10 Common Django Mistakes That Can Ruin Your App (And How to Fix Them!)

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Django is a powerful and developer-friendly framework, but even experienced developers can make critical mistakes that impact performance, security, and maintainability. If you don’t follow best practices, you could end up with slow queries, security vulnerabilities, and difficult-to-maintain code.

In this article, we’ll cover 10 common Django mistakes that can ruin your app – and how to fix them!

1. Not Using Django’s Built-in Security Features

Django comes with built-in security protections, but many developers either disable them or forget to use them.

🚨 Common Mistakes:

❌ Disabling CSRF protection

CSRF_COOKIE_SECURE = False

❌ Not using Django’s authentication system (User.objects.create(…) instead of User.objects.create_user(…)).

❌ Storing passwords in plain text.

✅ Fix:

• Always enable CSRF protection ({% csrf_token %} in forms).

• Use User.objects.create_user(username, password) to hash passwords properly.

• Set SECURE settings in settings.py:

CSRF_COOKIE_SECURE =…