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ExpressJS VS Fastify

Compare ExpressJS VS Fastify and see what are their differences

ExpressJS logo ExpressJS

Sinatra inspired web development framework for node.js -- insanely fast, flexible, and simple

Fastify logo Fastify

Fastify is a low overhead web framework, for Node.js.
  • ExpressJS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-14
  • Fastify Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-03

ExpressJS features and specs

  • Fast Setup
    ExpressJS provides a minimal and flexible framework that allows rapid setup and development of web and mobile applications.
  • Middleware Support
    ExpressJS has a robust middleware system, allowing developers to add reusable functions to the request-handling pipeline.
  • Extensibility
    ExpressJS is highly extensible through third-party libraries and built-in functionality, catering to the needs of various applications.
  • Performance
    Due to its minimalist core, ExpressJS provides efficient performance and is capable of handling a high number of requests per second.
  • Community and Ecosystem
    A large and active community provides extensive documentation, support, and a wide array of open-source packages to extend functionality.
  • Flexibility
    Compared to full-stack frameworks, ExpressJS gives developers the freedom to structure their applications as they see fit.
  • Compatibility
    ExpressJS works seamlessly with various template engines, databases, and other frameworks, making it versatile for different project requirements.

Possible disadvantages of ExpressJS

  • Minimalist Core
    The minimalist nature of ExpressJS may require additional time and effort to integrate required plugins and libraries for specific features.
  • Learning Curve
    While ExpressJS is straightforward, mastering the middleware pattern and effective usage can have a learning curve for new developers.
  • Callback Hell
    Developers can encounter 'callback hell' due to nested callback functions, though this can be mitigated using Promises and async/await in modern JavaScript.
  • Lack of Convention
    Unlike opinionated frameworks, ExpressJS lacks conventions, which can lead to inconsistent code structure and maintenance challenges across different projects.
  • Security
    ExpressJS does not have built-in security features and relies on third-party solutions, requiring developers to be vigilant about applying best security practices.
  • Scalability
    While ExpressJS can handle high traffic, building and maintaining a highly scalable application might require significant additional effort, particularly in terms of codebase organization and resource management.

Fastify features and specs

  • Performance
    Fastify is known for its high performance, being capable of handling a large number of requests per second while maintaining low overhead, thanks to its efficient architecture.
  • Schema-based Validation
    Fastify employs JSON schema for validation and serialization, which ensures data integrity and reduces the boilerplate code required for validation.
  • Extensibility
    It offers a robust plugin architecture that allows developers to easily extend or modify functionalities, enhancing modularity and scalability.
  • Developer Experience
    Fastify provides a pleasant developer experience with excellent documentation, a simple API, and integrated TypeScript support, which helps in code maintainability and faster development.
  • Asynchronous Support
    Built on top of Node.js, Fastify fully supports asynchronous programming, making it simple to handle asynchronous tasks such as I/O operations.

Possible disadvantages of Fastify

  • Community Size
    While growing, Fastify's community is smaller compared to more established frameworks like Express, which may result in fewer third-party plugins or community support.
  • Learning Curve
    For developers familiar with other Node.js frameworks, Fastify's concepts and differences might present a learning curve, especially its use of schemas and its plugin architecture.
  • Overhead for Simple Applications
    For very simple APIs or applications that don't demand high performance, the additional features Fastify offers may be unnecessary and can add complexity.
  • Maturity of Ecosystem
    Despite its growing popularity, Fastify’s ecosystem and range of plugins might not yet cover all use cases, requiring developers to build custom solutions.

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Fastify videos

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Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to ExpressJS and Fastify)
JavaScript Framework
94 94%
6% 6
Web Frameworks
90 90%
10% 10
Developer Tools
91 91%
9% 9
Javascript UI Libraries
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare ExpressJS and Fastify

ExpressJS Reviews

Top JavaScript Frameworks in 2025
Express.JS is used to create Restful APIs, which is useful for accepting requests from the front end and sending the appropriate response. Express.JS supports Node.js, which is one of the best reasons developers choose to use it. Moreover, debugging becomes faster and helps in finding errors in less time.
Source: solguruz.com
The 20 Best Laravel Alternatives for Web Development
Express.js — or Express for the cool cats — is Node.js’s minimalist wingman. It’s the train tracks for your web app, setting the path, defining the stops, but letting you drive the engine.
Top 9 best Frameworks for web development
The best frameworks for web development include React, Angular, Vue.js, Django, Spring, Laravel, Ruby on Rails, Flask and Express.js. Each of these frameworks has its own advantages and distinctive features, so it is important to choose the framework that best suits the needs of your project.
Source: www.kiwop.com
9 Best JavaScript Frameworks to Use in 2023
Additionally, Express.js v4 now comes with built-in middleware for handling AJAX requests from the client side, making it even easier to get started without having to worry about 3rd party libraries. Express.js is a great tool for quickly building out web applications and APIs in Node.js.
Source: ninetailed.io
JavaScript: What Are The Most Used Frameworks For This Language?
Express.JS is a popular open-source web application framework for Node.JS, which is a server-side JavaScript runtime environment. Express.JS provides a simple, flexible and scalable way to build web applications and APIs using Node.JS. It is known for its minimalist and unimposing approach, which means it provides a basic set of features and tools but allows developers to...
Source: www.bocasay.com

Fastify Reviews

Forget Express.js — opt for these alternatives instead
This also means that we can rely on Fastify to respond with a sane error when parsing fails. For example, when the client sends invalid JSON to Fastify, the response will look something like this:

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, ExpressJS seems to be a lot more popular than Fastify. While we know about 466 links to ExpressJS, we've tracked only 32 mentions of Fastify. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

ExpressJS mentions (466)

  • Reusable API proxy in just a few lines of JavaScript
    The basis of my small API proxy is the NPM package http-proxy-middleware from Steven Chim, which I utilized to build a system that can be used via configuration for various endpoints and that runs on a server under the Node.js framework Express. - Source: dev.to / 5 days ago
  • How To Fetch Image From Database and Display In React JS
    Express Documentation This site has comprehensive guides on setting up routes, handling requests, and working with middleware in Express. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • Show HN: MetroJS – JavaScript HTTPS Client with Middleware
    Hi, I've made a javascript https client, based on the browsers Fetch API, with added middleware support. Prebuilt middleware includes JSON, OAuth2.1 and OIDC (OpenID Connect). Differences with for example Axios, is that middleware can capture both request and response in a single function. Middleware is stackable. It is also completely backwards compatible with the Fetch API. Direct inspiration came from Express... - Source: Hacker News / about 1 month ago
  • Which Go Web Backend Framework Is Right for Your Next Project? A Detailed Analysis of Features and Performance
    Fiber draws direct inspiration from Express.js, a widely used web framework in the Node.js ecosystem. It is built on top of Fasthttp, known for its exceptional speed and low memory usage. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • How To Fetch (Get) HTML From Server 🛤️
    To do this, let's create an API route, through which we will receive HTML from the server. For the backend part, we will use Node.js. The framework on which we will do this is Express.js. It is one of the most popular today and it is perfect for the task we are solving. First, we specify the controller that will process the HTML:. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
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Fastify mentions (32)

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What are some alternatives?

When comparing ExpressJS and Fastify, you can also consider the following products

Node.js - Node.js is a platform built on Chrome's JavaScript runtime for easily building fast, scalable network applications

Nest.js - A progressive Node.js framework for building efficient, reliable and scalable server-side applications.

Ruby on Rails - Ruby on Rails is an open source full-stack web application framework for the Ruby programming...

Adonis JS - AdonisJs is a Node.js web framework with breath of fresh air and drizzle of elegant syntax on top of it

Laravel - A PHP Framework For Web Artisans

Django - The Web framework for perfectionists with deadlines