Echo
A minimalist Go web framework for building fast HTTP servers and APIs.
- Stars
- 32.8k
- Forks
- 3.6k
- Licence
- MIT
- Language
- Go
- Last update
- 6 days ago
- Type
- Library
What it is
Echo is a web framework for the Go programming language, used to build web servers and APIs. It is built on Go's standard net/http package and adds a fast router, request data binding with validation, middleware, and centralized error handling. It also supports automatic HTTPS via Let's Encrypt and HTTP/2.
- Build a JSON API that binds and validates incoming request bodies
- Serve HTML pages using any template engine
- Add structured request logging with log/slog
- Run an HTTPS server with automatic Let's Encrypt certificates
- Add JWT authentication or Prometheus/OpenTelemetry metrics using official middleware packages
Great for
- Go developers building REST APIs or backend services
- Teams that want a small framework on top of the standard library
- Developers who need middleware for logging, panic recovery, or JWT auth
- Projects that need automatic TLS certificates via Let's Encrypt
Not ideal for
- People who do not write Go, since it is a Go-only library
- Beginners with no programming background, since it assumes Go knowledge
- Users who need a finished application rather than a framework to build one with
How to get it
- 1
Install with a package manager
You'll need: Go (the README says v5 supports the three most recent Go releases)
Install Echo v5
go get github.com/labstack/echo/v5 - 2
Run it
- Install Go and make sure it is available on your command line
- Run go get github.com/labstack/echo/v5 in your project folder
- Save the example main.go from the README into your project
- Run the program and open http://localhost:8080 in a browser to see Hello, World!
- 3
Get the most out of it
- Add middleware.RequestLogger() for structured request logs using log/slog
- Use middleware.Recover() so panics return an error instead of crashing the server
- Use the official echo-jwt, echo-otel, or echo-prometheus packages for auth and observability
- Read the quickstart and cookbook pages for auto TLS and graceful shutdown
Downloads
Strengths
- Built on Go's standard net/http, so it works with existing http handlers via WrapHandler and WrapMiddleware
- Includes routing, binding, middleware, and error handling without a large dependency footprint
- Actively maintained, with a v5 release line and a published support policy
Trade-offs
- Requires understanding of Go, so it is not suitable for non-programmers
- Major version v5 changes the API from v4, so older tutorials and packages may need adapting; v4 is supported only until 2026-12-31 for bug fixes
- Many middleware packages are third-party, so their quality and Echo version compatibility must be checked individually
How it compares
| Project | Stars | Type | Level | Updated | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| echo (this) | 32.8k | Library | intermediate | 6 days ago | Go developers building REST APIs or backend services |
| gin | 89.5k | Library | intermediate | 27 days ago | Go developers building REST APIs |
| chi | 23k | Library | intermediate | 18 days ago | Go developers building REST API services |
| fiber | 40.2k | Library | intermediate | 4 days ago | Go developers building REST APIs or web backends |
| nginxconfig.io | 28.3k | App | beginner | 1.9 years ago | People setting up an NGINX server for a website or app who want a starting config |
| mitmproxy | 46.6k | Dev tool | intermediate | 4 days ago | Developers debugging how an app talks to a backend API |
Stats synced from GitHub. The assessment above was drafted with AI from the project's README on 2026-10-29 and may miss recent changes — check the README before relying on a command. MIT licence: free to use, modify and distribute, including commercially, as long as you keep the copyright notice.