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ExpressJS VS SignalR

Compare ExpressJS VS SignalR 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

SignalR logo SignalR

SignalR is a server-side software system designed for writing scalable Internet applications, notably web servers.
  • ExpressJS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-14
  • SignalR Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-20

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.

SignalR features and specs

  • Real-time communication
    SignalR enables real-time web functionality, allowing server-side code to push content to connected clients instantly. This is crucial for applications like live chat, real-time notifications, and live data feeds.
  • Simplified development
    SignalR provides a high-level API that abstracts much of the complexity involved in creating real-time web applications, making the development process easier and more efficient.
  • Automatic Reconnection
    SignalR includes automatic reconnection capabilities, so if a client connection is lost, it can automatically try to re-establish the connection without manual intervention.
  • Cross-platform support
    Being part of the ASP.NET Core suite, SignalR works across different platforms including Windows, macOS, and Linux, providing greater flexibility in deployment.
  • Transport fallback
    SignalR supports multiple transport protocols (WebSocket, Server-Sent Events, and Long Polling) and can smoothly fall back to a lesser protocol if the preferred one is not available.
  • Security
    SignalR comes with built-in support for authentication and authorization mechanisms to ensure that only authorized users can connect and communicate through the service.

Possible disadvantages of SignalR

  • Scalability concerns
    While SignalR works well for small to medium applications, scaling to a large number of concurrent connections can require significant investments in infrastructure, such as deploying a SignalR backplane.
  • Performance overhead
    The abstraction provided by SignalR can introduce performance overhead, which may not be suitable for applications demanding high performance and low latency.
  • Limited PaaS support
    Although SignalR can be hosted on various platforms, its integration with some Platform as a Service (PaaS) offerings is less mature compared to other technologies designed for real-time communication.
  • Complex deployment
    Setting up a SignalR application, especially with considerations for scaling and high availability, can be complex and require deep knowledge of the underlying infrastructure.
  • Client compatibility
    While SignalR supports multiple clients including JavaScript, .NET, and Java, it may still face compatibility issues with less commonly used technologies or older client systems.
  • Debugging challenges
    Debugging real-time applications built with SignalR can be more challenging compared to traditional web applications due to their asynchronous nature and multiple transport protocols.

ExpressJS videos

No ExpressJS videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

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SignalR videos

SignalR Tutorial 1 - What is SignalR?

More videos:

  • Review - SignalR Deep Dive: Building Servers - David Fowler & Damian Edwards
  • Tutorial - SignalR Tutorial 3 - Why Use SignalR?
  • Review - Real-time web applications with ASP.NET Core SignalR

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to ExpressJS and SignalR)
JavaScript Framework
100 100%
0% 0
Developer Tools
86 86%
14% 14
App Development
0 0%
100% 100
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 SignalR

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

SignalR Reviews

Essential .NET Core Libraries that Every Programmer should know
You can include it in your code by configuring the SignalR API, which creates remote procedure calls for the server-client architecture. In addition, it manages the communication channel and resources for seamlessly transferring data during high traffic.
Source: positiwise.com
12 Most Preferred latest .NET Libraries of 2022
SignalR offers real-time web integration for .NET core apps through its SignalR .NET core library. Using it, developers can push/add data from the server into their applications. Features: Automatic connection management. Simultaneous message-sending to all clients. Scalable to handle increasing traffic. A group of clients can be notified at once with a message.
Source: www.bigscal.com
SignalR Alternatives
SignalR is basically used to allow connection between client and server or vice-versa. It is a type of bi-directional communication between both the client and server. SignalR is compatible with web sockets and many other connections, which help in the direct push of content over the server. There are many alternatives for signalR that are used, like Firebase, pusher,...
Source: www.educba.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, ExpressJS seems to be a lot more popular than SignalR. While we know about 469 links to ExpressJS, we've tracked only 5 mentions of SignalR. 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 (469)

  • 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 / 7 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 / 11 days ago
  • How to Handle File Uploads with Node.js and Express - Multer Edition
    Basic knowledge of JavaScript and Express. - Source: dev.to / 13 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 / 28 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 / 2 months ago
View more

SignalR mentions (5)

  • Get Started with Serverless Architectures: Top Tools You Need to Know
    Azure Functions integrates with most tools in the Microsoft ecosystem, including Azure Queue (adding messages to a queue) and SignalR (sending real-time updates). This makes Azure Functions the perfect choice for real-time applications like chat apps. Here are the top features:. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • How can I achieve client-server communication as seamless as Blazor Server for Blazor WebAssembly?
    Blazor Server basically has the server remote control puppet everything on the client through SignalR. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Creating a Lightweight Connection Between C# and Python - Over Internet
    SignalR is a layer over websockets, and is available for python. Source: about 2 years ago
  • I'm new to C#, have a little C++ and Java experience from high school and college. My goal is to make an application for two players to play Go.
    Since Go is a pretty simple game and not very graphic intensive, a simple approach would be to use SignalR on ASP.NET, where the server maintains the game board state and just sends minimal messages (for example, piece X moved to location Y, and whose turn it is now) to each player after their respective move in turn. Source: about 2 years ago
  • .NET Modern Task Scheduler
    SignalR and Pinia for real-time stat updates in the dashboard UI. Source: about 2 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing ExpressJS and SignalR, 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

Socket.io - Realtime application framework (Node.JS server)

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

Firebase - Firebase is a cloud service designed to power real-time, collaborative applications for mobile and web.

Django - The Web framework for perfectionists with deadlines

Pusher - Pusher is a hosted API for quickly, easily and securely adding scalable realtime functionality via WebSockets to web and mobile apps.