10 Best Free Golang Web Development Frameworks of 2021

The upsurge of the technology market has led to the introduction of the Golang ( Google’s Go Programming Language) that has turned to be sturdy and popular in recent times and a choice to write APIs as well as develop web services. By technicality, Golang is a programming language that is used for web app development. Developed by Google, this new programming language made a significant place among the app development services. It was mainly launched in the market to write APIs and access web services which make it a favorite of many developers for web app development services.

If we look at it closely, it can be made out that the current Go language is the successor of the programming languages C and C++. Golang is designed for concurrency, and its compatibility with almost all the applications has made it a go-to web framework for every web app development company. Before we dig into any further details, let's properly have a look at the working of Golang. 

What is Golang web development framework?

Golang is an open-source, compiled programming language that has ranked the utmost framework across all web programming languages. It has taken a significant jump to 55th position last year, attracting more professionals from various disciplines using it. Google’s Golang first appeared in 2010 and has proven its presence in the mobile app development community since the beginning. As a part of a survey, researchers have found that around 3595 respondents like to use Google’s best Golang web development framework to get their work done. Four years later, the numbers have changed but it has not affected the demands for any web development framework. The running native code makes it an easy framework to work with

This programming language also has the ability to perform code checking prior to the runtime.  It creates simple, dependable and proficient software. One of the features of golang is that it eliminates the amount of code typing while establishing a base for writing unique APIs without affecting its functionality. 

Here in this article, we will look into the top 10 best Golang web frameworks in 2021 and beyond. Before that let's get a better understanding of why one should use Golang for their next project and what are the critical areas one needs to take into consideration before starting to work on it.

Best Practices: Why use Golang for your project?

Having the knowledge and knowing the features about the language takes a huge amount of time in coding a debugging production-level program. Golang frameworks that are often used provide additional functionalities and services, can be used by other developers to add similar functionalities in their software instead of writing the full-fledged software by themselves. Let's have a look at the pros and cons of golang web development frameworks.

Pros

Speed and Efficiency: 

Go is an extremely quick language. Compiled to Machine Code, Golang later for the dialects that have virtual runtime and are deciphered.

Simple to Learn: 

The sentence structure of Golang is quite little and simple to learn as opposed to other programming dialects. You don't have to contribute a ton of time to discover and become familiar with the things. Non-Go developers can without much of a stretch comprehend the way it works.

Interface Types: 

The stage has an interface that can be fulfilled by any struct by implementing its strategies. It permits developers to decouple the conditions in their code. Go developers can compose the code with more useful styles.

Static Typing: 

It has structs and primitive types that permit developers to distinguish bugs without any problem. It has in-fabricated guides and records that can be utilized by developers while incorporating the web application.

Garbage collection:

Memory management in Go was deliberately made simpler than in C and C++. Powerfully designated objects are garbage collected. Go makes utilizing pointers a lot more secure in light of the fact that it doesn't permit pointer arithmetic. It additionally gives you the alternative of using value types.

Cons

Generics: 

Golang needs generics. Besides, developers can't reuse the code that in the end sets aside a ton of effort to compose new code for a similar capacity. Another significant downside of the stage is the usefulness that designers composed for one kind would not be usable again for the assortment of another sort.

Zero Community Support: 

The Golang people group doesn't offer capable help to the developers’ interests or inquiries. Neither they react to their issues nor offer help.

Poor Library Support

Library support for Go is patchy. The API integrates with Contentful, which does not have an officially supported Go SDK. This means that tons of codes are to be written and it has to rely on a third-party Elasticsearch library. The Go SDKs don't get that much importance as their Java, Ruby, or JavaScript counterparts.

Now, let's look at the top 10 best Golang web development frameworks in 2021 that you can utilize to construct your website or web portal.

10 Best Golang Web Development Frameworks in 2021

Gin Web Framework

Gin is an HTTP web framework that is mostly used for building a REST API to develop a single page application using a frontend framework. It is written in Golang and uses the HTTP routers for handling the Golang traffic. Its rich documentation is available on GitHub which makes it ideal for beginners. Its essential libraries and features make it one of the most suitable Golang web frameworks for developing high-performance REST APIs. Gin is one of the most popular golang web frameworks that is known for its minimalist framework and performance.

It is designed with Martini, another golang web development framework, which is why it is considered as a minimalistic framework. These two golang web frameworks have the same APIs, however, the API of gin is 40 times faster. Gin has a huge community of users, making extensive well-tested middlewares which help to work with gin a lot easier and reliable. The compact framework with required libraries and features makes it easy for beginners to start working with Golang.

To install Gin package, you need to install Go and set your Go workspace first.

$ go get -u github.com/gin-gonic/gin
#Import it in your code:

import "github.com/gin-gonic/gin"
# Import net/http. This is required for example if using constants such as http.StatusOK.

import "net/http"

Quick Start

package main
import "github.com/gin-gonic/gin"
func main() {
	r := gin.Default()
	r.GET("/ping", func(c *gin.Context) {
		c.JSON(200, gin.H{
			"message": "pong",
		})
	})
	r.Run() // listen and serve on 0.0.0.0:8080 (for windows "localhost:8080")
}

Advantages:

• Used for developing high performing REST APIs

• Comfortable and user-friendly.

• Simple to learn, great for beginners.

• Easily manageable when it comes to tracking issues or debugging.

• Precise and compact framework with exact requirements and libraries.

Disadvantages:

• Not suitable for developing large backend applications. 

Beego - Simple & Powerful Go App framework

Beego is an open-source, high-performance HTTP framework used to rapidly develop REST APIs, web applications, and backend services in Golang. It has integrated Go specific features for development such as interfaces and struct embedding. It is almost on the same lines with the Django web framework in Python. It is a full-fledged MVC framework, with RESTful support, that helps to build your apps quickly with features such as code hot compile, automated testing, and automated packaging and deploying.  Its intelligent routing and managing enable to monitor your QPS, memory and CPU usages, and goroutine status which provides you with full control of your online applications. Beegos own libraries and built-in tools help to find code changes, named as “Bee Tool”.

With Beego you will have powerful foundations for any type of application. It consists of in-built modules that include logging, configuration parsing, performance supervising, context handling, ORM supporting, session control, caching and requests simulating. The ORM support is integrated with the core structure of the framework and helps to organize the application’s database along with session handling tools and logging systems. It uses the command-line tools in a similar way Django uses it. 

#Download and install
go get github.com/astaxie/beego

#create file 
package main
import "github.com/astaxie/beego"
func main() {
    beego.Run()
}

Build and Rungo build file
./hello

Advantages:

• Cache handlers and libraries make it easy to operate HTTP elements.

• Beego has it’s own ORM.

• Has the same command line as Django in Python. 

• Site documentation makes it easier to learn

• API doc generator and the templating engine make it a suitable framework for larger applications.

Disadvantages:

• High functionality and extensive features

• Complex core makes it less suitable for beginners. 

Echo - High performance, minimalist Go web framework

Echo is an open-source, high-performance, minimalist, extensible Golang web framework that is used for developing rich web applications. It is used to build robust and scalable RESTful API, that are easily organized into groups. The highly optimized HTTP router has zero dynamic memory allocation which helps in smartly prioritizing routes. The TLS certificate from Let’s Encrypt provides HTTP/2 support and is automatically installed. This improves the speed of the framework and provides a better user experience. The built-in middlewares help developers define their own set of root, group, and route levels.

Echo supports data binding for HTTP request payload, which includes JSON, XML, or form-data.  The API sends a variety of HTTP responses, like JSON, XML, Attachment, Inline, HTML, File, Stream or Blob for data rendering. The Easily extendable API supports in Customizing central HTTP error handling.

#Download and install
$ go get -u github.com/labstack/echo/...

Create server.go

package main
import ( "net/http"
 "github.com/labstack/echo/v4")
func main() { e := echo.New() e.GET("/", func(c echo.Context) error {  return c.String(http.StatusOK, "Hello, World!") }) e.Logger.Fatal(e.Start(":1323"))}

Advantages:

• Builds scalable RESTful API, that are easily organized into groups.

• The highly optimized HTTP router supports in smartly prioritizing routes.

• Automatically installed TLS certificates from ‘Let's Encrypt’.

Disadvantages:

• Maintained by a single developer.

• Infrequent code updates.

Kit Go- A standard library for microservices

Kit is a modular and lightweight front-end framework used for developing fast and powerful web interfaces. It provides robust, reliable, and maintainable microservices in Golang web development framework. It is a set of packages that provide a comprehensive, robust,  and trustable method of building microservices for associations of any size. Go is an extraordinary universally useful language, yet microservices require a specific measure of specialized help.

The framework offers Remote Procedure Call (RPC) security, system observability, and infrastructure integration. It is made out of numerous co-related bundles, that together structure an opinionated system for building huge Service-Oriented Architectures (SOAs) and makes Golang a top-notch language for composing microservices in any organization. It was intended for interoperability and the designers are allowed to pick the databases, components, segments, stage, and architecture that works best for them.

Advantages:

• Develops powerful web interfaces.

• Lightweight framework is easy to deal with. 

Disadvantages: 

• The heavy use of interfaces leads to high addition of the API to the service.

Goji - A minimalistic and flexible request multiplexer for Go

Goji is another golang web development framework that is quick, light-weight and simple to use. Its capacity to compose is talked about among the designers. The somewhat traditional framework is compatible with HTTP and Einhorn. The features of Goji include re-configurable middleware stack, shutdown, and URL pattern. Despite having a traditional outlook, Goji is used in production and has already served numerous requests across different enterprises. Its lightweight structure and fast coding make the web framework a preferred choice by a maximum number of mobile app development companies and organizations working on web projects for their web app development services.

#Install Goji by running the following in your terminal:
$go get goji.io 

package main
import (
	"fmt"
	"net/http"
	"goji.io"
	"goji.io/pat"
)
func hello(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
	name := pat.Param(r, "name")
	fmt.Fprintf(w, "Hello, %s!", name)
}
func main() {
	mux := goji.NewMux()
	mux.HandleFunc(pat.Get("/hello/:name"), hello)
	http.ListenAndServe("localhost:8000", mux)
}

Advantages:

• Light-weight and simple to use.

• Web socket assistance to the developers for support.

• Goji has a minimalistic HTTP request multiplexer. 

Disadvantages:

• Not suitable for large enterprise projects.

Gocraft

Gocraft is one of the strongest golang web development frameworks for its quick routing process. It is a strong yet conservative framework that offers a quick and scalable routing facility which is added by it to the net package or HTTP from the standard library.

Gocraft’s code cannot be retyped statically by anyone else as it is a Go mux custom middleware package. However, developers have the liberty to add extra functions to it. One can write their own or add extra functionality with the inbuilt middleware. Gocraft is an ideal choice for developers for whom the performance of API is everything.

Advantages:

• Easier to write backend web apps

• It can cast capabilities for typing codes.

• Extra functionalities can be added by  developers with built-in middleware

• Highest API performance for smooth functioning.

Martini

Martini is the third lightweight Golang web development framework and it’s a very powerful, efficient, and lean language, powerfully packed for quickly writing modular web applications/services in Golang. Developers prefer it after Gin. Being a lightweight framework, powerful features that a developer would need. This basic framework makes basic dealings like routing, exception dealing, etc. It is more like an ecosystem than a framework which makes it easy to integrate third-party support all the while by being light. This golang web development framework is flexible enough to extend the capabilities apart from managing loads of functions with minimal overhead.

Offering So much, Martini is the most valued Golang web application system among the network. In spite of the fact that the network is still somewhat small however the individuals there are dynamic and have in excess of 20 modules on its side. Martini has plenty of good features that make it remain in the group, for example, a non-intrusive design that makes it quick and easy to use

Advantages:

• Helps developers to write modular web applications and other services in Golang.

• Non-intrusive design that makes it quick and easy to use

• Uses reflection to insert data into handler functions dynamically and adds new services to it.

• Performs exception handling for the AngularJS applications in the HTML5 mode.

Disadvantages:

• Small community for a relatively old framework.

Gorilla

Gorilla is one of the biggest Golang web development frameworks as it justifies its names in the mobile app development community. It is widely popular for its components that can be used against each other as many times as you want to, and can be taken directly with HTTP or Net library. This is the reason it is the most prolonged web framework, catering flawlessly to the net/HTTP library’s reusable elements and components. The framework has made its space among developed and developing countries. Robust web sockets are used that may or may not require a third-party service, depending upon the developer’s requirement.

Advantages:

• Gets support from native support to WebSockets for going beyond placed requests.

• Includes new extensions, drop packages and modules to never have to compromise with functionality.

• Features scalability through modularity.

• The most exceptional web framework for Golang flawlessly catering to the library's reusable elements and components.

Mango

Mango is another lightweight, modular web-application framework for Golang. The credit of this lightweight framework goes to Paul Bellamy and is inspired by web server interfaces like Rack and PEP 333. Mango has a lot of libraries to choose from when it comes to adding components to a web development project. The popularity of the framework is mostly because of its modularity. People use it despite not having community support for regular updates and maintenance. The aim of this framework is to build reusable modules of HTTP functionality by enforcing a simple and unified API for web frameworks, web apps, middleware.

Advantages: 

• Approved and used by people for its modularity.

• Allows app developers to select and add components to a web development project from a plethora of libraries.

• Keeps codes autonomous by carrying the list of middleware and apps.

Buffalo

Buffalo is considered a great golang web development framework to get started your project with. It is an integrated web development ecosystem that carries direct guidance.  Among other Golang Frameworks for Web Development, Buffalo can develop new web apps fast pretty easily.

It sets everything up from front-end to back-end web building when you are about to begin a new project. The Hot Reloading feature in Buffalo automatically leads your dev command to observe your .html and .go files for redeveloping and restarting the binary.

More than a framework it is a holistic web building ecosystem that helps you go directly for developing your app.

Advantages

• Easy and really fast for developing web apps.

• Caters to the needs of backend and frontend app development.

• Hot reloading features for redeveloping and restarting your binary.

Conclusion

These were a few significant-top 10 best Golang web development frameworks in 2021  for web developers with their set of functions and features to experiment in your upcoming projects. Consider the above points and understand your project’s needs first, before selecting the best one out of the list. Incorporate a Golang web development into your organization and participate in this competitive technology space.

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