Compare Pyramid and Falcon

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.

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 Pyramid and Falcon compare on various factors and features and which to choose when.

Pyramid

Falcon

Overall

Type

Type
Python "microframework" for building web applications.
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
2008
Release Date
2012

License

License
BSD license

Website

Website
trypyramid.com
Adoption and Ease of Use

Popularity [?]

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

Used by

Used by
Reddit, Yelp, Mozilla, SurveyMoney, NewCars.com.
Used by
LinkedIn, Leadpages, Wargaming, and Rackspace.

Jobs [?]

Jobs [?]
1 Star
80 job openings which list Pyramid as a requirement.
Jobs [?]
1.5 Stars
100 job openings which list Falcon as a requirement.

Performance [?]

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.
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
4.5 Stars
Pyramid is flexible.
Flexibility
5 Stars
Very flexible. Ideal for applications that require a high degree of customization and performance tuning.

Ease of 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
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 a library like 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
Doesn't get in the way of using NoSQL, and they are supported just as well as a relational database. Read more here.
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
Doesn't ship with one but 3rd party tools are available.
Admin Dashboard
Through Plugins or Extensions
Through Plugins or Extensions
Does not ship with a web-based admin.

REST Support

REST Support
Because it is a minimal framework, users can build a REST API themselves easily, or use a 3rd party library like Cornice.
REST Support
Encourages the REST architectural style by design. Resource classes implement HTTP method handlers that resolve requests and perform state transitions.

Security

Security
Built-in protection against CSRF, but XSS vulnerabilities have been discovered in older versions.
Security
No built-in protection but minimal attack surface for writing secure APIs

Templating Library

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 .
Templating Library
Doesn't ship with one but developers can use Jinja2 or Mako.

Web Forms

Web Forms
No built-in support. Prefers 3rd party Deform library.
Web Forms
Falcon features easy and efficient access to submitted multipart forms by using falcon.media.MultipartFormHandler.

Authentication

Authentication
Built-in support for authentication, authorization and session.
Authentication
Not built-in but can be easily extended using authentication middlewares like falcon-auth2.

Testing

Testing
Uses pytest for unit testing.
Testing
Support using unittest and pytest. Read more here.

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