curl-cffi
libcurl ffi bindings for Python, with impersonation support.
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes, if you need to bypass fingerprint-based blocking or require HTTP/2/3 support in a requests-like API. The active maintenance, MIT license, and pre-compiled wheels make it low-friction to adopt. No security vulnerabilities are currently known. Install with caution if your use case involves circumventing intentional anti-bot measures, as that may violate terms of service or local law.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python 3.10 or later; compiled wheels depend on cffi and certifi runtime dependencies.
- Medium install friction due to compiled wheels (cffi-based bindings), but pre-built binaries are available for common platforms.
- Actively maintained with recent releases; last commit 2026-08-08 and 6307 GitHub stars indicate ongoing support.
License · maintenance · safety
MIT (permissive) — MIT license is permissive; you can use, modify, and distribute curl_cffi freely in commercial and open-source projects without significant legal restrictions.
last release 2026-08-01 (13 days) · last repo commit 2026-08-08 · 6,307 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 37,402,186 downloads/mo, #724 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install curl_cffi
import curl_cffi
r = curl_cffi.get("https://example.com", impersonate="chrome")
print(r.json())- Whether http/3 fingerprints and UDP SOCKS5 proxy support (mentioned as added in v0.15.0) are stable or still experimental.
- Performance comparison specifics with aiohttp and pycurl under real-world workloads beyond the linked benchmarks.
- Reliability of browser fingerprint impersonation against current anti-bot systems (Cloudflare, Akamai, etc.).
What it is and what it does
curl_cffi is a Python HTTP client library that wraps libcurl with the ability to impersonate browser TLS and HTTP/2 fingerprints. Unlike pure-Python HTTP clients such as requests or httpx, it can mimic the exact cryptographic and protocol signatures of real browsers, making it harder for websites to detect and block automated requests. It supports both synchronous and asynchronous usage, HTTP/2 and HTTP/3, WebSocket connections, and proxy rotation.
The package mimics the requests API, so developers familiar with that library can adopt curl_cffi with minimal learning curve. It comes pre-compiled for most platforms (Linux, macOS, Windows, Android), eliminating the need to compile curl locally. It also includes a CLI tool for debugging and testing fingerprint impersonation, and supports custom JA3 and Akamai fingerprint strings for non-browser impersonation scenarios.
Use it for
- Scraping websites protected by TLS fingerprinting detection that blocks standard HTTP clients.
- Testing web applications to verify they correctly identify and reject bot traffic based on fingerprints.
- Building async web crawlers that need HTTP/2 or HTTP/3 support with per-request proxy rotation.
- Automating interactions with APIs that enforce browser-like TLS signatures as part of their anti-bot strategy.
- Replacing requests in performance-critical applications where HTTP/2 multiplexing provides measurable speed gains.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes, if you need to bypass fingerprint-based blocking or require HTTP/2/3 support in a requests-like API.
The active maintenance, MIT license, and pre-compiled wheels make it low-friction to adopt. No security vulnerabilities are currently known. Install with caution if your use case involves circumventing intentional anti-bot measures, as that may violate terms of service or local law.
Install
curl-cffi on PyPI
Before you install
Medium install friction due to compiled wheels (cffi-based bindings), but pre-built binaries are available for common platforms. Actively maintained with recent releases; last commit 2026-08-08 and 6307 GitHub stars indicate ongoing support.
Requires Python 3.10 or later; compiled wheels depend on cffi and certifi runtime dependencies.
License in practice
MIT license is permissive; you can use, modify, and distribute curl_cffi freely in commercial and open-source projects without significant legal restrictions.
Quickstart
pip install curl_cffi
import curl_cffi
r = curl_cffi.get("https://example.com", impersonate="chrome")
print(r.json())Verify before relying
- Whether http/3 fingerprints and UDP SOCKS5 proxy support (mentioned as added in v0.15.0) are stable or still experimental.
- Performance comparison specifics with aiohttp and pycurl under real-world workloads beyond the linked benchmarks.
- Reliability of browser fingerprint impersonation against current anti-bot systems (Cloudflare, Akamai, etc.).
Package facts
| License | MIT permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.10 |
| Install friction | Medium. Platform-specific wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 2 packagescfficertifi |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 13 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 37,402,186 / month, #724 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Development Status :: 4 - BetaIntended Audience :: DevelopersProgramming 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 :: Free Threading |
Evidence: curl_cffi-0.16.0-cp310-abi3-macosx_10_9_x86_64.whl; curl_cffi-0.16.0-cp310-abi3-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl; curl_cffi-0.16.0-cp310-abi3-manylinux2014_aarch64.manylinux_2_17_aarch64.whl; curl_cffi-0.16.0-cp310-abi3-manylinux2014_i686.manylinux_2_17_i686.whl; curl_cffi-0.16.0-cp310-abi3-manylinux2014_x86_64.manylinux_2_17_x86_64.whl; curl_cffi-0.16.0-cp310-abi3-manylinux_2_28_armv7l.manylinux_2_31_armv7l.whl; curl_cffi-0.16.0-cp310-abi3-manylinux_2_34_riscv64.manylinux_2_39_riscv64.whl; curl_cffi-0.16.0-cp310-abi3-musllinux_1_2_aarch64.whl; curl_cffi-0.16.0-cp310-abi3-musllinux_1_2_x86_64.whl; curl_cffi-0.16.0-cp310-abi3-win_amd64.whl; curl_cffi-0.16.0-cp310-abi3-win_arm64.whl; curl_cffi-0.16.0-cp313-abi3-android_24_arm64_v8a.whl; curl_cffi-0.16.0-cp314-cp314t-macosx_10_15_x86_64.whl; curl_cffi-0.16.0-cp314-cp314t-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl; curl_cffi-0.16.0-cp314-cp314t-manylinux2014_aarch64.manylinux_2_17_aarch64.whl; curl_cffi-0.16.0-cp314-cp314t-manylinux2014_x86_64.manylinux_2_17_x86_64.whl; curl_cffi-0.16.0-cp314-cp314t-musllinux_1_2_aarch64.whl; curl_cffi-0.16.0-cp314-cp314t-musllinux_1_2_x86_64.whl; curl_cffi-0.16.0-cp314-cp314t-win_amd64.whl; curl_cffi-0.16.0-cp314-cp314t-win_arm64.whl
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See also impit · scrapy-impersonate · primp · wafer-py · wreq · rnet · pycurl · apify-fingerprint-datapoints · fetch-use · cloudscraper