Head-to-Head: Morgan vs Winston Analysis

morgan

v1.10.0(over 4 years ago)

This package was last published over a year ago. It may not be actively maintained.Types definitions are provided via a separate npm package: @types/morganNumber of direct dependencies: 5Monthly npm downloads

Morgan is a popular HTTP request logger middleware for Node.js. It provides a simple yet powerful way to log incoming HTTP requests, including details like request method, URL, status code, response time, and more. Morgan is highly customizable, allowing developers to choose the format and destination of the logs, making it suitable for various logging needs.

Alternatives:
winston+
bunyan+
pino+
log4js+
debug+
loglevel+
npmlog+
consola+
roarr+
bole+

Tags: node.jshttploggingmiddlewarerequest

winston

v3.15.0(10 days ago)

This package is actively maintained.Types definitions are bundled with the npm packageNumber of direct dependencies: 11Monthly npm downloads

Winston is a versatile and feature-rich logging library for Node.js applications. It provides a flexible and customizable logging system with support for multiple transports, log levels, and formatting options. Winston is widely used in production environments due to its robustness and scalability, allowing developers to log messages to various destinations like files, databases, and external services.

Alternatives:
pino+
bunyan+
log4js+
morgan+
winston-daily-rotate-file+
pino-pretty+
debug+
loglevel+
consola+
npmlog+

Tags: node.jsloggingtransportsscalabilitycustomization

Fight!

Popularity

Both Morgan and Winston are popular logging libraries in the Node.js ecosystem. However, Winston is generally more widely used and has a larger community following.

Features

Morgan is a middleware specifically designed for HTTP request logging in Express.js applications. It provides ready-to-use logging middleware with predefined log formats. On the other hand, Winston is a general-purpose logging library that can be used in any Node.js application. It offers more advanced features such as custom log formats, log levels, and the ability to log to different transports like console, file, database, etc.

Integration

Morgan is tightly integrated with Express.js and is commonly used for logging HTTP requests and responses in web applications built on Express. Winston, on the other hand, can be integrated with any Node.js framework or application and provides more flexibility to handle different types of log messages in various contexts.

Usability

Morgan is easy to use and requires minimal setup. It can be quickly added as middleware in an Express.js application without much configuration. Winston, on the other hand, offers more customization options and flexibility but may require more initial setup to configure loggers and transports.

Scalability

Both libraries can scale to handle large-scale applications. However, Winston provides features like log levels, transports, and the ability to write custom loggers, which make it more suitable for complex logging requirements in scalable applications.

Performance

In terms of performance, Morgan is usually faster as it focuses on logging HTTP requests and responses. Winston, being a more general-purpose logger, may have slightly more overhead due to its additional features and flexibility. However, the performance difference may not be significant in most scenarios.

Community and Support

Both Morgan and Winston have active communities and receive regular updates. However, Winston has a larger community and a more extensive ecosystem of plugins and integrations, which means there is more support and resources available for resolving issues and extending its functionality.