Express is a fast, unopinionated, and minimalist web framework for Node.js. It provides a robust set of features for building web applications and APIs, including routing, middleware support, template engines, and error handling. Express is known for its simplicity and flexibility, allowing developers to create scalable and efficient server-side applications with ease.
Alternatives:
koa-+
fastify-+
hapi-+
restify-+
sails-+
polka-+
micro-+
feathers-+
nestjs-+
adonisjs-+
Tags: node.jsweb frameworkroutingmiddlewareAPI
fastify
v4.28.1(28 days ago)
Fastify is a fast and low overhead web framework for Node.js, focused on providing high performance and developer productivity. It is built with a plugin architecture that allows developers to add functionality as needed, keeping the core framework lightweight. Fastify boasts impressive speed benchmarks and is known for its efficient request processing and low memory consumption.
Express has been the dominant choice for building web applications in the Node.js ecosystem for a long time and has a large and established community. Fastify, on the other hand, is a relatively newer framework but has gained popularity rapidly due to its focus on performance. It has a smaller but growing community.
Performance
Fastify is known for its excellent performance due to its emphasis on being lightweight and highly efficient. It achieves this through various optimizations, such as using schema-based request validation and supporting asynchronous request handlers. Express is also performant but is generally considered to be slightly slower than Fastify.
Middleware and Ecosystem
Express has a vast ecosystem of third-party middleware and plugins available, making it extremely flexible and suitable for a wide range of use cases. Fastify, being a newer framework, has a smaller ecosystem but is still growing. It has its own ecosystem of plugins and middleware, and is also compatible with some Express middleware.
Developer Experience
Express has been a popular choice among developers for a long time and has extensive community support and documentation. It has a simple and intuitive API, making it easy to get started with. Fastify also has good documentation and an easy-to-use API, providing a pleasant developer experience.
Scalability
Both Express and Fastify are capable of handling large-scale applications. However, Fastify's focus on performance and its ability to handle a high number of concurrent requests can make it a better choice for highly scalable applications where performance is a critical factor.
Compatibility with Existing Codebases
Express has been around for a long time and is widely used, making it compatible with many existing codebases. Fastify, being a newer framework, might require some adjustments and code changes when migrating from Express. However, Fastify does provide compatibility with Express middleware, which can ease the transition.
