Django Ninja v1.5: FastAPI-like Development for Django

Quick Answer

Django Ninja is a modern API framework for Django that provides FastAPI-like ergonomics with Pydantic validation, automatic OpenAPI documentation, and async/await support. Version 1.5.1 represents a mature alternative to Django REST Framework (DRF), offering 10x faster serialization performance while maintaining full access to Django’s mature ecosystem (ORM, Admin, authentication).

What is Django Ninja?

Django Ninja operates as an extension of Django, replacing DRF’s serializer-based approach with Pydantic models and function-based views. It allows developers to define APIs using Python type hints, which automatically generate validation, documentation, and type safety.

Version 1.5.1 Highlights

Key Features:

• Pydantic v2 support
• Async views (async def)
• Automatic OpenAPI 3.0.0 generation
• ModelSchema (auto-generate schemas from Django models)
• Python 3.14+ testing

Release Date: December 4, 2025

Maintainer: Vitaly Kuprin

Core Architecture

Pydantic Integration

from ninja import Schema, ModelSchema
from pydantic import Field

class UserSchema(Schema):
    name: str
    email: str
    age: int = Field(ge=18)

@api.get("/users/{user_id}")
def get_user(request, user_id: int):
    user = User.objects.get(id=user_id)
    return user

Django Ecosystem Access

• Django ORM: Full integration
• Django Admin: Compatible
• Authentication: Session, API Key, JWT
• Middleware: Works with Django middleware

Platform Support

Platform	Support	Details
Web	✅ True	API + SSR (via Django)
API	✅ True	Primary use case
Serverless	✅ True	Vercel, AWS Lambda
Edge	✅ True	Cloudflare Workers (Python beta)

Key Features

1. Automatic Documentation

Swagger UI: /api/docs ReDoc: /api/redoc OpenAPI Schema: /api/openapi.json

2. Async Support

@api.get("/users")
async def list_users(request):
    # Async database query
    return await User.objects.async_all()

3. ModelSchema

Auto-generate Pydantic schemas from Django models:

class UserSchema(ModelSchema):
    class Config:
        model = User
        model_fields = ["id", "name", "email"]

Django Ninja vs DRF

Feature	Django Ninja	Django REST Framework
API Definition	Functions (explicit)	ViewSets (implicit)
Validation	Pydantic (10x faster)	Serializers (slow)
Async	Native	Partial/Experimental
Documentation	Automatic	Requires Third-Party

Best Use Cases

Ideal For

• Greenfield Django projects
• High-concurrency APIs
• SaaS applications
• Data validation hubs

Avoid For

• Legacy DRF codebases (costly migration)
• Hypermedia APIs (HATEOAS)
• XML services

Known Issues

Async/Sync Safety

• Django ORM is synchronous
• Using sync ORM queries in async views blocks event loop
• Solution: Use sync_to_async or aget()/afilter()

Conclusion

Django Ninja v1.5 successfully modernizes Django API development. For greenfield projects requiring performance, type safety, and modern ergonomics, Django Ninja is the clear choice over DRF.

---

Last Updated: 2026-01-20