@fastify/helmet vs @fastify/rate-limit: Side-by-Side Comparison (2026)
Features, pricing, ratings, and pros & cons — compared head-to-head.
@fastify/helmet is a free api security tool. @fastify/rate-limit is a free api security tool. Compare features, ratings, integrations, and community reviews side by side to find the best api security fit for your security stack.
CST VerdictBased on our analysis of available product data, here is our conclusion:
Fastify teams building APIs that need HTTP header security without operational overhead should start with @fastify/helmet; it's a thin wrapper around the battle-tested helmet library, meaning you get OWASP Top 10 mitigations (CSP, HSTS, X-Frame-Options) with minimal configuration beyond `fastify.register()`. The 453 GitHub stars and zero-friction npm install make adoption frictionless for small-to-mid teams. Skip this if you need dynamic policy management, request-level header mutation, or centralized policy enforcement across multiple services; @fastify/helmet is intentionally static and Fastify-bound, not a gateway or orchestration tool.
Teams building Node.js APIs who need rate limiting without the operational overhead of a separate service should reach for @fastify/rate-limit. The plugin ships as a native Fastify middleware with sub-millisecond latency overhead, making it practical for high-throughput routes where traditional gateway-level rate limiting adds unacceptable latency. Not for buyers who need distributed rate limiting across multiple instances without in-memory state coordination or those who require sophisticated quota management beyond simple request-per-window rules.
