Stop Overthinking Django vs FastAPI — Watch This First

[00:00] So, you're trying to learn Python web

[00:01] development, but now you're stuck

[00:03] between a Django and a FastAPI. I know

[00:06] you've watched a lot of videos on this,

[00:08] but somehow you're more confused. And

[00:10] don't worry, I've been there, and in the

[00:12] next couple of minutes, I'm going to

[00:13] make this decision super, super easy for

[00:15] you. All right, before I compare between

[00:17] a Django and FastAPI, I want to change

[00:20] the question.

[00:21] Most people ask me, "Which framework is

[00:24] better?"

[00:25] But you know what? This question itself

[00:28] is wrong. The right question is, "Which

[00:31] framework is right for where I am right

[00:34] now?" Because both Django and FastAPI

[00:36] are great. They just solve different

[00:38] problems. So, let me quickly explain

[00:40] more. Django is what we call a

[00:42] batteries-included framework. That means

[00:45] when you start a Django project, you

[00:47] already get user authentication, an

[00:49] admin panel, a database ORM, form

[00:51] handling, all out of the box. You don't

[00:54] have to manually write the code for all

[00:55] of these features. It's actually

[00:57] designed to build the complete

[00:58] applications fast. Now, the FastAPI, on

[01:01] the other hand, is a microframework.

[01:03] What do I mean by microframework? Is

[01:05] that it's lightweight, it's modern, and

[01:08] as the name says, it's really, really

[01:10] fast. It is built specifically for

[01:12] building APIs, and it's excellent if

[01:14] you're working with machine learning

[01:15] models or microservice architecture. So,

[01:18] think of it this way, Django is a fully

[01:21] equipped framework to build whole web

[01:23] application.

[01:25] Now, FastAPI is a minimalist framework.

[01:28] You get exactly what you need to build

[01:30] APIs, and you assemble everything

[01:32] yourself to make it a full application.

[01:34] All right, there can be three types of

[01:36] people. You just tell me which one

[01:37] sounds like you. So, person one, let's

[01:40] say you're fairly new to Python. Maybe

[01:42] you've done some tutorials, you

[01:44] understand the basics, and now you want

[01:47] to build something real, like like a web

[01:50] website or web application,

[01:52] portfolio project, or maybe you know,

[01:54] you're you're on a startup project, or

[01:57] maybe like a web app idea you've been

[01:59] thinking of. If this sounds like you,

[02:02] Django is your answer. It will teach you

[02:04] how the web works, how requests and

[02:07] responses work, how databases connect to

[02:09] your app, how users log into your app.

[02:12] This is the foundation. Now the person

[02:14] two, let's say you already know Python

[02:16] very well, you're working in data

[02:18] science or machine learning and you need

[02:20] to deploy your models as an API. Or if

[02:23] you're working on a kind of a

[02:25] large-scale project or maybe it's a

[02:27] microservice project. If that's you,

[02:29] FastAPI is probably the best fit for

[02:32] you. It is built for exactly that use

[02:34] case. Now person three, let's say you're

[02:36] switching careers into tech.

[02:39] You want to get a job as a back-end

[02:40] developer within the next three to

[02:44] six months.

[02:45] So you need a skill that employers are

[02:47] actually hiring for right now. So again,

[02:49] if that sounds like you, again Django is

[02:52] your answer. You can go and search

[02:54] Python back-end developer on LinkedIn or

[02:56] Indeed right now.

[02:57] You'll see Django and Django REST

[02:59] framework in the majority of those job

[03:01] descriptions.

[03:02] So honestly, most of my viewers

[03:05] fall into the person one and person

[03:07] three category. So Django is the clear

[03:09] starting point for them. No doubt,

[03:11] FastAPI is growing fast,

[03:13] but right now in 2026, if you look at

[03:16] actual Python back-end job postings,

[03:18] Django still dominates. Companies that

[03:20] have been running web applications for

[03:22] years, like startups, product companies,

[03:25] agencies, service-based companies, like

[03:28] they are built on Django.

[03:30] They need a developers who know Django.

[03:32] So FastAPI is more common in newer

[03:34] companies, like you know, ML-heavy teams

[03:37] or AI research companies and those

[03:40] large-scale companies that uses

[03:42] microservice architecture. FastAPI jobs

[03:44] also exist a lot, but they usually

[03:46] expect you to have the solid

[03:48] fundamentals. So if getting hired is the

[03:51] part of your goal,

[03:52] Django gives you more doors to knock on

[03:54] right now. To be frank, these two

[03:56] frameworks are not at all enemies. You

[03:59] don't have to pick one forever. In fact,

[04:01] the best path for most developers is

[04:03] learn Django first and then pick up

[04:06] FastAPI later. Because once you

[04:08] understand how web works and how HTTP

[04:11] requests and responses work, then it

[04:13] will be easy for you to pick up FastAPI.

[04:16] But if you try to start with FastAPI

[04:18] without that foundation knowledge,

[04:21] you'll get confused. Okay, now ask

[04:23] yourself if you think, "Okay, Django

[04:26] makes sense for me." then I have a free

[04:28] resource for you. Just go to

[04:30] techwithratan.com and you can learn

[04:32] Django for free. Just enroll to this

[04:34] course and learn the fundamentals of

[04:36] Django. And if you're looking to learn

[04:38] the advanced Django concepts, you can

[04:40] join my four-week live back-end

[04:42] developer program where I teach you

[04:44] exactly how to create the scalable APIs

[04:47] using Django REST framework.

[04:50] And also, I will teach you how to build

[04:52] the architecture and how to work with

[04:54] the authentication systems like JWT. And

[04:57] also, you'll be building the full

[04:58] e-commerce project and deploy it on the

[05:00] cloud server using Docker and CICD

[05:03] pipeline. So, this is kind of an

[05:04] industry standard deployment practice

[05:06] that nobody else is teaching you on the

[05:08] internet. So, if you're interested, you

[05:10] can join me on the live program. I'll

[05:12] leave a link in the description. And

[05:13] thanks a lot for watching and I'll see

[05:15] you in the next one.