# Moving from Django DRF to Ninja API / Pydantic

DevFeed: [Moving from Django DRF to Ninja API / Pydantic](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/moving-from-django-drf-to-ninja-api-pydantic-30798.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://devblog.kogan.com/blog/moving-from-django-drf-to-ninja-api-pydantic>)

Author: Michael Sidharta

Published: 2025-11-10T05:35:43Z

Content type: comparison

Language: en

Sources: [Kogan.com](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/kogan-com.md>)

Topics: [Django](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/django.md>), [Pydantic](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/pydantic.md>), [API](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/api.md>), [Python](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/python.md>), [Development](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/development.md>), [OpenAPI Specification](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/openapi.md>), [Swagger](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/swagger.md>)

Tags: [api-documentation](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/api-documentation.md>), [data-validation](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/data-validation.md>), [django](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/django.md>), [fastapi](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/fastapi.md>), [python](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/python.md>), [swagger](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/swagger.md>)

## AI overview

This article examines moving from Django REST Framework API patterns to Django Ninja API and Pydantic. It describes motivations including reducing boilerplate, improving performance for some use cases, using modern Python type hints and data validation, and enhancing developer experience. It also outlines Django Ninja's type-based validation, automatic OpenAPI documentation, performance focus, and simplified endpoint definitions.

## Source excerpt

As our project grows, we're always looking for ways to streamline development, improve performance, and enhance the developer experience. Recently, we've been exploring a shift from our traditional Django REST Framework (DRF) API patterns to a combination of Django Ninja API and Pydantic. This blog post will delve into our motivations for this change, the benefits we've observed, and some considerations for others contemplating a similar transition. Why Consider a Change from Django DRF? Django REST Framework has been a robust and widely adopted solution for building APIs with Django. It provides a comprehensive set of tools, including serializers, viewsets, and excellent browser-based API interfaces. However, as our needs evolved, we identified areas where a different approach could offer advantages: Boilerplate Code: While DRF offers powerful abstractions, creating serializers, views, and viewsets can sometimes lead to a significant amount of boilerplate code, especially for simpler APIs. Performance: For certain use cases, the overhead of DRF's serializer validation and rendering can impact performance, particularly in high-throughput scenarios. Modern Python Features: We were keen to leverage modern Python features like type hints and data validation more extensively, which are core to Pydantic. Developer Experience: A more concise and explicit way to define API endpoints and data structures could improve developer productivity and reduce potential errors. Introducing Django Ninja API and PydanticDjango Ninja API Django Ninja is a web framework for building APIs with Django and Python 3.6+ type hints. It's heavily inspired by FastAPI and offers a number of compelling features: Type Hinting for API Endpoints: You define your request and response models using Pydantic, and Ninja automatically validates and serializes the data based on these type hints. Automatic OpenAPI (Swagger) Documentation: Just like FastAPI, Ninja generates interactive API documentation out o