Django or Flask: what will suit you better? Often the best answer when it comes to choosing tools is the following: it depends. It results mainly from the fact that it is worth considering the problem we are going to solve first and only then adjusting the choice of a tool on this basis. Indeed, Django example websites you can take a look at on the Web are impressive, but Flask also has lots to offer.
Below we list some facts that will make it easier to get acquainted with the advantages of both frameworks.
Inclusive integrations
Flask is, at first glance, smaller and simpler. Flask offers less at the beginning, practically does not impose anything, and gives a free choice, but at the same time is not a complete solution.
We must each time supplement the created projects in Flask with additional libraries. In this approach, we must spend additional time searching for the right library, reading its documentation, or integrating it into the target project. Only then do Flask’s complexity and capabilities begin to equate with what Django has to offer.
- Flask offers flexibility. Thanks to it, we can choose the tool variant closest to the team’s problem or preferences.
- In this respect, Django is the opposite. Django is extensive and offers many more ready-made solutions for the start, possibly for imminent use. What is worth paying extra attention to is the fact that the components in Django are integrated with each other; Django additionally uses this to also outline a certain plan for working with the service. For example, when we define a model in Django, we can very easily generate additional views, forms, and fixtures based on it.
- Django, at first, greatly assigns the work, takes off the programmer a lot of marginal work, and allows you to focus more easily on what is more important from a business perspective.
- Django makes a lot of decisions for us, and as long as they coincide with the needs of the project, working with Django is in our favor. 80-90% of problems in a typical service can be easily solved using Django. The rest of the work due to Django can be problematic, but overall, choosing Django will allow you to implement the service faster – saving time that you can count in months!
- The speed Django gives the programmer is mainly due to the dedication of the initiative that is sought by choosing Flask.
Convenience
This is not a rule that applies anytime, anywhere, but in our experience, Django works especially well where the service primarily focuses on serving users.
This is mainly due to the possibility of plugins that increase the potential capabilities of the framework.
Here, both Django and Flask allow you to create plugins, but there is simply a wider range of options on the Django side. The creator of the plugin knows what to expect. He is aware of the models, forms, and commands that are in Django, and on this basis, he can build a plugin for us that implements practically all the functionality!
In the case of Flask, unfortunately, this is harder to achieve because each project in Flask can basically be based on a slightly different configuration of libraries, so plugins in Flask have a more limited field.
The consequence of this is that the plugins in Django have more ready-made functionalities to offer. For example, it is much easier to create or use a plugin that supports payment in Django; it is much easier to log in using Facebook or even embed a complex content management panel on Django. All this is easier because these functionalities are ready for use immediately after installing the plugin.
- Technically, Flask is a better choice when appearance is less important, which is almost always when we intend to support applications instead of users.
- Flask, due to its small size, absorbs less memory and is faster than Django because it does not undertake additional tasks that function by default in Django.
- Technically, this makes Flask a more interesting option for creating small microservices. Thanks to this, it is easier to get a scalable system.
Summary
All in all, both tools are working: so the choice depends on your task.
- Flask is good for projects with unusual databases, with appearance realized only on the javascript page, as well as for systems created on the basis of microservices.
- Django is good for typical websites where we want to get rid of marginal problems in order to move faster to work on what is more important from a business perspective.
If you are not a professional, we strongly recommend finding experienced specialists who will help you to cope with tasks of any complexity. If you need help with a project discovery phase, professionals will help you as well.
