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ExpressJS VS NextUI

Compare ExpressJS VS NextUI and see what are their differences

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ExpressJS logo ExpressJS

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

NextUI logo NextUI

NextUI is the next-gen UI React library that allows you to make beautiful websites regardless of your design experience, comes with awesome features like Auto Dark Mode recognition, Themes support, easy customization, Best-in-class DX and much more.
  • ExpressJS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-14
  • NextUI Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-03

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.

NextUI features and specs

  • Modern Design System
    NextUI offers a modern design system that helps developers create aesthetically pleasing and highly functional user interfaces effortlessly.
  • Customizability
    Its components are highly customizable, allowing developers to tailor the UI to match their specific design requirements.
  • Easy Integration
    NextUI integrates well with popular frontend frameworks like React, making it easy to incorporate into existing projects.
  • Responsive Design
    The components in NextUI are designed to be responsive, ensuring that applications look good on all screen sizes.
  • Extensive Documentation
    NextUI provides comprehensive documentation, which helps developers understand and implement its components effectively.

Possible disadvantages of NextUI

  • Learning Curve
    Despite its documentation, some developers might face a learning curve when adapting to NextUI's design patterns and customization options.
  • Community Size
    Being a relatively newer tool, NextUI might not have as large a community as some other UI frameworks, potentially limiting community-driven support and resources.
  • Limited Third-Party Extensions
    Compared to more established UI frameworks, NextUI might have limited third-party extensions or plugins for extending its functionality.
  • Potential for Overhead
    Using a full-fledged UI framework like NextUI might introduce higher overhead compared to smaller, more lightweight component libraries.
  • Version Stability
    As with many newer technologies, there might be concerns regarding the stability and frequency of major version updates.

Analysis of ExpressJS

Overall verdict

  • ExpressJS is a highly recommended option for building web applications with Node.js. Its simplicity, extensive middleware options, and strong community support make it a solid choice for both beginners and experienced developers. However, it might not be the best fit for highly complex applications that require more opinionated frameworks with more built-in features.

Why this product is good

  • ExpressJS is a minimalist and flexible web application framework for Node.js. It provides a robust set of features for building web and mobile applications, making it a popular choice among developers.
  • It offers a thin layer of fundamental web application features, without obscuring Node.js features that developers use regularly.
  • ExpressJS has a large ecosystem of middleware to handle various tasks such as security, session management, and file uploads, which simplifies the development process.
  • It's known for its fast learning curve, which makes it particularly advantageous for developers who are new to backend web development but familiar with JavaScript.

Recommended for

  • Developers looking for a lightweight and flexible web framework for Node.js.
  • Projects where quick setup and ease of development are priorities.
  • Applications that require a custom architecture and a high degree of flexibility.
  • Teams who prefer to build their technology stack from the ground up and have control over the specific components used.

Analysis of NextUI

Overall verdict

  • Overall, NextUI is a solid choice for developers seeking a contemporary and efficient component library for their React projects. Its emphasis on customization, performance, and ease of use makes it a valuable tool for enhancing user interfaces.

Why this product is good

  • NextUI is considered good because it offers a modern, customizable, and lightweight component library tailored for React applications. It provides developers with a variety of pre-designed components, enhancing development speed and consistency while maintaining a high level of performance. Additionally, NextUI's responsive design capabilities and focus on accessibility make it a desirable choice for building visually appealing and user-friendly web interfaces.

Recommended for

    NextUI is recommended for React developers who value flexibility and performance in UI design, especially those working on projects that require scalability and a professional appearance. It is particularly well-suited for teams looking to streamline their UI development process with a comprehensive set of pre-designed components.

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to ExpressJS and NextUI)
JavaScript Framework
100 100%
0% 0
Design Tools
0 0%
100% 100
Developer Tools
90 90%
10% 10
Web Frameworks
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 NextUI

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

NextUI Reviews

10 Best Free React UI Libraries in 2023
NextUI is a React and Next.js UI library that gives you amazing components to build beautiful and modern websites. If you are someone who is obsessed with building great designs, NextUI is one of the best options. The whole library is built keeping the design factor in mind.
React UI Components Libraries: Our Top Picks for 2023
Customization: Since NextUI is developed on top of CSS-in-JS library Stitches, it’s easy to customize the components either through the CSS prop, native CSS selectors, or styled function. In addition, you will get a set of Stitches utilities out of the box to accelerate your workflow by grouping CSS properties together, shortening CSS properties, or simplifying a complex...
Source: kinsta.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, ExpressJS seems to be a lot more popular than NextUI. While we know about 470 links to ExpressJS, we've tracked only 24 mentions of NextUI. 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 (470)

  • 🔥 Why Everyone Is Talking About HTMX: The Game-Changer for Web Development
    🌍 Who Should Use HTMX? ✅ Django / Flask / Rails developers ✅ Express / Node.js backend lovers ✅ Fullstack devs who want LESS frontend headache ✅ Teams jo SSR + SEO ko priority dete hain. - Source: dev.to / 7 days ago
  • Not a Middy Fan
    Express.js was created around the time callbacks were _the_ architecture in Node.js. The world, including UI, quickly found callbacks do not compose well, and void return values are hard to test because of side-effects. Promises were created so you could compose functions, but still have control where your side-effects go. This negates the need for middlewares / callbacks. - Source: dev.to / 17 days ago
  • Experimental Devvit Web Views
    The Devvit team just announced a new experimental way to build WebView based apps for Reddit. Previously only static HTML/JS/CSS could be used. With this new version, it is possible to run server-side code through Node including spinning up an Express server. - Source: dev.to / 21 days ago
  • How to Handle File Uploads with Node.js and Express - Multer Edition
    Basic knowledge of JavaScript and Express. - Source: dev.to / 23 days ago
  • 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 / about 1 month ago
View more

NextUI mentions (24)

  • React UI Component Libraries in 2025
    Optimized for use with Next.js, Next UI has become a popular choice for developers building React applications with server-side rendering and static site generation. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • Building Micro Frontends with Vite, React, and TypeScript: A Step-by-Step Guide
    Next, we install the dependencies, but this time we’ll add @nextui and framer-motion:. - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
  • 🚀 Introducing NextSolution V2: ASP.NET API + Next.js + Expo Starter Template
    Use NextUI Components Since we're using NextUI, you can refer to the following documentation to get started with its components and features: Getting started with NextUI. - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
  • NextUI Theme Generator
    I've been using NextUI for quite some time, but I missed having a theme generator like other component libraries have. - Source: dev.to / 12 months ago
  • Frontend resources! 🚀
    NextUI: Craft beautiful interfaces effortlessly with NextUI. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing ExpressJS and NextUI, 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

Tailwind UI - Beautiful UI components by the creators of Tailwind CSS.

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

Mantine - React library, 60+ hooks and components with dark theme support and focus on accessibility

Django - The Web framework for perfectionists with deadlines

Chakra UI - Simple, modular and accessible UI components for your React applications.