resolve requests and perform state transitions.

Security

Security
No built-in protection. Must be handled by developers themselves or by using 3rd party extensions.
Security
No built-in protection but minimal attack surface for writing secure APIs

Templating Library

Templating Library
Doesn't come with a built-in templating language or package. Developers can use Jinja2, Mako. See full list here
Templating Library
Doesn't ship with one but developers can use Jinja2 or Mako.

Web Forms

Web Forms
No built-in support. Developers can use formencode or any other solution.
Web Forms
Falcon features easy and efficient access to submitted multipart forms by using falcon.media.MultipartFormHandler.

Authentication

Authentication
Built-in implementation of HTTP Basic Access Authentication.
Authentication
Not built-in but can be easily extended using authentication middlewares like falcon-auth2.

Testing

Testing
Using WebTest and Nose.
Testing
Support using unittest and pytest. Read more here.

If you found this useful, please help us grow by sharing this article with your followers using the sharing icons. Every share or call out will help. Thank you.

Similar Comparisons

Speak Your Mind