GoFrame vs Gin
Which should you use? A side-by-side look at what each one does, who it suits, what it costs, how hard it is to set up, and where each falls short.
Open source · MIT
Go framework for building software projects, per its description.
Open source · MIT
A fast Go web framework for building HTTP APIs and web services with a simple routing API.
The short answer
Choose GoFrame if you need…
- Go developers looking for a full-featured framework
- Teams building microservices in Go
- Developers who want built-in ORM, logging, or tracing support, per the repository topics
Choose Gin if you need…
- Go developers building REST APIs
- Teams writing microservices in Go
- Developers who want a Martini-like API with a faster router
- Projects where request throughput matters
Side-by-side
| GoFrame | Gin | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Framework | Library |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 13.3k | 89.5k |
| Setup difficulty | Intermediate | Intermediate |
| How you get it | See the README | Install with a package manager |
| Main language | Go | Go |
| Last code update | 7 days ago | 27 days ago |
What each one is
GoFrame
gf is an open-source framework written in Go, described by its maintainers as a tool for faster, easier, and more efficient project development. The README provided was empty, so this summary relies only on the repository description and topics, which mention an ORM, logging, tracing with OpenTelemetry, and microservices on Kubernetes.
Gin
Gin is an HTTP web framework written in Go. It gives you a simple way to define routes, handle requests, return JSON or HTML, and use middleware such as logging and panic recovery. The project says it is much faster than many other Go frameworks, citing a GitHub API routing benchmark included in its README.
Best for
GoFrame
- Go developers looking for a full-featured framework
- Teams building microservices in Go
- Developers who want built-in ORM, logging, or tracing support, per the repository topics
Gin
- Go developers building REST APIs
- Teams writing microservices in Go
- Developers who want a Martini-like API with a faster router
- Projects where request throughput matters
Strengths
GoFrame
- MIT license permits broad reuse
- Active repository with a recent push date and a published release (v2.10.4)
- Homepage at goframe.org for documentation
Gin
- Designed for speed, with benchmarks in the README showing low allocation routing
- Simple, Martini-like routing API with a short getting-started example
- Has a large ecosystem of middleware and documentation in several languages
Not ideal for
GoFrame
- Non-developers, since it is a code-level framework
- Anyone needing a verified feature list, because the README was unavailable for review
- Projects not using Go
Gin
- Non-programmers, since it is a Go library and requires writing code
- Teams not using Go, because it only works in that language
- Projects needing a full batteries-included framework with built-in ORM or admin panel, as the README describes a focused routing and middleware framework
Trade-offs
GoFrame
- The README was empty in the provided material, so features could not be confirmed
- Documentation quality and API stability could not be checked from the given data
- Go knowledge is required to use it
Gin
- Requires Go 1.26 or above, which may be newer than some existing setups
- Performance claims rely on the project's own benchmark, so real results depend on your workload
- Latest release has no prebuilt binaries, since it is used as a library
Getting started
GoFrame
Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/gogf/gfGin
Import Gin in your code; Go fetches it during build
import "github.com/gin-gonic/gin"Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between GoFrame and Gin?
GoFrame: Go framework for building software projects, per its description. Gin: A fast Go web framework for building HTTP APIs and web services with a simple routing API. GoFrame suits go developers looking for a full-featured framework, while Gin suits go developers building rest apis.
Are GoFrame and Gin free?
GoFrame: Free and open source. Gin: Free and open source.
Is GoFrame or Gin more popular?
Gin has more GitHub stars (89.5k) than GoFrame (13.3k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
What are other alternatives to GoFrame and Gin?
Other options people compare them with include Echo, Fiber, chi, warp, Vapor.
Keep comparing
Built from our catalogue entries for both products: open-source details come from each project's README (AI-assisted, refreshed weekly) and GitHub data; AI-tool details are editorial. Spotted something wrong? Let us know from either product's page.