Waitress
Multi-threaded WSGI server for production use with Pyramid.
Pricing
Free tier
Flat rate
Adoption
→StableLicense
Open Source
Data freshness
Aging · Jun 8, 2026Overview
What is Waitress?
Waitress is a production-quality pure-Python WSGI server. It has no dependencies except ones which live in the Python standard library. Waitress runs on CPython on Unix and Windows under Python 2.7+ or Python 3.4+. It supports HTTP/1.0 and HTTP/1.1.
Key differentiator
“Waitress stands out for its simplicity and robustness as a pure Python WSGI server with no external dependencies, making it ideal for Pyramid applications in production environments.”
Capability profile
Capability Radar
Honest assessment
Strengths & Weaknesses
↑ Strengths
↓ Weaknesses
Waitress only supports HTTP/1.0 and HTTP/1.1, lacking modern protocol support which can limit performance in some use cases.
Secure connections must be handled by an external reverse proxy or additional configuration, increasing complexity for deployment.
Being a pure-Python server, Waitress can suffer from performance bottlenecks in CPU-intensive applications when compared to servers written in lower-level languages like C.
The project's GitHub repository indicates a smaller contributor base and fewer updates, which can lead to slower issue resolution and feature development.
Fit analysis
Who is it for?
✓ 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 a fit 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.
Cost structure
Pricing
Free Tier
Available
Open source — free to use
Starts at
$0
Model
Flat rate
Enterprise
None
Performance benchmarks
How Fast Is It?
Ecosystem
Relationships
Works well with
Next step
Get Started with Waitress
Step-by-step setup guide with code examples and common gotchas.