Faasta has emerged as a new Function-as-a-Service (FaaS) platform that leverages WebAssembly to achieve remarkable performance metrics, including cold start times under 1ms and minimal memory overhead. The platform is generating interest in the developer community for its standards-based approach and self-hosting capabilities, addressing a gap in the current serverless landscape.
WebAssembly and WASI P2 Standards Drive Performance
Faasta distinguishes itself by directly running WebAssembly modules using the WASI P2 standard and WASIHTTP for request handling. This approach differs significantly from other platforms that might run WebAssembly indirectly. Community discussions highlight how this direct execution model provides performance advantages over alternatives like Bun, which runs WebAssembly through JavaScript.
As someone who uses bun, deno & cloudflare workers, I want to say that at least in bun, the wasm part actually happens itself in js and bun just runs that js using javascriptcore which is definitely not optimized as it is stated by Bun docs themselves.
This architectural choice enables Faasta to achieve its impressive performance metrics while maintaining a lightweight footprint. The platform's use of Wasmtime for efficient WebAssembly execution further enhances its speed capabilities.
Key Features of Faasta
- WebAssembly modules using WASI P2 standard
- WASIHTTP for high-performance HTTP handling
- Secure isolation between functions
- Ultra-fast cold starts (<1ms)
- Self-hostable with simple setup
- Standards-compliant (WASI P2 and WASIHTTP)
- Powered by Wasmtime
- Free hosted instance available at faasta.xyz
Cloud Provider Adoption of WebAssembly Standards
An interesting thread in the community discussions centers around major cloud providers' adoption of WebAssembly for serverless computing. While some users expressed surprise that cloud giants haven't fully embraced WASM and WASI for serverless functions, others pointed out that progress is happening, albeit gradually.
Microsoft Azure has shipped Spin as an experimental offering and is investing in Wasmtime and WASI development. Fastly has also developed a WASM-powered Compute platform. Cloudflare Workers supports both JavaScript and WebAssembly execution, though with certain size limitations.
The consensus appears to be that wider cloud provider adoption may accelerate once the WASI standard reaches version 1.0, which could be years away. However, the current WASI P2 specification that Faasta implements is stable enough for building production applications today.
Comparison with Other Platforms
| Platform | WebAssembly Approach | Standards Compliance |
|---|---|---|
| Faasta | Direct execution | WASI P2, WASIHTTP |
| Bun | JS-mediated execution | Limited WASI support |
| Cloudflare Workers | Supports WASM | Size limitations (1-2MB) |
| Azure (experimental) | Spin implementation | WASI support |
| Fastly Compute | WASM-powered | Custom implementation |
Self-Hosting Capabilities Address Vendor Lock-In Concerns
One of Faasta's most discussed features is its self-hosting capability. The platform is designed as a single static binary with minimal configuration requirements, allowing developers to easily migrate between hosted and self-hosted environments without rewriting their applications.
This approach directly addresses a common concern with serverless platforms: vendor lock-in. If a hosting provider discontinues service, Faasta users can quickly transition to self-hosting or another provider, preserving their investment in application development.
The self-hosting capability also opens discussions about custom domain support and SSL certificate management. Currently, Faasta offers automatic wildcard SSL certificate generation for self-hosted deployments using Porkbun DNS, with plans to support multiple custom domain certificates on multi-tenant instances.
Open Source Strategy and Future Development
The community has shown interest in Faasta's licensing approach. The developer has indicated plans to make Faasta an open source project, with the CLI and interface components already available under MIT licenses. A copyleft license for the server component or a dual licensing strategy is being considered.
Community feedback is actively shaping Faasta's development roadmap, with users requesting features like path prefix and subdomain support for function URLs, more examples, and enhanced documentation. The project is currently experimental, with the developer warning that breaking changes may interrupt service on the faasta.xyz hosted instance.
As WebAssembly standards continue to mature, Faasta represents an early implementation of what could become a more common approach to serverless computing—one that combines the performance and security benefits of WebAssembly with the flexibility of self-hosting options.
Reference: Faasta: a Faster FaaS Platform