Hummingbird

Judgement

What it is

Framework or platform

What it does

A lightweight Swift web framework on SwiftNIO with a router, middleware and optional modules for authentication, WebSockets and databases.

Adopt it when

You want server-side Swift with fewer dependencies than Vapor, for example to share code with an iOS app.

Watch out

Server-side Swift has a small ecosystem and hiring pool compared with mainstream backend languages.

Ready for

Usable

Runs as

Library

Built with

Swift and SwiftNIO

How established

Established: started 5 years ago, latest release 2.28.1.

What the license allows

You can build it into a product you sell, as long as you keep its copyright notice.

Judged on 2026-11-06 from the project's README and GitHub data. The license and age lines are worked out directly.

Built from

Follow it down: Hummingbird → Swift → LLVM project → runs on a microchip

How compilers were built, back to punched paper tape

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