---
id: falcon
version: "4.3.1"
license: Apache-2.0
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# falcon — The ultra-reliable, fast ASGI+WSGI framework for building data plane APIs at scale.

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 1.8M/mo

## What it is and what it does

Falcon is a web framework built from the ground up for REST APIs and microservices. It strips away unnecessary abstractions and dependencies, giving you direct control over HTTP semantics and request routing. The framework supports both ASGI (async) and WSGI (sync) protocols, works with standard Python servers, and compiles with Cython for extra performance when available.

You use Falcon when you need a fast, reliable, debuggable API backend without the overhead of heavier frameworks. It enforces no magic globals, requires explicit middleware and hooks, and keeps error handling straightforward. The zero-dependency design minimizes your app's attack surface and avoids transitive breakage. It's particularly suited for large-scale microservices, cloud deployments, and scenarios where performance and code clarity matter more than built-in conveniences.

Use it for:

- Build a high-throughput REST API backend for a microservices architecture where performance and minimal dependencies are critical.
- Create a lightweight HTTP service that needs to run on constrained infrastructure or inside containers with minimal footprint.
- Develop an async API using native asyncio support for I/O-bound operations like database queries or external API calls.
- Migrate from a heavier framework to reduce code size and response latency while maintaining HTTP correctness and RFC adherence.
- Build a data plane API at scale where you need explicit control over routing, middleware, and error handling without framework magic.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

Falcon is a minimalist ASGI/WSGI framework for building REST APIs and microservices, designed for high performance and reliability at scale with no external dependencies.

Yes. Falcon is production-ready, actively maintained, has no external dependencies, and is well-suited for REST APIs and microservices where performance and code clarity are priorities. Install it if you want a fast, reliable, minimalist framework; skip it if you need built-in ORM, templating, or admin interfaces that heavier frameworks provide out of the box.

## Install

pip install falcon
uv add falcon
poetry add falcon

## Installing falcon

Before you install: Installation is straightforward with low friction—Falcon has zero runtime dependencies outside the standard library, reducing attack surface and transitive breakage risk. The project is actively maintained with recent releases and strong community engagement.

License in practice: Falcon is licensed under Apache-2.0 (permissive), allowing commercial and private use with minimal restrictions—you may use, modify, and distribute it freely provided you include a copy of the license and state significant changes.

Quickstart:

pip install falcon

import falcon

class HelloResource:
    def on_get(self, req, resp):
        resp.text = 'Hello, World!'

app = falcon.App()
app.add_route('/hello', HelloResource())

Requires Python 3.9 or later (CPython 3.9+ or PyPy 3.9+); a WSGI or ASGI server (e.g., gunicorn, uvicorn) is needed to run the app in production.

Verify before relying:

- Specific performance benchmarks against other frameworks (description mentions 'three times faster' but context is unclear)
- Whether Cython compilation is automatic or requires additional setup on all platforms

## Package facts

- License: Apache-2.0 (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 1.8M/month (top 5,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

asgi wsgi web framework, rest api framework python, high performance microservices, lightweight http framework, fast api framework, minimalist web framework, mission-critical rest apis, rest-api, async-ready, zero-dependencies

[View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/packages/falcon) · [View on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/falcon/)