Rust web framework comparison

A comparison of some web frameworks written in Rust.

Table of Contents

• Server frameworks
  • Outdated server frameworks
• Client frameworks
  • Outdated client frameworks
• Frontend frameworks (WASM)
• Supplemental libraries
  • Websocket
  • Templating
• Comparison
  • High-Level Frameworks
  • Low-Level Frameworks
  • Frontend Frameworks
  • Middleware & Plugins
  • Websocket Libraries
• Resources
  • Blog posts
  • Demos
  • Real-world web projects using Rust
  • JS & asm.js & WASM

Server frameworks

There are several interesting frameworks to build web applications with Rust:

• actix-web (homepage / repository / api docs / user guide)
• gotham (homepage / repository / documentation / examples)
• iron (homepage / repository / documentation)
• nickel (homepage / repository / documentation)
• rocket (homepage / repository / documentation)
• rouille ( - / repository / documentation)
• Thruster ( - / repository / - )
• tower-web ( - / repository / - )
• warp ( - / repository / - )

If you need a more low level control you can choose between these libraries:

• hyper (homepage / repository / documentation)
• tiny-http ( - / repository) / documentation)
• tk-http ( - / repository / - )
• h2 ( - / repository / - )

Outdated server frameworks

• civet
• conduit
• cargonaouts
• hydrogen
• kinglet
• rustless
• rustful
• shio
• sappers
• solicit

Client frameworks

To build web clients with Rust, you can choose between these libraries:

• actix-web (homepage / repository / api docs)
• reqwest (- / repository / documentation)
• hyper (homepage / repository / documentation)
• jsonrpc (- / repository / documentation)

Outdated client frameworks

• ease

Frontend frameworks (WASM)

Since WASM support is available in most browsers we can use Rust to build web applications :)

• stdweb ( - / repository / documentation ) A standard library for the client-side Web
• yew ( - / repository / documentation ) - A frontend framework inspired by Elm and React (based on stdweb)
• percy ( homepage / repository / - ) - A modular toolkit for building isomorphic web apps
• seed ( homepage / repository / - ) - A Rust framework for creating web apps
• draco ( - / repository / documentation ) - A frontend framework inpired by Redux and Elm
• smithy ( - / repository / - ) - A front-end framework
• squark ( - / repository / documentation ) - Rust frontend framework, for web browser and more.
• ruukh ( - / repository / documentation ) - A frontend framework inspired by Vue and React
• willow ( homepage - / repository / - ) - A frontend framework inspired by Elm

Supplemental libraries

Websocket

• websocket (homepage / repository / documentation)
• ws-rs (homepage / repository / documentation)
• tungstenite ( - / repository / documentation)
• tk-http ( - / repository / - )
• actix-web (homepage / repository / documentation)

Templating

• tera (homepage / repository / documentation)
• mustache (- / repository / documentation)
• liquid (- / repository / - )
• handlebars (- / repository / documentation)
• horrorshow (- / repository / documentation)
• maud (homepage / repository / documentation)
• askama (- / repository / - )
• stpl (- / repository / - )
• ructe (- / repository / documentation )
• typed-html (- / repository / documentation )

Comparison

High-Level Frameworks

Name	iron	gotham	rocket	nickel	rouille	ease	jsonrpc	actix-web	Thruster
License	MIT	MIT / Apache 2.0	MIT / Apache 2.0	MIT	Apache 2.0	MIT	CC0-1.0	MIT / Apache 2.0	MIT
Github Stars	5.1k	1k	5.7k	2.2k	0.3k	0k	0k	2.8	0.2k
Contributors	84	25	114	53	22	6	7	78	7
Server	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	no	yes	yes
Client	no	no	no	no	no	yes	yes	yes	no
Base framework	hyper	hyper	hyper	hyper	tiny-http	hyper	hyper	tokio	tokio
HTTPS support	yes	yes		no	?	-	-	yes
HTTP/2 support	?	no		?	?	?	?	yes
Async		yes	no					yes	yes

Low-Level Frameworks

Name	hyper	tiny-http	tk-http	h2
License	MIT	Apache 2.0	MIT / Apache 2.0	MIT / Apache 2.0
Github Stars	4.1k	0.3k	0.1k	0.5k
Contributors	191	16	5	22
Server	yes	yes	yes	yes
Client	yes	?	yes	yes
HTTPS support	yes	yes	yes	no
HTTP/2 support	solicit	?	no	yes
Async	yes		yes	yes

Frontend Frameworks

Name	stdweb	yew	percy	seed	draco	smithy	squark	ruukh	willow
License	Apache/MIT	Apache/MIT	Apache/MIT	MIT	Apache/MIT	?	WTFPL	MIT	Apache/MIT
Github Stars	2.3k	6.5k	0.9k	0.2k	0.1k	0k	0.1k	0.1k	0.1k
Contributors	50	55	9	7	4	1	2	3	2
Stable Rust	yes	yes	no	yes	yes	no	no	no	no
Base framework	-	stdweb	wasm-bindgen	wasm-bindgen	wasm-bindgen	wasm-bindgen	wasm-bindgen	wasm-bindgen	wasm-bindgen
Virtual DOM	?	yes	yes	yes	yes	?	yes	yes	?

Middleware & Plugins

Name	iron	gotham	nickel	rouille	actix-web
Static File Serving	yes	no^	yes	n/a	yes
Mounting	yes	yes	yes	n/a	yes
Logging	yes	yes	no	n/a	yes
JSON-Body-Parsing	yes	yes	yes	n/a	yes
Sessions	yes	yes	?	n/a	yes
Cookies	yes	yes	?	n/a	yes
PostgreSQL middleware	?	no^	yes	n/a	yes
SQLite middleware	?	no^	yes	n/a	yes
Redis middleware	?	no^	yes	n/a	yes
MySQL middleware	?	no^	yes	n/a	yes

(^ Planned in current roadmap)

Websocket Libraries

Name	websocket	ws-rs	twist	tungstenite	tk-http	actix-web
License	MIT	MIT	MIT / Apache 2.0	MIT / Apache 2.0	MIT / Apache 2.0	MIT / Apache 2.0
Github Stars	0.4k	0.5k	0k	0.1k	0.1k	0.3k
Contributors	31	25	2	8	5	7
Server	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
Client	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
Base framework	- / tokio	mio	tokio	- / tokio	tokio	tokio
Async	no / yes	yes	yes	no / yes	yes	yes

Examples

To compile or run the examples use Cargo. First clone this repo

git clone https://github.com/flosse/rust-web-framework-comparison
cd rust-web-framework-comparison/

and change to the desired frameworkd directory (e.g. cd iron/) and type

cargo run --example hello_world

Then visit http://localhost:3000 to see the result.

Resources

Blog posts

2018

• Lessons learned on writing web applications completely in Rust
• Introducing Ruukh Framework
• Baby’s First Rust+WebAssembly module: Say hi to JSConf EU!
• Mix Rust Code (WebAssembly) with Vue Component
• Wicked Fast Web Servers in Rust
• Migrating to Actix Web from Rocket for Stability
• Creating a Rusty Rocket fuelled with Diesel

Until 2017

• Dose Response ported to WebAssembly!
• Rust and the case for WebAssembly in 2018
• wasm32-unknown-unknown landed & enabled
• How to Deploy a Rocket Application to Heroku
• Rust to WebAssembly, Made Easy
• Rust for the web
• Rocket on Fedora
• Announcing Gotham - A flexible web framework for stable Rust that does not sacrifice safety, security or speed.
• Announcing cargonauts - A Rust async web framework
• Writing a GitHub webhook with Rust! Part 1: Rocket
• Hello, Botket! (Rocket)
• Launching a URL Shortener in Rust using Rocket
• Rocket + sodiumoxide = ♥
• The Path to Rust on the Web
• Rendering Vector Map Tiles (Rust + asm.js demo)
• Compiling to the web with Rust and emscripten
• Basic 2FA in Rocket
• Building high performance REST APIs with Rust and Rocket
• Rocket Rocks! Using FromFormValue Traits to protect your website
• Building an Asynchronous Hyper Server
• JWT & Access Roles in Rocket
• Writing a basic JSON response web server in Rust using Iron
• Diesel Powered Rocket
• Using Stainless with Rocket
• Integration testing a service written in Rust and Iron
• Actually using Iron: A grumpy introduction to web development in Rust
• Using Rust for Webdev as a Hobby Programmer
• My adventures in Rust webdev
• Rust’s Iron Framework: First impressions
• Rust for Node.js developers
  • Part 3 - Crates, Modules and the web
  • Part 2 - Can I borrow that?
  • Part 1 - Introduction to Rust
• A Rust-powered public web page in 5 minutes
• Rust and Rest
• Shipping forgettable microservices with Rust
• Writing a simple REST app in Rust
• Getting started with Rust
• Let's Build a Web Server in Rust
• Creating a basic webservice in Rust
• Iron on uWSGI
• Deploying a Rust App to Google App Engine
• async hyper
• Trying Rust for web services
• Are we web yet?
• Reimplementing ashurbanipal.web in Rust
• A web app with Nickel: From first line to Heroku deployment
• What features Iron does not have compared to a web server like nginx?
• Build an API in Rust with JWT Authentication using Nickel.rs
• Selective Middleware for Iron
• Rust for the Web - RESTful API in Rust, impressions
• Rust for Node developers

Demos

• exoskeleton - Iron
• Example webapp using React + Webpack - Iron
• rustwebapp - Iron and Postgres (r2d2)
• webrust - Iron and Postgres (r2d2)
• httptest - Iron
• nickel-todo-backend - Nickel and Postgres (r2d2)
• rust-playground - Iron
• rust-web-example - Iron + Diesel (r2d2) + Serde
• websocket chat - Actix: Browser Websocket + tcp chat
• diesel - Actix + Diesel
• json - Actix + serde_json or json_rust

Real-world web projects using Rust

• paste.rs - Rocket
• Portier - Iron and Redis
• yaus - Iron and SQLite
• racerd - Iron
• rust-passivetotal - Hyper
• mars - Hyper
• openfairdb - Rocket and Neo4j (r2d2)
• ruma - Iron and Posgres (diesel + r2d2)
• html2pdf - Iron

JS & asm.js & WASM

• hellorust.com - a website with news, resources and demos

Examples

• rust-webapp-template - Template project for Rust web app using stdweb
• rust-todomvc - an example application build with webplatform
• wasm-experiments - experiments with wasm32-unknown-unknown

Benchmark

• TechEmpower Web Framework Benchmarks
• benchmarks - Rust web frameworks benchmarks
• which_is_the_fastest - Measuring response times (routing times) for each framework (middleware). Each framework has to have two features; routing and parsing path parameters.