channels
Brings async, event-driven capabilities to Django.
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. Channels is an official Django project with active maintenance, low install friction, no known vulnerabilities, and a permissive license. Install it if you need WebSocket or real-time async support in Django; pair it with Daphne and optionally channels_redis for production. Skip it if your application has no real-time requirements.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Django 4.2+ and an ASGI application server (e.g.
- Daphne) to run; development server alone is insufficient for WebSocket support.
- Low install friction; pure Python wheel.
License · maintenance · safety
BSD (permissive) — BSD license is permissive; you can use, modify, and distribute this package with minimal restrictions in commercial and open-source projects.
last release 2025-11-20 (267 days) · last repo commit 2026-08-06 · 6,354 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 6,288,306 downloads/mo, #1,939 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install channels
import channels
from channels.generic.websocket import AsyncWebsocketConsumer
class MyConsumer(AsyncWebsocketConsumer):
async def connect(self):
await self.accept()- Whether Daphne or another ASGI server is bundled or must be installed separately for production use.
- Performance characteristics and scaling limits for concurrent WebSocket connections.
- Specific Redis backend requirements if using channels_redis for multi-process deployments.
What it is and what it does
Channels extends Django beyond its traditional request-response model to support real-time, bidirectional communication protocols like WebSocket and long-polling HTTP. It does this by layering ASGI (Asynchronous Server Gateway Interface) support on top of Django, letting you write async consumers that handle persistent connections using familiar Django patterns—routing, middleware, authentication—rather than forcing you into a separate framework.
The package itself provides the core consumer classes and routing layer; it depends on Django and asgiref for the underlying async infrastructure. For production use, you'll need to pair it with an ASGI application server like Daphne (a separate package from the same Django project) and optionally channels_redis for multi-process channel layers. It's actively maintained by the Django core team, supports Python 3.9+ and Django 4.2 through 6.0, and has no known security vulnerabilities.
Use it for
- Build real-time chat or messaging applications where messages appear instantly without page refresh.
- Implement live notifications or activity feeds that push updates to connected clients.
- Create collaborative editing or whiteboarding tools that sync changes across multiple users.
- Offload long-running tasks to background workers while keeping the client connection alive.
- Stream live data (sensor readings, stock prices, sports scores) to multiple subscribers.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
Channels is an official Django project with active maintenance, low install friction, no known vulnerabilities, and a permissive license. Install it if you need WebSocket or real-time async support in Django; pair it with Daphne and optionally channels_redis for production. Skip it if your application has no real-time requirements.
Install
channels on PyPI
Before you install
Low install friction; pure Python wheel. Actively maintained by Django core team with recent commits and clear security reporting process. Supports current Python versions (3.9+) and recent Django releases (4.2 through 6.0).
Requires Django 4.2+ and an ASGI application server (e.g. Daphne) to run; development server alone is insufficient for WebSocket support.
License in practice
BSD license is permissive; you can use, modify, and distribute this package with minimal restrictions in commercial and open-source projects.
Quickstart
pip install channels
import channels
from channels.generic.websocket import AsyncWebsocketConsumer
class MyConsumer(AsyncWebsocketConsumer):
async def connect(self):
await self.accept()Verify before relying
- Whether Daphne or another ASGI server is bundled or must be installed separately for production use.
- Performance characteristics and scaling limits for concurrent WebSocket connections.
- Specific Redis backend requirements if using channels_redis for multi-process deployments.
Package facts
| License | BSD permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.9 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 2 packagesDjangoasgiref |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 267 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 6,288,306 / month, #1,939 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Development Status :: 5 - Production/StableEnvironment :: Web EnvironmentFramework :: DjangoFramework :: Django :: 4.2Framework :: Django :: 5.1Framework :: Django :: 5.2Framework :: Django :: 6.0Intended Audience :: DevelopersLicense :: OSI Approved :: BSD LicenseOperating System :: OS IndependentProgramming Language :: PythonProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: 3.14Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9Topic :: Internet :: WWW/HTTP |
Evidence: channels-4.3.2-py3-none-any.whl
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See also channels-redis · daphne · django-eventstream · asgiref · types-channels · uvicorn · starlette · httpx-ws · django-grip · django-dramatiq