Features, pricing, ratings, and pros & cons — compared head-to-head.
@fastify/helmet is a free api security tool. Hapi 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.
Based 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.
Node.js teams building APIs from scratch will find Hapi's security-by-default architecture saves months of hardening work; its plugin system lets you bake authentication, validation, and CORS rules into the framework itself rather than bolting them on afterward. With 14,784 GitHub stars and active maintenance, you're not betting on a ghost project. Skip Hapi if your team is already committed to Express or Fastify; switching frameworks mid-project costs more than the security gains justify.
A Fastify plugin that implements HTTP security headers through a wrapper around the helmet library to protect web applications from common vulnerabilities.
Hapi is a Node.js web application framework that provides built-in functionality for building scalable server-side applications and APIs with security features and plugin architecture.
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Common questions about comparing @fastify/helmet vs Hapi for your api security needs.
@fastify/helmet: A Fastify plugin that implements HTTP security headers through a wrapper around the helmet library to protect web applications from common vulnerabilities..
Hapi: Hapi is a Node.js web application framework that provides built-in functionality for building scalable server-side applications and APIs with security features and plugin architecture..
Both serve the API Security market but differ in approach, feature depth, and target audience.
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