Blazing-fast Python web framework with production-grade routing backed by a minimal, event-driven C core
Catzilla is a modern Python web framework purpose-built for extreme performance and developer productivity. At its heart is a sophisticated C HTTP engine—built using libuv and llhttp—featuring an advanced trie-based routing system that delivers O(log n) route lookup performance.
By exposing its speed-focused C core through a clean, Pythonic decorator API, Catzilla gives developers full control with minimal overhead. Whether you're building real-time AI applications, low-latency APIs, or high-throughput microservices, Catzilla is engineered to deliver maximum efficiency with minimal boilerplate.
@app.get(...)/users/{user_id}, /posts/{post_id}/comments/{comment_id}get → GET)Catzilla v0.1.0 is distributed through GitHub Releases with pre-built wheels for multiple platforms and Python versions.
Download and install the appropriate wheel for your platform:
# For Python 3.10 on Linux (most common)
curl -L -O https://github.com/rezwanahmedsami/catzilla/releases/download/v0.1.0/catzilla-0.1.0-cp310-cp310-linux_x86_64.whl
pip install catzilla-0.1.0-cp310-cp310-linux_x86_64.whl
# For Python 3.10 on macOS
curl -L -O https://github.com/rezwanahmedsami/catzilla/releases/download/v0.1.0/catzilla-0.1.0-cp310-cp310-macosx_10_15_universal2.whl
pip install catzilla-0.1.0-cp310-cp310-macosx_10_15_universal2.whl
# For Python 3.10 on Windows
curl -L -O https://github.com/rezwanahmedsami/catzilla/releases/download/v0.1.0/catzilla-0.1.0-cp310-cp310-win_amd64.whl
pip install catzilla-0.1.0-cp310-cp310-win_amd64.whl
Visit the Releases page to download wheels for:
linux_x86_64macosx_10_15_universal2win_amd64python -c "import catzilla; print(f'Catzilla v{catzilla.__version__} installed successfully!')"
For development or if pre-built wheels aren't available for your platform:
# Clone with submodules
git clone --recursive https://github.com/rezwanahmedsami/catzilla.git
cd catzilla
# Create virtual environment
python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate # On Windows: venv\Scripts\activate
# Install build dependencies
pip install -e ".[dev]"
# Build and install
python -m build
pip install dist/*.whl
Starting with v1.0.0, Catzilla will be available on PyPI for standard installation:
# Coming in v1.0.0
pip install catzilla
Catzilla v0.1.0 provides comprehensive cross-platform support with pre-built wheels for all major operating systems and Python versions.
| Platform | Architecture | Status | Wheel Available |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | x86_64 | ✅ Full Support | ✅ manylinux2014 |
| macOS | x86_64 (Intel) | ✅ Full Support | ✅ macOS 10.15+ |
| macOS | ARM64 (Apple Silicon) | ✅ Full Support | ✅ macOS 11.0+ |
| Windows | x86_64 | ✅ Full Support | ✅ Windows 10+ |
| Linux | ARM64 | ⚠️ Source Only* | ❌ No pre-built wheel |
*ARM64 Linux requires building from source with proper build tools installed.
| Python Version | Linux x86_64 | macOS Intel | macOS ARM64 | Windows |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.8 | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| 3.9 | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| 3.10 | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| 3.11 | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| 3.12 | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| 3.13 | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
# Automatic platform detection
pip install <wheel-url-from-releases>
# For ARM64 Linux or custom builds
pip install https://github.com/rezwanahmedsami/catzilla/releases/download/v0.1.0/catzilla-0.1.0.tar.gz
For detailed compatibility information, see SYSTEM_COMPATIBILITY.md.
Catzilla v0.1.0 has been extensively benchmarked against other popular Python web frameworks using wrk with 100 concurrent connections over 10 seconds on a real production server.
Intel Xeon E3-1245 v5 @ 3.5GHz | 31GB RAM | AlmaLinux 8.10 | Python 3.8.12
This is authentic benchmark data collected from a real server environment, not synthetic or optimized conditions.
Massive Throughput Advantage: Catzilla delivers extraordinary performance compared to all competitors:
| Endpoint | Catzilla | FastAPI | Django | Flask | vs FastAPI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hello World | 24,759 | 2,844 | 2,339 | 2,875 | +771% faster |
| JSON Response | 15,754 | 2,421 | 2,208 | 2,672 | +551% faster |
| Path Parameters | 17,590 | 2,341 | 2,219 | 2,624 | +651% faster |
| Query Parameters | 11,145 | 1,419 | 1,975 | 2,431 | +685% faster |
| Complex JSON | 14,843 | 2,008 | 2,162 | 2,521 | +639% faster |
Ultra-Low Latency: Catzilla consistently delivers significantly lower latency:
📋 View Complete Performance Report - Detailed analysis with technical insights
Performance charts and detailed analysis available in the Complete Performance Report
Note: Comprehensive benchmark suite with automated testing available in benchmarks/ directory.
catzilla/
├── CMakeLists.txt # CMake build config
├── setup.py # Python package build entry (uses CMake)
├── CONTRIBUTING.md # Comprehensive development guide
├── .gitmodules # Git submodules: libuv, llhttp
├── deps/ # External C dependencies
│ ├── libuv/ # Event loop lib
│ └── unity/ # C testing framework
├── src/ # C core source
│ ├── core/ # Event loop, server & advanced router
│ │ ├── server.c/h # Main HTTP server implementation
│ │ └── router.c/h # Trie-based routing engine
│ └── python/ # CPython bindings
│ └── module.c # Python C extension
├── python/ # Python package (catzilla/)
│ └── catzilla/
│ ├── __init__.py # Public API
│ └── routing.py # High-level Router class
├── tests/ # Comprehensive test suite (90 tests)
│ ├── c/ # C unit tests (28 tests)
│ │ ├── test_router.c # Basic router tests
│ │ ├── test_advanced_router.c # Advanced routing features
│ │ └── test_server_integration.c # Server integration
│ └── python/ # Python tests (62 tests)
│ ├── test_advanced_routing.py # Python routing tests
│ ├── test_http_responses.py # HTTP response handling
│ ├── test_basic.py # Basic functionality
│ └── test_request.py # Request handling
├── examples/ # Example applications
├── scripts/ # Development scripts
│ ├── build.sh # Complete build script
│ ├── run_tests.sh # Unified test runner
│ └── run_example.sh # Example runner
├── docs/ # Sphinx-based docs
└── .github/ # CI/CD workflows
Clone the repository:
git clone https://github.com/rezwanahmedsami/catzilla.git
cd catzilla
git submodule update --init --recursive
Build and install:
./scripts/build.sh
Run an example:
./scripts/run_example.sh examples/hello_world/main.py
from catzilla import Router
app = Router()
# Static routes
@app.get("/")
def home():
return "Welcome to Catzilla!"
# Dynamic path parameters
@app.get("/users/{user_id}")
def get_user(request, user_id):
return f"User ID: {user_id}"
# Multiple parameters
@app.get("/users/{user_id}/posts/{post_id}")
def get_user_post(request, user_id, post_id):
return f"User {user_id}, Post {post_id}"
# Multiple HTTP methods on same path
@app.get("/api/data")
def get_data():
return {"method": "GET"}
@app.post("/api/data")
def create_data():
return {"method": "POST"}
# HTTP status codes are handled automatically:
# - 404 Not Found for missing routes
# - 405 Method Not Allowed for wrong methods (includes Allow header)
# - 415 Unsupported Media Type for parsing errors
For detailed development instructions, see CONTRIBUTING.md.
# Complete build (recommended)
./scripts/build.sh
# Manual CMake build
cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug
cmake --build build -j$(nproc)
pip install -e .
The test suite includes 90 comprehensive tests covering both C and Python components:
# Run all tests (90 tests: 28 C + 62 Python)
./scripts/run_tests.sh
# Run specific test suites
./scripts/run_tests.sh --python # Python tests only (62 tests)
./scripts/run_tests.sh --c # C tests only (28 tests)
./scripts/run_tests.sh --verbose # Detailed output
# Test results overview:
# ✅ C Tests: 28/28 PASSING
# - Basic router: 3 tests
# - Advanced router: 14 tests
# - Server integration: 11 tests
# ✅ Python Tests: 62/62 PASSING
# - Advanced routing: 22 tests
# - HTTP responses: 17 tests
# - Basic functionality: 10 tests
# - Request handling: 13 tests
We welcome contributions! Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for detailed guidelines on:
📖 Complete Documentation - Comprehensive guides, API reference, and tutorials
| Claude Sonnet 4 | GitHub Copilot | Visual Studio Code |
|---|---|---|
 Architecture & Design |  Code Intelligence |  Development Environment |
This project was developed using cutting-edge AI-assisted development tools:
AI partnership enabled rapid development from an estimated 3-6 months to just 1 week, while maintaining production-grade code quality, comprehensive testing (90 tests), and cross-platform compatibility.
This represents the future of software development—human creativity enhanced by AI precision. 🚀
Rezwan Ahmed Sami 📧 samiahmed0f0@gmail.com 📘 Facebook
MIT License — See LICENSE for full details.
FAQs
Ultra-fast Python web framework with C-accelerated routing
We found that catzilla demonstrated a healthy version release cadence and project activity because the last version was released less than a year ago. It has 1 open source maintainer collaborating on the project.
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