Rust web framework comparison

A comparison of some web frameworks written in Rust.

Table of Contents

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  • Outdated server frameworks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  • Outdated client frameworks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

Frontend frameworks (WASM)

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

Name	yew	seed	percy	sauron	mogwai	dominator	maple
Repository
Documentation
License
Version
Github Stars
Contributors
Activity
Stable Rust	yes	yes	no	yes	yes	yes	yes
Virtual DOM	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	no	no
SSR	no	no	yes	yes	yes	no	no

Outdated frontend frameworks

• dodrio
• draco
• dumle
• mika
• ruukh
• smithy
• squark
• stdweb
• willow

Server frameworks

High-Level Server Frameworks

Name	rocket	warp	iron	actix-web	gotham	Thruster	tide	salvo
License
Version
Github Stars
Contributors
Activity
Base framework	hyper	hyper	hyper	tokio	hyper	tokio (or hyper)	hyper	hyper
HTTPS support			yes	yes	yes	yes		yes
HTTP/2 support		yes	?	yes	no	yes		yes
Async	no	yes		yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
Stable Rust	no	yes		yes	yes	yes		yes

Low-Level Frameworks

Name	hyper	h2	tiny-http
License
Version
Github Stars
Contributors
Activity
Server	yes	yes	yes
Client	yes	yes	?
HTTPS support	yes	no	yes
HTTP/2 support	solicit	yes	?
Async	yes	yes

• actix-web (homepage / repository / documentation / user guide)
• gotham (homepage / repository / documentation / examples)
• iron (homepage / repository / documentation)
• rocket (homepage / repository / documentation)
• Thruster ( - / repository / documentation / examples)
• Tide ( - / repository / documentation / examples)
• tower-web ( - / repository / documentation / examples)
• warp ( - / repository / documentation / examples)
• salvo ( - / repository / documentation / examples)

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

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

Outdated server frameworks

• civet
• conduit
• cargonaouts
• hydrogen
• kinglet
• rustless
• rustful
• shio
• sappers
• solicit
• tk-http
• nickel
• rouille

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

Supplemental libraries

Templating

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

Websocket Libraries

Name	websocket	ws-rs	twist	tungstenite	actix-web
License
Version
Github Stars
Contributors
Activity
Server	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
Client	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
Base framework	- / tokio	mio	tokio	- / tokio	tokio
Async	no / yes	yes	yes	no / yes	yes

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

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

• Lemmy - Actix + Diesel
• paste.rs - Rocket
• realworld-rust-rocket - Rocket + Diesel, medium.com clone example
• Portier - Iron and Redis
• yaus - Iron and SQLite
• racerd - Iron
• rust-passivetotal - Hyper
• mars - Hyper
• openfairdb - Rocket and SQLite (diesel + r2d2)
• ruma - Iron and Posgres (diesel + r2d2)
• html2pdf - Iron
• Hagrid (keys.openpgp.org) - Rocket

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
• web-frameworks - Measuring response times (routing times) for each framework (middleware). Each framework has to have two features; routing and parsing path parameters.