Python httpx vs requests vs aiohttp - key differences

Python is full of great HTTP client libraries but which one is best for web scraping?

By far the most popular choices are httpx, requests and aiohttp - so here are the key differences:

requests - is the oldest and most mature library. It's easy to learn as there are many resources but it doesn't support asyncio or http2
aiohttp - is asynchronous take on requests so it fully supports asyncio which can be a major speed boost for web scrapers. Aiohttp also offers a http server making it great for creating web scraping applications that can scrape data and deliver it.
httpx - is the new de facto standard when it comes to HTTP clients in Python. It offers vital HTTP2 support and is fully compatible with asyncio making it the best choice for web scraping.

For more on how to use HTTPX in web scraping see our hands-on introduction article