Express.js
Shares rank 18 of 63 web frameworks by recommenders
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.
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.
32 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 19
- criticize it
- 13
- approval share
- 59%
Recommended in 11 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 19 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 1.4 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 11 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Stable and reliable for years
“I've used express for the server and winston for logging for years and years now and they've very stable at this point.”
Comment from 15 Sep 2026 in “Java 27” “If Express is working well (and it should be, it's great)”
Comment from 8 Aug 2026 in “Show HN: Mirafold – Your Agent with Generative UI (Codex, Claude Code, Gemini)” “solves a problem reliably”
Comment from 23 Apr 2026 in “OpenAI's response to the Axios developer tool compromise” Minimal stack with few modules
“keep modules to a minimum (ie. node express, ejs and pg, nothing else) and you will see a huuuuge difference”
Comment from 22 Aug 2026 in “There's no reason for software to be slow anymore” “I only install express, ejs and pg, ready to rock”
Comment from 24 Sep 2026 in “Node.js built-ins that replaced NPM packages” “using only node, express, postgres and sublime”
Comment from 4 Dec 2025 in “Programming peaked” Good developer experience and readable code
“I love the developer experience of frameworks like Express or Fiber”
Comment from 8 Mar 2026 in “Zinc: An Express-style API framework for Go built on net/HTTP” “easy to read, easy to make cosmetic changes when needed”
Comment from 26 May 2026 in “Does Anybody Actually Like React?” Works smoothly in Node backends
“the same thing with an Express/Node backend works no trouble”
Comment from 8 Nov 2025 in “Becoming a compiler engineer” “Express, Lodash, jQuery, require still works.”
Comment from 14 Aug 2026 in “Choose Boring Technology (2015)”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Slower than newer alternatives
“newer alternatives that outperform it on Node”
Comment from 23 Apr 2026 in “OpenAI's response to the Axios developer tool compromise” “Hono is much faster than Express”
Comment from 3 Nov 2025 in “Why we migrated from Python to Node.js” Convoluted internals and inconsistent patterns
“Just slow and convoluted internals due to the accumulation of cruft over time”
Comment from 23 Apr 2026 in “OpenAI's response to the Axios developer tool compromise” “It robs us all of efficiency from the lack of common language and pattern.”
Comment from 30 Mar 2026 in “Spring Boot Done Right: Lessons from a 400-Module Codebase” Hits limits and lacks built-in features
“It's really, really easy to hit the limits of an express app and for those limits to be in your app code.”
Comment from 20 Mar 2026 in “Java Is Fast. Your Code Might Not Be” “I want express to do this natively.”
Comment from 16 Dec 2025 in “Upcoming Changes to Let's Encrypt Certificates”
Other web frameworks people recommend
The four most recommended other web frameworks, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ruby on Rails | 337 | 145 | 70% | 12 | 14 yrs38 owners | Approved |
| Django | 277 | 97 | 74% | 12 | 15 yrs38 owners | Approved |
| Next.js | 127 | 256 | 33% | 12 | 3 yrs6 owners | — |
| Phoenix Framework | 85 | 11 | 89% | 12 | 8 yrs7 owners | Approved |
| Express.jsThis page | 19 | 13 | 59% | 11 | — | — |
What people said
27 of the 35 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Imagine an Express server or Hono server”
“I only install express, ejs and pg, ready to rock”
“I've used express for the server and winston for logging for years and years now and they've very stable at this point.”
“keep modules to a minimum (ie. node express, ejs and pg, nothing else) and you will see a huuuuge difference”
“Express, Lodash, jQuery, require still works.”
“If Express is working well (and it should be, it's great)”
“where they had a very specific task to do and could isolate areas of behaviour”
“around how middleware is handled in express or other nodejs libraries, it's the reason why so so many of the vulnerabilities come from node based apps”
“Compiling express has been one of the hardest challenges for Perry”
“easy to read, easy to make cosmetic changes when needed”
“regardless of how bad the first solution was in the first place”
“newer alternatives that outperform it on Node”
“Just slow and convoluted internals due to the accumulation of cruft over time”
“solves a problem reliably”
“Axios, like Express, is something I'm shocked to see used in any modern codebase.”
“how often do you look into Express or Rails internals or any other?”
“It robs us all of efficiency from the lack of common language and pattern.”
“It's really, really easy to hit the limits of an express app and for those limits to be in your app code.”
“I love the developer experience of frameworks like Express or Fiber”
“all scored ~38% on security”
“I want express to do this natively.”
“REST is nice, same as express.js if you create non-production code”
“So why are Express contracts written in invisible ink?”
“using only node, express, postgres and sublime”
“the same thing with an Express/Node backend works no trouble”
“I've been a fan of Koa/Oak over Express for a very long time.”
“Hono is much faster than Express”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.