# Express.js

19 Hacker News commenters recommended Express.js and 13 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 11 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Minimal Node.js web framework people use for servers and APIs, valued for stability and simplicity; critics cite convoluted internals, missing features and slower alternatives like Hono.

## Why people recommend it

- Stable and reliable for years (3 comments): "I've used express for the server and winston for logging for years and years now and they've very stable at this point." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49713232)) "If Express is working well (and it should be, it's great)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49219044)) "solves a problem reliably" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47872146))
- Minimal stack with few modules (3 comments): "keep modules to a minimum (ie. node express, ejs and pg, nothing else) and you will see a huuuuge difference" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49396446)) "I only install express, ejs and pg, ready to rock" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49833585)) "using only node, express, postgres and sublime" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46147315))
- Good developer experience and readable code (2 comments): "I love the developer experience of frameworks like Express or Fiber" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47297071)) "easy to read, easy to make cosmetic changes when needed" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48274338))
- Works smoothly in Node backends (2 comments): "the same thing with an Express/Node backend works no trouble" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45853103)) "Express, Lodash, jQuery, require still works." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49295709))

## What people warn about

- Slower than newer alternatives (2 comments): "newer alternatives that outperform it on Node" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47872526)) "Hono is much faster than Express" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45801403))
- Convoluted internals and inconsistent patterns (2 comments): "Just slow and convoluted internals due to the accumulation of cruft over time" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47872211)) "It robs us all of efficiency from the lack of common language and pattern." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47575358))
- Hits limits and lacks built-in features (2 comments): "It's really, really easy to hit the limits of an express app and for those limits to be in your app code." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47455347)) "I want express to do this natively." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46290426))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Ruby on Rails](https://hackerapproved.com/p/ruby-on-rails.md): 337 recommend
- [Django](https://hackerapproved.com/p/django.md): 277 recommend
- [Next.js](https://hackerapproved.com/p/next-js.md): 127 recommend
- [Phoenix Framework](https://hackerapproved.com/p/phoenix.md): 85 recommend
- [Laravel](https://hackerapproved.com/p/laravel.md): 71 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Express.js", https://hackerapproved.com/p/express/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).