Fiber vs Gin
Which should you use? A side-by-side look at what each one does, who it suits, what it costs, how hard it is to set up, and where each falls short.
Open source · MIT
An Express-style web framework for building fast HTTP servers and APIs in Go.
Open source · MIT
A fast Go web framework for building HTTP APIs and web services with a simple routing API.
The short answer
Choose Fiber if you need…
- Go developers building REST APIs or web backends
- Developers coming from Node.js and Express who want a familiar style in Go
- Projects that need routing, middleware, static files, or WebSocket and SSE support
Choose Gin if you need…
- Go developers building REST APIs
- Teams writing microservices in Go
- Developers who want a Martini-like API with a faster router
- Projects where request throughput matters
Side-by-side
| Fiber | Gin | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Library | Library |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 40.2k | 89.5k |
| Setup difficulty | Intermediate | Intermediate |
| How you get it | Install with a package manager | Install with a package manager |
| Main language | Go | Go |
| Last code update | 4 days ago | 27 days ago |
What each one is
Fiber
Fiber is a web framework for the Go programming language. It lets you define routes and handlers so your program can respond to web requests, and its API is modeled on Express, the popular Node.js framework. It is built on the Fasthttp HTTP engine, and the README emphasizes speed and low memory use.
Gin
Gin is an HTTP web framework written in Go. It gives you a simple way to define routes, handle requests, return JSON or HTML, and use middleware such as logging and panic recovery. The project says it is much faster than many other Go frameworks, citing a GitHub API routing benchmark included in its README.
Best for
Fiber
- Go developers building REST APIs or web backends
- Developers coming from Node.js and Express who want a familiar style in Go
- Projects that need routing, middleware, static files, or WebSocket and SSE support
Gin
- Go developers building REST APIs
- Teams writing microservices in Go
- Developers who want a Martini-like API with a faster router
- Projects where request throughput matters
Strengths
Fiber
- The Express-inspired API is designed to ease the move from Node.js to Go
- The README reports strong performance and low memory footprint, with benchmark results linked
- Includes a wide set of built-in features and middleware, such as routing, rate limiting, and WebSockets
Gin
- Designed for speed, with benchmarks in the README showing low allocation routing
- Simple, Martini-like routing API with a short getting-started example
- Has a large ecosystem of middleware and documentation in several languages
Not ideal for
Fiber
- People who are not writing Go; it is a Go library, not a standalone product
- Teams that need strict standard-library net/http compatibility, since it is built on Fasthttp instead
- Projects that cannot use Go 1.26 or higher, which the README lists as the requirement
Gin
- Non-programmers, since it is a Go library and requires writing code
- Teams not using Go, because it only works in that language
- Projects needing a full batteries-included framework with built-in ORM or admin panel, as the README describes a focused routing and middleware framework
Trade-offs
Fiber
- Handlers reuse context values across requests, so developers must not keep references to them after returning, which adds a subtle rule to learn
- Requires Go 1.26 or higher, a recent version requirement
- Built on Fasthttp rather than the standard library, which can matter for some ecosystem integrations
Gin
- Requires Go 1.26 or above, which may be newer than some existing setups
- Performance claims rely on the project's own benchmark, so real results depend on your workload
- Latest release has no prebuilt binaries, since it is used as a library
Getting started
Fiber
Install Fiber into a Go module project
go get -u github.com/gofiber/fiber/v3Gin
Import Gin in your code; Go fetches it during build
import "github.com/gin-gonic/gin"Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Fiber and Gin?
Fiber: An Express-style web framework for building fast HTTP servers and APIs in Go. Gin: A fast Go web framework for building HTTP APIs and web services with a simple routing API. Fiber suits go developers building rest apis or web backends, while Gin suits go developers building rest apis.
Are Fiber and Gin free?
Fiber: Free and open source. Gin: Free and open source.
Is Fiber or Gin more popular?
Gin has more GitHub stars (89.5k) than Fiber (40.2k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
What are other alternatives to Fiber and Gin?
Other options people compare them with include Echo, chi, react-three-fiber, pino, warp.
Keep comparing
Built from our catalogue entries for both products: open-source details come from each project's README (AI-assisted, refreshed weekly) and GitHub data; AI-tool details are editorial. Spotted something wrong? Let us know from either product's page.