gunicorn vs Waitress

Side-by-side — pricing, strengths, tradeoffs, and fit.

gunicorn

Pre-forked Python web server for UNIX-like operating systems.

Waitress

Multi-threaded WSGI server for production use with Pyramid.

At a glance

Open SourceFree Tier
● Established·From $0
Open SourceFree Tier
● Established·From $0

Overview

One-liner

Pre-forked Python web server for UNIX-like operating systems.

One-liner

Multi-threaded WSGI server for production use with Pyramid.

Maturity

Established

Maturity

Established

Open source

✓ Yes

Open source

✓ Yes

Pricing

Free tier

✓ Available

Open source — free to use

Free tier

✓ Available

Open source — free to use

Starts at

$0

Starts at

$0

Model

Flat rate

Model

Flat rate

Enterprise

✕ None

Enterprise

✕ None

Best for

✓ Best for

Developers deploying Python-based web applications who need a robust and configurable HTTP server
Teams requiring load balancing capabilities for their web services
Projects that require SSL termination at the server level

✓ Best for

Developers deploying Pyramid-based applications who need a robust WSGI server.
Teams requiring a Python-only dependency stack for their web servers.

Not ideal for

✕ Not for

Applications that do not run on UNIX-like operating systems
Scenarios where an API gateway or cloud-based service is preferred over a local HTTP server

✕ Not for

Projects that require non-Python dependencies in their web server setup.
Applications needing HTTP/2 support, as Waitress only supports HTTP/1.0 and HTTP/1.1.

Strengths

↑ Strengths

Pre-fork worker model for handling requests
Supports various deployment scenarios including load balancing and SSL termination
Configurable to work with different types of applications

↑ Strengths

Multi-threaded WSGI server for production use.
Supports HTTP/1.0 and HTTP/1.1.
No dependencies outside the Python standard library.

Weaknesses

↓ Weaknesses

Steep learning curve for non-Python developers
Limited out-of-the-box support for modern deployment practices
Performance limitations under high concurrency
Configuration complexity for advanced use cases

↓ Weaknesses

Limited support for HTTP/2 and beyond
No built-in SSL/TLS support
Performance may degrade under heavy load compared to more optimized servers
Small and less active community
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