Fiber is a Go web framework built on top of fasthttp and designed to feel familiar to developers coming from Express.js in Node.js. It prioritizes raw HTTP performance and a low learning curve for JavaScript developers making the switch to Go. Encore.go takes a fundamentally different approach, treating infrastructure as part of the application code and providing a Rust-based runtime for distributed systems.

Both are Go frameworks, but they solve different problems. Fiber is focused on fast HTTP handling for individual services, while Encore is focused on the full lifecycle of backend systems: databases, Pub/Sub, service communication, observability, and cloud deployment. This article compares them with real code so you can decide which fits your project.

Quick Comparison

The Basics: Defining an API

Let's start with a simple REST endpoint that returns a greeting.

Fiber

package main

import (
    "github.com/gofiber/fiber/v2"
)

type Response struct {
    Message string `json:"message"`
}

func main() {
    app := fiber.New()

    app.Get("/hello/:name", func(c *fiber.Ctx) error {
        name := c.Params("name")
        return c.JSON(Response{
            Message: "Hello, " + name + "!",
        })
    })

    app.Listen(":3000")
}

Fiber's API will feel immediately familiar if you've used Express. You create an app, define routes with HTTP methods, and use the context object to read parameters and send responses. The callback-style handler with c *fiber.Ctx mirrors Express's (req, res) pattern.

Encore.go

package hello

import "context"

type Response struct {
    Message string `json:"message"`
}

//encore:api public method=GET path=/hello/:name
func Hello(ctx context.Context, name string) (*Response, error) {
    return &Response{Message: "Hello, " + name + "!"}, nil
}

Encore uses a comment annotation to mark a regular Go function as an API endpoint. Path parameters are extracted into typed function arguments automatically. There's no app setup, no router configuration, and no manual JSON serialization. Encore's tooling handles all of that at compile time.

Verdict: Fiber is more familiar to Express developers. Encore is more concise and handles routing, serialization, and validation without boilerplate. If you're coming from Node.js, Fiber's API will feel like home. If you want less ceremony, Encore removes most of the wiring code.

Performance

Performance is one of Fiber's primary selling points, so it's worth looking at this carefully.

Fiber

Fiber is built on fasthttp, which takes a different approach from Go's standard net/http package. Instead of allocating a new goroutine and request object for every incoming request, fasthttp reuses objects from a pool, reducing garbage collection pressure. For pure HTTP benchmarks, this translates to significantly higher throughput and lower latency than net/http-based frameworks.

In practice, Fiber regularly tops Go framework benchmarks for JSON serialization, plaintext responses, and simple database queries. If your workload is a high-throughput API proxy, a rate limiter sitting in front of other services, or any scenario where raw request handling speed dominates, Fiber's architecture pays off.

The tradeoff is real though. Because fasthttp pools and reuses request and response objects, you can't hold references to c.Body() or c.Params() after the handler returns without copying them. This is a subtle but important constraint that can introduce bugs if you're not careful.

Encore.go

Encore takes a different approach to performance. Rather than optimizing HTTP parsing at the library level, Encore uses a Rust-based runtime that handles networking, and compile-time code generation that eliminates reflection and unnecessary allocations in request handling. The Go code you write gets analyzed at build time, and Encore generates optimized request decoding, validation, and response encoding specific to your types.

This means Encore's performance comes from a different place: you won't match Fiber's raw fasthttp throughput on a microbenchmark of JSON-in, JSON-out, but real applications spend most of their time in database queries, service calls, and business logic. Encore optimizes the full request lifecycle, including infrastructure access, rather than just the HTTP layer.

Verdict: Fiber has the edge for raw HTTP throughput thanks to fasthttp. Encore optimizes differently, focusing on the full request lifecycle with compile-time code generation and a Rust runtime. For microbenchmarks, Fiber wins. For real-world applications with databases and service calls, the difference narrows significantly and Encore's infrastructure optimizations can matter more than HTTP parsing speed.

Database Integration

Fiber

Fiber doesn't include database support. You bring your own driver or ORM, which is standard for most Go web frameworks.

package main

import (
    "database/sql"
    "github.com/gofiber/fiber/v2"
    _ "github.com/lib/pq"
)

type User struct {
    ID   int    `json:"id"`
    Name string `json:"name"`
}

var db *sql.DB

func main() {
    var err error
    db, err = sql.Open("postgres", "postgres://user:pass@localhost/mydb?sslmode=disable")
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }

    app := fiber.New()

    app.Get("/users/:id", func(c *fiber.Ctx) error {
        id := c.Params("id")
        var user User
        err := db.QueryRow("SELECT id, name FROM users WHERE id = $1", id).Scan(&user.ID, &user.Name)
        if err != nil {
            return c.Status(fiber.StatusNotFound).JSON(fiber.Map{"error": "User not found"})
        }
        return c.JSON(user)
    })

    app.Listen(":3000")
}

You can also use GORM, sqlx, or any other Go database library. The setup is up to you: connection strings, pooling configuration, local database provisioning, and migration tooling are all your responsibility.

Encore.go

package user

import (
    "context"
    "encore.dev/storage/sqldb"
)

type User struct {
    ID   int    `json:"id"`
    Name string `json:"name"`
}

var db = sqldb.NewDatabase("users", sqldb.DatabaseConfig{
    Migrations: "./migrations",
})

//encore:api public method=GET path=/users/:id
func Get(ctx context.Context, id int) (*User, error) {
    var user User
    err := db.QueryRow(ctx, `
        SELECT id, name FROM users WHERE id = $1
    `, id).Scan(&user.ID, &user.Name)
    return &user, err
}

When you run encore run, Encore provisions a local PostgreSQL database, runs your migrations, and manages the connection pool. You don't set up Docker, configure connection strings, or manage credentials. In production with Encore Cloud, deploying provisions RDS or Cloud SQL in your own AWS or GCP account.

Encore also provides built-in primitives for Pub/Sub, cron jobs, caching, and object storage:

import (
    "encore.dev/pubsub"
    "encore.dev/cron"
    "encore.dev/storage/objects"
)

type UserCreatedEvent struct {
    UserID int
}

var UserCreated = pubsub.NewTopic[*UserCreatedEvent]("user-created", pubsub.TopicConfig{
    DeliveryGuarantee: pubsub.AtLeastOnce,
})

var _ = cron.NewJob("daily-cleanup", cron.JobConfig{
    Title:    "Daily cleanup",
    Every:    24 * cron.Hour,
    Endpoint: Cleanup,
})

var Uploads = objects.NewBucket("uploads", objects.BucketConfig{})

Verdict: Fiber gives you full control over your database setup and lets you choose any ORM or driver. Encore automates provisioning and manages the full lifecycle, which saves real time especially during local development and when deploying to production. If you already have a database setup you're happy with, Fiber's flexibility is fine. If you want to skip the infrastructure plumbing, Encore handles it for you.

Middleware and Authentication

Fiber

Fiber's middleware system closely mirrors Express. You can apply middleware globally, to route groups, or to individual routes.

package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "strings"
    "time"

    "github.com/gofiber/fiber/v2"
    "github.com/gofiber/fiber/v2/middleware/cors"
    "github.com/gofiber/fiber/v2/middleware/logger"
    jwtware "github.com/gofiber/contrib/jwt"
    "github.com/golang-jwt/jwt/v5"
)

func main() {
    app := fiber.New()

    // Built-in middleware
    app.Use(logger.New())
    app.Use(cors.New())

    // JWT authentication for /api routes
    api := app.Group("/api")
    api.Use(jwtware.New(jwtware.Config{
        SigningKey: jwtware.SigningKey{Key: []byte("secret")},
    }))

    api.Get("/profile", func(c *fiber.Ctx) error {
        token := c.Locals("user").(*jwt.Token)
        claims := token.Claims.(jwt.MapClaims)
        return c.JSON(fiber.Map{
            "userId": claims["sub"],
        })
    })

    // Custom middleware
    app.Use(func(c *fiber.Ctx) error {
        start := time.Now()
        err := c.Next()
        fmt.Printf("%s %s - %v\n", c.Method(), c.Path(), time.Since(start))
        return err
    })

    app.Listen(":3000")
}

Fiber includes middleware for logging, CORS, rate limiting, compression, caching, and more. The c.Next() pattern is the same as Express, which makes it easy to compose middleware chains. Third-party middleware is available for JWT, sessions, and other common needs.

One thing to be aware of: because Fiber uses fasthttp rather than net/http, standard Go HTTP middleware (anything that wraps http.Handler) won't work directly. You need Fiber-specific middleware or adapters.

Encore.go

Encore separates general-purpose middleware from authentication, treating auth as a first-class concept.

package auth

import (
    "context"
    "encore.dev/beta/auth"
)

type AuthData struct {
    UserID string
}

type AuthParams struct {
    Authorization string `header:"Authorization"`
}

//encore:authhandler
func Authenticate(ctx context.Context, p *AuthParams) (auth.UID, *AuthData, error) {
    token := strings.TrimPrefix(p.Authorization, "Bearer ")
    userID, err := validateToken(ctx, token)
    if err != nil {
        return "", nil, err
    }
    return auth.UID(userID), &AuthData{UserID: userID}, nil
}

Then endpoints opt into authentication:

package profile

import (
    "context"
    "encore.dev/beta/auth"
)

//encore:api auth method=GET path=/profile
func GetProfile(ctx context.Context) (*Profile, error) {
    userData := auth.Data().(*AuthData)
    // userData.UserID is available and type-safe
    return &Profile{UserID: userData.UserID}, nil
}

The auth handler runs automatically for any endpoint marked with auth. Auth data propagates through service-to-service calls, so if service A calls service B, the auth context is available in both without passing tokens manually.

For general middleware, Encore supports middleware functions that run before and after request handling, similar to other frameworks. Since Encore is net/http compatible, standard Go middleware libraries work without modification.

Verdict: Fiber's middleware feels natural to Express developers and has a good selection of built-in options. The fasthttp dependency means standard Go middleware won't work, which limits the ecosystem somewhat. Encore's auth handler is more structured, with type-safe auth data that propagates across services automatically. For single-service APIs, Fiber's middleware is convenient. For multi-service systems, Encore's auth propagation removes a significant source of complexity.

Observability

Fiber

Fiber includes a basic logger middleware, but production observability requires additional setup.

package main

import (
    "github.com/gofiber/fiber/v2"
    "github.com/gofiber/fiber/v2/middleware/logger"
    "github.com/gofiber/fiber/v2/middleware/monitor"
)

func main() {
    app := fiber.New()

    // Request logging
    app.Use(logger.New())

    // Basic metrics dashboard
    app.Get("/metrics", monitor.New())

    app.Listen(":3000")
}

For distributed tracing, you'd integrate OpenTelemetry or a vendor-specific SDK. This means configuring exporters, instrumenting database calls, and correlating traces across services manually. The monitor middleware provides a simple metrics page, but for production you'd want Prometheus, Grafana, or a managed observability platform.

Encore.go

package user

import (
    "context"
    "encore.dev/rlog"
)

//encore:api public method=GET path=/users/:id
func Get(ctx context.Context, id int) (*User, error) {
    rlog.Info("fetching user", "userId", id)
    // Database queries and service calls are traced automatically
    return getFromDB(ctx, id)
}

Every request is traced end-to-end without any configuration. Database queries, Pub/Sub operations, and service-to-service calls appear in traces automatically. The local development dashboard at localhost:9400 shows traces, logs, and API documentation in real time.

For production deployments with Encore Cloud, you get metrics, alerting, and integrations with Grafana and Datadog without writing any instrumentation code.

Verdict: Fiber gives you basic logging and a simple metrics page out of the box, but production observability is on you. Encore provides distributed tracing, structured logging, and metrics with zero configuration. If observability is important to your system, and for any production service it should be, Encore saves significant setup and maintenance effort.

Microservices and Service Communication

This is where Fiber and Encore diverge the most, because they were designed for different use cases.

Fiber

Fiber is designed for building individual HTTP services. When you need multiple services to communicate, you handle it manually.

// users-service/main.go
package main

import "github.com/gofiber/fiber/v2"

func main() {
    app := fiber.New()

    app.Get("/users/:id", func(c *fiber.Ctx) error {
        id := c.Params("id")
        return c.JSON(fiber.Map{"id": id, "name": "John"})
    })

    app.Listen(":3001")
}

// orders-service/main.go
package main

import (
    "encoding/json"
    "fmt"
    "net/http"
    "github.com/gofiber/fiber/v2"
)

func main() {
    app := fiber.New()

    app.Post("/orders", func(c *fiber.Ctx) error {
        var body struct {
            UserID string `json:"userId"`
        }
        if err := c.BodyParser(&body); err != nil {
            return err
        }

        // Manual HTTP call to users service
        resp, err := http.Get(fmt.Sprintf("http://localhost:3001/users/%s", body.UserID))
        if err != nil {
            return c.Status(500).JSON(fiber.Map{"error": "Failed to fetch user"})
        }
        defer resp.Body.Close()

        var user map[string]interface{}
        json.NewDecoder(resp.Body).Decode(&user)

        return c.JSON(fiber.Map{"orderId": 1, "user": user})
    })

    app.Listen(":3002")
}

You manage service URLs (often through environment variables), handle network errors, implement retries, and deal with serialization/deserialization between services. There's no type safety across service boundaries, so a change to one service's API can break callers silently.

Encore.go

// users/users.go
package users

import "context"

type User struct {
    ID   string `json:"id"`
    Name string `json:"name"`
}

//encore:api public method=GET path=/users/:id
func Get(ctx context.Context, id string) (*User, error) {
    return &User{ID: id, Name: "John"}, nil
}

// orders/orders.go
package orders

import (
    "context"
    "encore.app/users"
)

type Order struct {
    OrderID int        `json:"orderId"`
    User    *users.User `json:"user"`
}

type CreateOrderRequest struct {
    UserID string `json:"userId"`
}

//encore:api public method=POST path=/orders
func Create(ctx context.Context, req *CreateOrderRequest) (*Order, error) {
    // Type-safe function call, automatically traced
    user, err := users.Get(ctx, req.UserID)
    if err != nil {
        return nil, err
    }
    return &Order{OrderID: 1, User: user}, nil
}

Service calls look like regular Go function calls. Encore generates the client code at compile time, so if the users.Get function signature changes, the orders package won't compile. Service discovery is automatic, both locally and in production, so there are no URLs to configure.

Encore also provides a service catalog that visualizes your architecture and auto-generates API documentation from your code.

Verdict: Fiber is built for individual services, and when you need multiple services to talk to each other, the integration work is on you. Encore is built for exactly this scenario, with type-safe service calls, automatic service discovery, and distributed tracing across service boundaries. If your project is a single service, Fiber handles it well. If you're building a system with multiple services, Encore removes a substantial amount of complexity.

The fasthttp Question

This deserves its own section because it's the most consequential technical decision behind Fiber.

Fiber's use of fasthttp instead of net/http gives it strong benchmark numbers, but it comes with real tradeoffs:

• Standard Go HTTP middleware won't work. Anything built on http.Handler or http.HandlerFunc, which includes a large chunk of the Go ecosystem, needs a Fiber-specific adapter or a rewrite. Libraries like Alice, Gorilla handlers, and many OpenTelemetry integrations expect net/http types.

• Request/response objects are pooled and reused. You can't safely hold a reference to c.Body(), c.Params(), or other request data after the handler returns. You need to copy values explicitly with c.Body() returning []byte that gets reused. This is a common source of bugs for developers new to Fiber.

• HTTP/2 support is limited. fasthttp has experimental HTTP/2 support, but it's not as mature as net/http's implementation.

• Some Go libraries assume net/http. gRPC, the standard httptest package for testing, and various client libraries are built on net/http. Using them with Fiber requires workarounds.

None of these are dealbreakers for the right use case. If you're building a high-throughput API gateway or a single-purpose service where raw performance matters and you don't need the broader net/http ecosystem, the tradeoff makes sense.

Encore.go is built on net/http, so all standard Go middleware and libraries work without modification. The performance optimization happens at a different layer, through the Rust runtime and compile-time code generation, rather than by replacing the HTTP implementation.

AI Code Generation

Go has strong opinions about many things, but how you structure a backend isn't one of them. That's usually fine for developers, but AI agents are the inverse: good at filling in details once a structure exists, bad at deciding what that structure should be.

Fiber

When an AI agent writes code for a Fiber project, it has to make architectural decisions on every prompt: how to handle fasthttp's context pooling (remembering to copy values before the handler returns), whether to use c.BodyParser or manual parsing, which Fiber-specific middleware to apply, how to manage the incompatibility with net/http libraries. The output works, but it varies between prompts, and the agent spends most of its effort on plumbing rather than your actual business logic.

// An agent asked to "add an order creation endpoint" might generate:
// - A new route with BodyParser or a different parsing approach each time
// - Fiber-specific middleware instead of standard net/http middleware
// - Response handling via c.JSON, c.Status().JSON, or c.SendString inconsistently
// - References to c.Body() or c.Params() that aren't copied before the handler returns
// - A database connection pool initialized with a different pattern

Encore.go

With Encore, the project's API patterns, infrastructure declarations, and service structure are already defined. The agent reads the existing conventions and writes code that follows them. A prompt to "add an order creation endpoint" produces a function with an //encore:api annotation and a database call using the existing sqldb declaration, not a new architecture.

// The agent sees existing patterns and follows them:
//encore:api auth method=POST path=/orders
func Create(ctx context.Context, req *CreateOrderRequest) (*Order, error) {
    // Business logic only — the agent doesn't reinvent the structure
    var order Order
    err := db.QueryRow(ctx,
        "INSERT INTO orders (customer_id, total) VALUES ($1, $2) RETURNING id, customer_id, total",
        req.CustomerID, req.Total,
    ).Scan(&order.ID, &order.CustomerID, &order.Total)
    return &order, err
}

Encore also provides an MCP server and editor rules (encore llm-rules init) that give agents access to database schemas, distributed traces, and service architecture. This means agents can generate queries that match your actual tables, debug with real request data, and verify their own work. Read more in How AI Agents Want to Write Go.

Verdict: Fiber requires the agent to make architectural decisions on every prompt, including fasthttp-specific concerns like context pooling that are easy to get wrong. Encore gives agents conventions to follow and live system context through MCP, which leads to more consistent, deployable code.

When to Choose Fiber

Fiber is a good fit when:

• You're coming from Express.js or Node.js and want an API that feels familiar while getting Go's performance benefits
• Raw HTTP throughput is your priority and you need every microsecond of latency improvement on a single service
• You're building a single-service API that doesn't need databases, Pub/Sub, or service-to-service communication managed by the framework
• The fasthttp tradeoffs are acceptable for your project, meaning you don't depend on net/http middleware or libraries that assume standard HTTP types
• You want a lightweight framework with a gentle learning curve and don't need infrastructure automation

When to Choose Encore.go

Encore.go is a good fit when:

• You're building a distributed system with multiple services that need to communicate
• You want automatic infrastructure provisioning for databases, Pub/Sub, caching, and cron jobs during local development
• Built-in observability matters and you don't want to configure OpenTelemetry, Prometheus, and log aggregation manually
• You want type-safe service communication where changes to one service's API cause compile errors in callers rather than runtime failures
• net/http compatibility is important because you rely on standard Go middleware or libraries
• You want to deploy to your own cloud account with automatic infrastructure provisioning on AWS or GCP
• You're using AI coding agents and want them to generate backend code that includes infrastructure. Encore's declarative model gives agents enough context to produce deployable code, not just HTTP handlers.

Getting Started

Try both with a small project to see which tradeoffs matter for your situation:

• Fiber Getting Started
• Encore.go Quickstart
• Encore.go REST API Tutorial to build a complete application with a database

See also: Best Go Backend Frameworks for a broader comparison of the Go framework landscape.

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