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Other than the ability to automatically generate an interactive documentation for our API using Swagger UI, are there any real advantages of using Flask-RESTplus over Flask-RESTful?

masterforker
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    I concur: considering how similar the two APIs are, it would be really nice to hear from people who have experienced both… – Dave Nov 22 '16 at 07:16
  • the author of flask-restplus just added some maintainers to the project from the same issue: https://github.com/noirbizarre/flask-restplus/issues/593 – Xiang ZHU Mar 27 '19 at 00:16
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    FYI: There's a new community driven fork https://github.com/python-restx/flask-restx – bhathiya-perera Jan 14 '20 at 17:14

2 Answers2

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I've used both, and the only reason we switched too Flask-restplus was the desire to have auto generated Swagger documentation. In my experience, there are no other noticeable differences. Flask-RESTplus started as a fork of Flask-RESTful, so if you were so inclined, you could read the commit history and see if there are any other noticeable differences.

r.j.torres
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    We also used Flask-restplus for this reason. – Julien Le Coupanec May 11 '17 at 16:51
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    Note that if your only reason to use flask-RESTplus is the generated documentation, you can use Flask-RESTful among with flasgger (https://github.com/rochacbruno/flasgger), that is *a Flask extension to extract OpenAPI=Specification from all Flask views registered in your API.* – roipoussiere Mar 27 '19 at 10:58
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update When reading this accepted answer, consider that there is Flask-RESTX which is a fork of Flask-RESTPlus that is maintained, as an alternative option.

I am aware of the fact that this answer is probably too late, but it still might be helpful in the future.

According to https://github.com/noirbizarre/flask-restplus/issues/593, the Flask Restplus is most probably dead and abandoned. The last commit was on October 1, 2018. It looks like the project is not being actively maintained anymore.

Therefore, I advise that you use Flask Restful despite the auto generated Swagger docs in Restplus. Since Restplus is not maintained, it is most likely that the implementation will sooner or later go out of date. Rather than switching to Restful once Restplus goes out of date, I think starting off with Restful itself would be the better idea here.

Just my two cents... :)

miraculixx
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Guest User
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    Looks like the project is not going to die after all. According to this [post](https://github.com/noirbizarre/flask-restplus/issues/593#issuecomment-474389080), noirbizarre, the creator of the project is looking to onboard new maintainers and keep the project alive. – Prince Odame Mar 25 '19 at 06:03
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    Yeup, not abandoned. See also this post: https://github.com/noirbizarre/flask-restplus/issues/612: "Flask-restplus future organization and roadmap". – roipoussiere Mar 27 '19 at 14:59
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    old news, the project is actively maintained as of today. The last commit was 3 days ago https://github.com/noirbizarre/flask-restplus/commits/master :) – Zephro Nov 02 '19 at 14:19
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    Update: RESTPlus has been forked to RESTX (adding some more confusion to the mix..) https://github.com/noirbizarre/flask-restplus/pull/769 – Vano Jan 21 '20 at 15:01
  • I haven't compared these myself, but if the only noticeable trick being added by `ReSTplus` is `Swagger documentation` (as noted by others), as well as the on-again / off-again / fork-again instability seen (again, as noted by others), why risk using it? Don't we have enough technology to read, learn and keep track of in this short life? Just stick with `Flask-ReSTful` and make it work for you like commenter @roipoussiere suggested. :) – NYCeyes Mar 03 '20 at 22:06
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    There is now also [Flask-RESTX](https://flask-restx.readthedocs.io/en/stable/) which is a fork of Flask-RESTPlus that is maintained, as a better option. – LockieR May 07 '20 at 23:13