Comparison

Pounce compared to Uvicorn, Granian, Hypercorn, and Daphne

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ASGI Server Landscape

Every existing ASGI server was built for a Python that had a GIL. Pounce is built for the world that Python 3.14t creates.

Feature Comparison

Feature Pounce Uvicorn Granian Hypercorn Daphne
Language Python Python Rust + Python Python Python
Parallelism Threads (nogil) Processes Rust threads Processes Processes
Memory model Shared Duplicated Mixed Duplicated Duplicated
Free-threading Native Compatible Partial No No
HTTP/1.1 h11 / httptools httptools / h11 Hyper (Rust) h11 Twisted
HTTP/2 h2 (optional) No Yes h2 No
WebSocket wsproto (optional) websockets Yes wsproto Twisted
Compression zstd + gzip No No No No
Server-Timing Built-in No No No No
TLS stdlib ssl Yes Yes Yes No
Dev reload Built-in watchfiles Built-in No No
Dependencies 1 (h11) 2+ Rust binary 3+ Twisted

Architecture Comparison

Uvicorn

Uvicorn runs one event loop per process. Parallelism means fork — four workers means four copies of your app, routes, templates, and config in separate memory. It added Python 3.14 compatibility but not a free-threading-native worker model.

Granian

Granian does its I/O in Rust and calls into Python for the ASGI app. It supports nogil threads, but the core server logic isn't Python — you can't debug or extend it from Python.

Hypercorn

Hypercorn is process-based with no free-threading awareness. It supports HTTP/2 via h2 but doesn't leverage shared memory or thread-based parallelism.

Daphne

Daphne is built on Twisted. Process-based, no free-threading support, no HTTP/2. Primarily used with Django Channels.

When to Use Pounce

Pounce is the right choice when:

  • You're on Python 3.14t and want thread-based parallelism
  • You want shared memory across workers (lower memory footprint)
  • You need streaming responses with minimal latency
  • You want stdlib compression (zstd) without external dependencies
  • You prefer pure Python for debuggability and extensibility

When to Use Something Else

  • Maximum raw throughput — Granian's Rust I/O layer may be faster for pure proxy workloads
  • Django Channels — Daphne has the deepest Django integration
  • Existing Uvicorn deployment — If it's working and you're not on 3.14t, there's no urgent reason to switch

See Also