Francesco Durante (31 March 1684 – 30 September 1755) was an Italian composer of the Neapolitan School.

He is also supposed to have studied under Bernardo Pasquini and Giuseppe Ottavio Pitoni in Rome, but there is no documentary evidence.

As a teacher, he insisted on the unreasoning observance of rules, differing thus from Scarlatti, who treated all his pupils as individuals.

The imperial library of Vienna also preserves a valuable collection of Durante's manuscripts.

Nevertheless, Hasse protested against Durante's being described as the greatest harmonist of Italy, a title which he ascribed to Alessandro Scarlatti.