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ExpressJS VS Svelte

Compare ExpressJS VS Svelte and see what are their differences

ExpressJS logo ExpressJS

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

Svelte logo Svelte

Cybernetically enhanced web apps
  • ExpressJS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-14
  • Svelte Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-27

We recommend LibHunt Svelte for discovery and comparisons of trending Svelte projects.

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.

Svelte features and specs

  • Performance
    Svelte shifts much of the work from runtime to compile time, resulting in faster and more efficient web applications. By compiling components to highly optimized vanilla JavaScript, it reduces the overhead and boosts performance.
  • File Size
    Due to its compile-time nature, Svelte produces smaller bundle sizes compared to other frontend frameworks like React or Angular, which can significantly improve load times and performance.
  • Simplicity
    The framework is designed to be more accessible and easier to understand. Svelte’s syntax is clean and straightforward, allowing developers to get up and running quickly with minimal boilerplate.
  • Reactivity
    Svelte provides a simple and intuitive way to handle reactivity by using built-in language constructs like assignments. This means no complicated state management libraries are necessary for many use cases.
  • Less Boilerplate
    Svelte reduces the boilerplate code typically required in other frameworks, resulting in a cleaner and more maintainable codebase. This can help accelerate development and reduce bugs.
  • Reactive Programming
    SvelteKit leverages Svelte's reactive programming model, allowing developers to write less code while achieving better functionality through automatic reactivity.
  • Integrated Router
    SvelteKit includes a built-in router, which simplifies the creation of multi-page applications and enables easy setup of dynamic routes.
  • SSR and SSG
    SvelteKit supports Server-Side Rendering (SSR) and Static Site Generation (SSG) out of the box, giving developers flexibility in how they build and deploy their applications.
  • Opinionated but Flexible
    While SvelteKit provides an opinionated setup to streamline the development process, it also allows for customization to fit a developer’s specific needs.

Possible disadvantages of Svelte

  • Ecosystem Maturity
    Svelte’s ecosystem is not as mature or extensive as React’s or Angular’s. There are fewer third-party libraries, tools, and resources available, which might make it more challenging to find solutions for less common problems.
  • Learning Curve
    While Svelte itself is simpler, its approach is quite different from traditional frameworks like React and Angular. This can require a mental shift and time to learn new paradigms, especially for developers coming from those backgrounds.
  • Community Support
    Given that Svelte has a smaller user base and community compared to more established frameworks, finding community support, tutorials, and best practices can sometimes be more difficult.
  • Tooling
    While Svelte has good official tooling and support, it may lack some of the advanced tools and integrations available for other frameworks, which can slow down development for more complex applications.
  • SEO and SSR
    Although Svelte has options for server-side rendering (SSR) and improving SEO, handling these aspects is not as out-of-the-box or mature compared to frameworks like Next.js for React.
  • Community Size
    SvelteKit has a smaller community compared to other frameworks, which can affect the availability of online resources, tutorials, and community-driven support.
  • Tooling and Integration
    Some commonly used development tools and integrations may not be fully compatible with SvelteKit, necessitating workarounds or additional configuration.
  • Frequent Updates
    As a newer framework, SvelteKit undergoes frequent updates and changes, which can sometimes lead to breaking changes or require developers to frequently update their knowledge and projects.
  • Market Adoption
    SvelteKit is less adopted in the industry compared to other frameworks, which might make it a less attractive option for companies looking for widely recognized and vetted solutions.

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 Svelte

Overall verdict

  • Svelte is highly recommended for developers looking for a modern, efficient, and easy-to-learn framework. It provides excellent performance and a great developer experience. Its growing community and ecosystem reinforce its viability as a strong option for new projects.

Why this product is good

  • Svelte is considered good because it offers a unique approach to building user interfaces. Unlike other frameworks, Svelte shifts the work from the browser to the build step, compiling components into efficient vanilla JavaScript at build time. This results in faster performance and smaller bundle sizes. Additionally, Svelte's reactivity model is straightforward and intuitive, leading to more maintainable code. Its syntax is easy to learn and helps in building applications quickly.

Recommended for

  • Developers seeking a lightweight and performant alternative to React or Vue.
  • Projects where bundle size and speed are critical.
  • Developers new to front-end frameworks due to its simplicity and ease of learning.
  • Rapid prototyping and single-page applications.

ExpressJS videos

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Svelte videos

Svelte vs React vs Angular vs Vue

More videos:

  • Review - SvelteKit Breaking Changes 2022 - My Reactions and What You Need to Know!
  • Review - Why Svelte is the best JS "framework"
  • Tutorial - SvelteKit Crash Course Tutorial #1 - What is SvelteKit?
  • Review - Oh crap, here comes *another* JavaScript framework || SVELTE || Sveltejs

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to ExpressJS and Svelte)
JavaScript Framework
68 68%
32% 32
Javascript UI Libraries
28 28%
72% 72
Developer Tools
62 62%
38% 38
Web Frameworks
100 100%
0% 0

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Reviews

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

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

Svelte Reviews

Top JavaScript Frameworks in 2025
SvelteJS is a modern JavaScript framework that is useful for building static web apps that are fast, lean, and fun. You can use Svelte to build single, reusable components and large or even small-scale projects. Svelte has started gaining attention because of its ability to produce smaller code bundles that run faster in web browsers.
Source: solguruz.com
Top 10 Next.js Alternatives You Can Try
This web development framework can help you perform the easiest tasks to develop the interface components that users can interact with within their browsers, such as the comment section. Moreover, it has SvelteKit to render the components of the entire page with best practices and developments. You can utilize this platform effortlessly to add basic functionalities and...
20 Next.js Alternatives Worth Considering
Cruise into the Svelte ecosystem with Sapper, a framework that takes all the brilliance of Svelte and dials it up for app building. It’s like Svelte’s outgoing cousin, optimizing for an even smoother ride from development to go-live.
10 Best Next.js Alternatives to Consider Today
SvelteKit, the official framework for Svelte, streamlines the development of Svelte applications. With an intuitive API, SvelteKit simplifies the creation of server-side rendered (SSR) and statically generated (SSG) applications while retaining the reactive nature that makes Svelte unique. If you're seeking a framework that marries simplicity with powerful capabilities,...
The 20 Best Laravel Alternatives for Web Development
The next of these Laravel alternatives is Svelte. It cuts through the complexity, snipping off any excess, pre-compiling its magic to keep your app lightweight without shedding any muscle. The end result? Lightning strikes in web performance.

Social recommendations and mentions

ExpressJS might be a bit more popular than Svelte. We know about 470 links to it since March 2021 and only 392 links to Svelte. 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 / 21 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 / about 1 month 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 / about 1 month ago
  • How to Handle File Uploads with Node.js and Express - Multer Edition
    Basic knowledge of JavaScript and Express. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month 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 2 months ago
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Svelte mentions (392)

  • The UI Future Is Colourful and Dimensional
    The first time I visited https://svelte.dev , the non-flat-vector banner instantly won me. It just stands out from the world around it. I just sort of assumed the engineering was superior to the competition if they were going to lead with crimped metal (and was right). Flat design has always struck me as an extremist response to an issue. Windows Vista required everyone to be on the same page design-language wise... - Source: Hacker News / 22 days ago
  • Whimsy: a Tiny Game Engine I Made for Storytellers
    Svelte as the main framework. (Whimsy is my first Svelte project, actually! And Svelte didn't disappoint. Almost.). - Source: dev.to / 26 days ago
  • Creating Beautiful User Interfaces With Material Design for Bootstrap 4 & 5 (MDB)
    We're going to build our Svelte application using the Svelte REPL sandbox (or just REPL) at svelte.dev. I recommend checking out all the great documentation at svelte.dev, like its Examples section showcasing Svelte's many features, as well as the cool interactive tutorial at learn.svelte.dev. - Source: dev.to / 27 days ago
  • Plain Vanilla Web – Guide for de-frameworking yourself
    In theory, “de-frameworking yourself” is cool, but in practice, it’ll just lead to you building what effectively is your own ad hoc less battle-tested, probably less secure, and likely less performant de facto framework. I’m not convinced it’s worth it. If you want something à la KISS[0][0], just use Svelte/SvelteKit[1][1]. Nowadays, the primary exception I see to my point here is if your goal is to better... - Source: Hacker News / about 1 month ago
  • Why I’m Learning Vue.js After Six Years in React
    When I teased this series on LinkedIn, one comment quipped that Vue’s been around since 2014—“you should’ve learned it by now!”—and they’re not wrong. The JS ecosystem churns out UI libraries like Svelte, Solid, RxJS, and more, each pushing reactivity forward. React’s ubiquity made it my go-to for stability and career momentum. Now I’m ready to revisit new patterns and sharpen my tool-belt. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing ExpressJS and Svelte, 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

Vue.js - Reactive Components for Modern Web Interfaces

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

React - A JavaScript library for building user interfaces

Django - The Web framework for perfectionists with deadlines

Tailwind CSS - A utility-first CSS framework for rapidly building custom user interfaces.