Even if you are new to web development, you probably already know that there are two main web frameworks in the Python world: Django and Flask. According to the Python Developers Survey 2022 conducted by JetBrains, 39% of developers reported using either or both.

Whether you are a beginner thinking of what to learn to get your first job in web development, a developer looking for a framework to build a web application on, or a team lead considering various technologies for an upcoming project, this article should help you make the right choice.

Before diving deep, let’s take a look at the basic principles and “philosophies” of Django and Flask:

• Flask is a microframework, while Django is an “all-inclusive” one. This means that you have more flexibility in choosing the tools you want to use in Flask, whereas Django has more essential features available out of the box.
• Django enforces certain requirements on the project layout, but for a good cause, as this encourages developers to create applications with a clean and pragmatic design. Flask provides more freedom, though this may result in longer onboarding times for new team members.
• Flask and Django are both free and open source.
• Both frameworks have a large community, detailed documentation, and receive regular updates.

Now that we’ve covered the essentials, let’s compare Flask vs Django by looking at the various aspects and challenges of using each framework for web development.

If we only had to work with static HTML pages, that would be very easy, but most of today’s web applications include dynamic content. This is why we need a templating system.

Django has a built-in template engine, while Flask is fully compatible with Jinja2 templates.

Jinja2 was influenced by the Django template language. That’s why their syntax looks pretty similar. For example, both use double curly braces ({{ }}) for variables and curly braces with percent signs ({% %}) for logical elements, like loops and conditional statements.

At the same time, there are significant differences. Let’s look at these in more detail.

Django templates are tightly integrated with the Django framework. Some of their features, like template inheritance and template tags, are Django-specific.

Jinja2 is an independent template engine, compatible with various frameworks, including Django and Flask. That’s right: Although Django templates are the default choice for Django apps, you can use Jinja2 with Django, too! However, only 14% of Django developers do so, according to the Django Developers Survey 2022: