Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

go-zero VS Nest.js

Compare go-zero VS Nest.js and see what are their differences

go-zero logo go-zero

go-zero is a web and rpc framework written in Go.

Nest.js logo Nest.js

A progressive Node.js framework for building efficient, reliable and scalable server-side applications.
  • go-zero Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-01
  • Nest.js Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-03-26

go-zero features and specs

  • Performance
    go-zero is designed with a focus on high performance, utilizing techniques like zero-copy and efficient scheduling to optimize workloads.
  • Scalability
    The framework supports scalable microservices with features like built-in service discovery, load balancing, and fault tolerance.
  • Developer Productivity
    go-zero provides code generation tools and a structured design pattern that can significantly speed up the development process.
  • Rich Feature Set
    It includes a wide range of built-in features such as API gateways, distributed tracing, and rate limiting, reducing the need for third-party integrations.
  • Community and Support
    The project has an active community and comprehensive documentation, making it easier for developers to find support and resources.

Possible disadvantages of go-zero

  • Steep Learning Curve
    New developers might find go-zero challenging to learn due to its comprehensive and complex functionalities.
  • Dependency Management
    Managing dependencies and updates can become complicated, especially when utilizing many of the out-of-the-box features.
  • Customizability
    While go-zero provides many pre-built features, this can sometimes limit flexibility and make it challenging to implement custom solutions.
  • Maturity
    Being relatively new compared to other frameworks, go-zero might have fewer third-party integrations and extensions available.
  • Resource Intensity
    Despite its performance advantages, the extensive feature set can be resource-intensive, which might not be ideal for small-scale applications.

Nest.js features and specs

  • Modular Architecture
    Nest.js uses a modular architecture which is highly organized and maintainable. This allows for better separation of concerns and makes it easier to manage large-scale applications by dividing them into smaller, reusable modules.
  • TypeScript Support
    Nest.js is built with TypeScript, providing strong typing and compile-time checks. This leads to fewer runtime errors and improved code readability and maintainability.
  • Dependency Injection
    The framework includes a powerful dependency injection system, which enables better testability and easier management of application components.
  • Built-in Middleware
    Nest.js supports middleware out of the box, allowing developers to easily add additional request-processing logic at different points in the request lifecycle.
  • Extensive Documentation
    Nest.js offers comprehensive and detailed documentation, which helps developers quickly get up to speed and resolve issues more efficiently.
  • Scalability
    The framework is designed to be scalable, making it suitable for projects of varying sizesโ€”from small applications to large enterprise-level systems.
  • Integration with Modern Libraries
    Nest.js seamlessly integrates with modern libraries and frameworks such as GraphQL, WebSockets, and TypeORM, extending its capabilities and allowing for versatile development options.
  • Active Community
    An active and growing community around Nest.js means there are plenty of resources, tutorials, and third-party tools available to assist with development.

Possible disadvantages of Nest.js

  • Learning Curve
    Due to its rich feature set and use of TypeScript, Nest.js can have a steep learning curve for developers who are not familiar with these technologies.
  • Overhead
    The reliance on the decorators and classes can introduce additional overhead, potentially making simple projects more complex than necessary.
  • Limited Flexibility
    Nest.js follows an opinionated architecture pattern, which can be restrictive for developers who prefer a more flexible or unstructured approach.
  • Performance
    While Nest.js is generally performant, the abstraction layers and TypeScript compile steps can introduce slight performance overhead compared to more lightweight alternatives.
  • Dependency on TypeScript
    The heavy reliance on TypeScript can be a drawback for developers who prefer to use plain JavaScript, or who are not familiar with TypeScript.
  • Community Compared to Mainstream Frameworks
    Although the Nest.js community is active and growing, it is still smaller compared to more established frameworks like Express.js or Koa, potentially limiting the amount of shared knowledge and third-party packages available.

Analysis of Nest.js

Overall verdict

  • Nest.js is an excellent choice for building scalable and maintainable server-side applications, especially if you prefer a structured and opinionated framework.

Why this product is good

  • Nest.js is built on top of Express.js, which is a well-established framework in the Node.js ecosystem, providing robust features and flexibility.
  • It follows the modular architecture inspired by Angular, making it a great choice for developers familiar with Angular's dependency injection and design patterns.
  • Nest.js supports TypeScript out of the box, which enhances code quality and maintainability through static typing.
  • The framework is highly extensible and allows easy integration with various libraries and tools.
  • Nest.js provides extensive documentation and an active community, which facilitates problem-solving and learning.

Recommended for

  • Developers looking for a TypeScript-first backend framework.
  • Teams that value modularity and clear project organization in their web applications.
  • Projects that require rapid development with modern JavaScript features and strong community support.
  • Backend systems that need to be scalable and performant using Node.js.

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Nest.js videos

Why I chose Nest.js over Express.js in 2020

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to go-zero and Nest.js)
Developer Tools
9 9%
91% 91
Web Frameworks
6 6%
94% 94
Open Source
100 100%
0% 0
JavaScript Framework
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare go-zero and Nest.js

go-zero Reviews

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Nest.js Reviews

Top JavaScript Frameworks in 2025
Nest (NestJS) is a framework for building efficient and scalable server-side backend applications using Node.Js. Internally, it actually makes use of JavaScript Back-end frameworks like Express (which is the default, and optionally Fastify can be configured to use as well!
Source: solguruz.com
10 Best Next.js Alternatives to Consider Today
For TypeScript aficionados seeking a framework with a modular, scalable architecture, NestJS stands out. Built on top of Node.js, NestJS offers a powerful set of abstractions for building server-side applications. Its modular structure facilitates the creation of scalable and maintainable codebases, making it a preferred choice for enterprise-level applications where a...
The 20 Best Laravel Alternatives for Web Development
NestJS is a Node.js framework thatโ€™s inspired by Angular, and guess what? Itโ€™s written in TypeScript. Building with Typescript is like youโ€™re navigating with the stars. Itโ€™s all about sturdy architecture, a server-side framework that enjoys the scripting superness while piling on extra sturdiness.
Top 10 Best Node. Js Frameworks to Improve Web Development
It is a structure, which is used for making expert, versatile Node.js applications on the server-side. It employs powerful JavaScript plus designed with TypeScript. Working with TypeScript indicates Nest brings uninterrupted writing and incorporates elements like the following
Top 14 Node.JS Frameworks: Which Will Rule in 2020?
Nest utilizes Express.JS and provides an unusual app architecture that allows for the easy development of easily maintainable, loosely paired and highly scalable and testable apps. Developers can use Nest CLI for developing NestJS apps with different features.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Nest.js seems to be a lot more popular than go-zero. While we know about 225 links to Nest.js, we've tracked only 12 mentions of go-zero. 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.

go-zero mentions (12)

  • Best Web Sever Framework?
    Maybe you can try https://github.com/zeromicro/go-zero, a different way to write your web applications. It generates the skeleton of your web apps. Source: over 2 years ago
  • What is the best microservices framework in Go?
    Easy to use with start with https://github.com/zeromicro/go-zero, cannot say about long term. Source: about 3 years ago
  • Show HN: Go-zero (a cloud-native microservice framework) is now two years old
    Today in two years ago, I submit my first commit of go-zero code to GitHub, and two years later, go-zero is now 19.7K stars and 2.9K forks. go-zero has been well known for lots of developers, adopted by many companies, and helped many developers to be hired by their favorite companies through learning go-zero source code. Looking forward to the third year, we will continue to bring more convenient and practical... - Source: Hacker News / about 3 years ago
  • How can I convert RESTful requests to gRPC requests in my gateway?
    I'm writing a simple gateway for go-zero, but I don't know what's the best practices on converting RESTful to gRPC requests. Source: over 3 years ago
  • Understanding and tuning parameters of connection pools
    When I was doing backend development and writing go-zero, I would often need to monitor network connections and analyze the request packets. For example. - Source: dev.to / over 3 years ago
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Nest.js mentions (225)

  • Hacktoberfest 2025 with Ghostfolio
    The software is fully written in TypeScript and organized as an Nx workspace, utilizing the latest framework releases. The backend is based on NestJS in combination with PostgreSQL as a database together with Prisma and Redis for caching. The frontend is developed with Angular. - Source: dev.to / 6 days ago
  • Getting Started with AI Agent Development with LangChain & LangGraph: Build an Autonomous Starbucks Agent
    Letโ€™s start by initializing our project. In this article, we shall use Nest.js due to its efficiency and native Typescript support. Please note that nothing here is tied to Nest.js; this is just a framework preference, and everything Iโ€™m doing here can be done with plain Node.js or Express.js. - Source: dev.to / 7 days ago
  • Nest-Py: Experimenting with Decorators, DI, and Controllers in Python (FastAPI + NestJS style)
    Iโ€™ve been experimenting with metaprogramming in Python and decided to build a tiny prototype called Nest-Py. Itโ€™s a small framework inspired by NestJS but built on top of FastAPI. - Source: dev.to / 12 days ago
  • From TypeScript to SQL: Automatically Granting DB Permissions Without Losing Your Mind
    At IVAO, we partially follow micro-services best practices. This means each business group (e.g., Flight tracking, Flight planning, Air Traffic controlling, Training) has its own NestJS API and ReactJS frontend. But we took a shortcut on the DB side, as we have quite some references across systems, especially for user IDs, airports, etc... We decided to have a single MariaDB instance while having a dedicated... - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • Testing while developing TWD - NestJS example
    NestJS includes Jest out of the box for testing. Some people prefer changing it to Vitest, but honestly, Jest is more than good enough for now. Donโ€™t waste time switching tools if theyโ€™re not the bottleneck. - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing go-zero and Nest.js, you can also consider the following products

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

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

Stellify - A Better Way for Artisans to Build Web Apps

Next.js - A small framework for server-rendered universal JavaScript apps

celljs.org - A self-driving web app framework

Laravel - A PHP Framework For Web Artisans