Compare Flask and Pyramid

Flask is a Python web framework for building web applications. It is based on Werkzeug and Jinja 2. It is a minimalist, 'no batteries included' framework. Yet it can be scaled extensively and support complex applications and use cases by adding required functionality as needed. It follows the philosophy that if something needs to be initialized, it should be initialized by the developer.

Pyramid is a web framework that is written in Python and is based on WSGI. It is minimalistic and inspired by Zope, Pylons, and Django. Before 2010, Pyramid was known as repoze.bfg.

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

Flask

Pyramid

Overall

Type

Type
Python microframework for building web applications.
Type
Python "microframework" for building web applications.

Author

Release Date

Release Date
2010
Release Date
2008

License

License
BSD license

Website

Website
trypyramid.com
Adoption and Ease of Use

Popularity [?]

Popularity [?]
5 Stars
Used by 397,000 projects.
Popularity [?]
1 Star
Used by 8,000 projects.

Used by

Used by
Netflix, Zillow, Lyft.
Used by
Reddit, Yelp, Mozilla, SurveyMoney, NewCars.com.

Jobs [?]

Jobs [?]
4.5 Stars
1067 job openings which list Flask as a requirement.
Jobs [?]
1 Star
80 job openings which list Pyramid as a requirement.

Performance [?]

Performance [?]
5 Stars
Because it is minimal and doesn't have a lot of overhead, Flask is very performant. Extensions could impact performance negatively.
Performance [?]
3 Stars
Claims to have top-notch performance but virtue of being a microframework but benchmarks prove it to be slower than even Django beyond simple use cases.

Flexibility

Flexibility
5 Stars
Very flexible and doesn't require users to use any particular project or code layout. (A structured approach is still recommended.)
Flexibility
4.5 Stars
Pyramid is flexible.

Ease of Learning

Ease of Learning
5 Stars
Flask is simple and its core features are not difficult to learn. There are also plenty of online resources available to aid in learning.
Ease of Learning
4 Stars
Being a microframework, the learning curve isn't very steep. However, it doesn't have the same amount of tutorials, courses, and resources available for leaning compared to Django and Flask
Database Support

RDBMS Support

RDBMS Support
Through Plugins or Extensions
Through Plugins or Extensions
Flask doesn't come with a built-in ORM framework. Developers can use one of many open source libraries or extensions. Such as Flask-SQLAlchemy, Flask-Pony, etc.
RDBMS Support
Through Plugins or Extensions
Through Plugins or Extensions
No built-in ORM framework. Leaves it up to developers to choose a library like SQLAlchemy

NoSQL Support

NoSQL Support
NoSQL databases are supported through open source libraries or extensions. To use MongoDB with Flask, Flask-PyMong is a popular choice. CouchDB, Cassandra, and DynamoDB are also supported via libraries.
Verdict Flask is a great choice if you want to develop for a NoSQL database.
NoSQL Support
Doesn't get in the way of using NoSQL, and they are supported just as well as a relational database. Read more here.
Web & Core Features

Admin Dashboard

Admin Dashboard
Through Plugins or Extensions
Through Plugins or Extensions
No built-in admin panel, but you can use the Flask-Admin extension. It supports a number of backends like SQLAlchemy, MongoEngine, Peewee etc.
Admin Dashboard
Through Plugins or Extensions
Through Plugins or Extensions
Doesn't ship with one but 3rd party tools are available.

REST Support

REST Support
Supported via extensions such as Flask-RESTful, Flask-Classful, Flask-RESTPlus.
REST Support
Because it is a minimal framework, users can build a REST API themselves easily, or use a 3rd party library like Cornice.

Security

Security
Despite being a minimalist Framework, Flask does an excellent job of addressing common security concerns like CSRF, XSS, JSON security and more out of the box. 3rd party extensions like Flask-Security can be used for common security measures. However, it requires that developers evaluate these extensions carefully for security risks and apply timely updates manually when vulnerabilities are discovered.
Security
Built-in protection against CSRF, but XSS vulnerabilities have been discovered in older versions.

Templating Library

Templating Library
Flask uses Jinja2 out of the box.
Templating Library
Doesn't ship with a default templating language and leaves it up to developers to add one. Jinja2 can be added to Pyramid. Another engine popular amongst Pyramid users is Chameleon .

Web Forms

Web Forms
No built-in support but there is Flask-WTF extention. For SQLAlchemy support, that is, to create forms based on models, there is WTForms-Alchemy
Web Forms
No built-in support. Prefers 3rd party Deform library.

Authentication

Authentication
Only provides support for cookie-based sessions but there are extensions available for authentication, authorization and account management.
Authentication
Built-in support for authentication, authorization and session.

Testing

Testing
Built-in support using Python's unittest framework.
Testing
Uses pytest for unit testing.

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Comments (2)

Fedora G

Message from Brainix Reddit admin.

Brainix AFAIK, Flask is not used at Reddit. But Pyramid is.

Reply

Umer Mansoor

Thanks for letting me know. Updated the list.

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