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Node.js VS Django

Compare Node.js VS Django and see what are their differences

Node.js logo Node.js

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

Django logo Django

The Web framework for perfectionists with deadlines
  • Node.js Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-18
  • Django Landing page
    Landing page //
    2018-09-30

Node.js features and specs

  • Asynchronous and Event-Driven
    Node.js uses an asynchronous, non-blocking, and event-driven I/O model, making it efficient and scalable for handling multiple simultaneous connections.
  • JavaScript Everywhere
    Developers can use JavaScript for both client-side and server-side programming, providing a unified language environment and better synergy between front-end and back-end development.
  • Large Community and NPM
    Node.js has a vibrant community and a rich ecosystem with the Node Package Manager (NPM), which offers thousands of open-source libraries and tools that can be integrated easily into projects.
  • High Performance
    Built on the V8 JavaScript engine from Google, Node.js translates JavaScript directly into native machine code, which increases performance and speed.
  • Scalability
    Designed with microservices and scalability in mind, Node.js enables easy horizontal scaling across multiple servers.
  • JSON Support
    Node.js seamlessly handles JSON, which is a common format for API responses, making it an excellent choice for building RESTful APIs and data-intensive real-time applications.

Possible disadvantages of Node.js

  • Callback Hell
    The reliance on callbacks to manage asynchronous operations can lead to deeply nested and difficult-to-read code, commonly referred to as 'Callback Hell'.
  • Not Suitable for CPU-Intensive Tasks
    Node.js is optimized for I/O operations and can become inefficient for CPU-intensive tasks, slowing down overall performance due to its single-threaded event loop.
  • Immaturity of Tools
    Compared to more established technologies, some Node.js libraries and tools still lack maturity and comprehensive documentation, which can be challenging for developers.
  • Callback and Promise Overheads
    Managing asynchronous operations using callbacks or promises can lead to additional complexity and overhead, impacting maintainability and performance if not handled correctly.
  • Fragmented Ecosystem
    The fast-paced evolution of Node.js and its ecosystem can lead to fragmentation, with numerous versions and libraries that may not always be compatible with each other.
  • Security Issues
    The extensive use of third-party libraries via NPM can introduce security vulnerabilities if not properly managed and updated, making applications more susceptible to attacks.

Django features and specs

  • Rapid Development
    Django allows developers to swiftly create web applications with its 'batteries-included' philosophy, providing built-in features and tools out-of-the-box.
  • Scalability
    Django is designed to help developers scale applications. It supports a pluggable architecture, making it easy to grow an application organically.
  • Security
    Django includes various security features like protection against SQL injection, cross-site scripting, cross-site request forgery, and more, promoting the creation of secure web applications.
  • ORM (Object-Relational Mapping)
    Django’s powerful ORM simplifies database manipulation by allowing developers to interact with the database using Python code instead of SQL queries.
  • Comprehensive Documentation
    Django offers detailed and extensive documentation, aiding developers in effectively understanding and utilizing its features.
  • Community Support
    With a large and active community, Django benefits from numerous third-party packages, plugins, and extensive support forums.

Possible disadvantages of Django

  • Steep Learning Curve
    For beginners, Django’s complex features and components can be challenging to grasp, leading to a steep learning curve.
  • Monolithic Framework
    Django’s monolithic structure can limit flexibility, potentially resulting in over-engineered solutions for simpler, smaller projects.
  • Template Language Limitations
    Django’s template language, while useful, is less powerful compared to alternatives like Jinja2, limiting functionality in complex frontend requirements.
  • Heavyweight
    Django's comprehensive feature set can result in high overhead, making it less ideal for lightweight applications or microservices.
  • Opinionated Framework
    Django follows a ‘Django way’ of doing things, which can be restrictive for developers who prefer less constrained, highly customized coding practices.
  • Lack of Asynchronicity
    Django’s built-in functionalities do not fully support asynchronous programming, which can be a limitation for handling real-time applications and processes requiring concurrency.

Node.js videos

What is Node.js? | Mosh

More videos:

  • Review - What is Node.js Exactly? - a beginners introduction to Nodejs
  • Review - Learn node.js in 2020 - A review of best node.js courses

Django videos

Python Django

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Node.js and Django)
Developer Tools
70 70%
30% 30
Web Frameworks
40 40%
60% 60
Runtime
100 100%
0% 0
Python Web 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 Node.js and Django

Node.js Reviews

Top JavaScript Frameworks in 2025
JavaScript is widely used for back-end or server-side development because it makes a call to the remote server when a web page loads on the browser. When a browser loads a web page, it makes a call to a remote server. Further, the code parses the page’s URL to understand users’ requirements before retrieving and transforming the required data to serve back to the browser....
Source: solguruz.com
9 Best JavaScript Frameworks to Use in 2023
Node.js applications are written in JavaScript and run on the Node.js runtime, which allows them to be executed on any platform that supports Node.js. Node.js applications are typically event-driven and single-threaded, making them efficient and scalable. Additionally, the Node Package Manager (NPM) provides a way to install and manage dependencies for Node.js projects...
Source: ninetailed.io
20 Best JavaScript Frameworks For 2023
TJ Holowaychuk built Express in 2010 before being acquired by IBM (StrongLoop) in 2015. Node.js Foundation currently maintains it. The key reason Express is one of the best JavaScript frameworks is its rapid server-side coding. Complex tasks that would take hours to code using pure Node.js can be resolved in a few minutes, thanks to Express. On top of that, Express offers a...
FOSS | Top 15 Web Servers 2021
Node.js is a cross-platform server-side JavaScript environment built for developing and running network applications such as web servers. Node.js is licensed under a variety of licenses. As of March 2021, around 1.2% of applications were running on Node.js. Among the top companies and applications utilizing this modern web server are GoDaddy, Microsoft, General Electric,...
Source: www.zentao.pm
10 Best Tools to Develop Cross-Platform Desktop Apps 
Electron.js is compatible with a variety of frameworks, libraries, access to hardware-level APIs and chromium engine, and Node.js support. Electron Fiddle feature is great for experimentation as it allows developers to play around with concepts and templates. Simplification is at the center of Electron because developers don’t have to spend unnecessary time on the packaging,...

Django Reviews

The 20 Best Laravel Alternatives for Web Development
The first of these Laravel alternatives is Django. Django’s like that one-stop shop where you grab everything you need for a full-blown web project, all off one shelf. It’s the big-brained Python framework that anticipates your moves, keeping you steps ahead with a crazy stack of built-in features.
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
25 Python Frameworks to Master
You won’t go wrong by choosing Django for your next web project. It’s a powerful web framework that provides everything you need to build fast and reliable websites. And if you need any additional features — say, the ability to create a REST API to use with modern frontend frameworks like React or Angular — you can use extensions like Django REST framework.
Source: kinsta.com
3 Web Frameworks to Use With Python
myproject/ is the directory that contains the configuration and settings for the Django project__init__.py is an empty script that tells Python that this directory should be treated as a Python packageasgi.py is a script that defines ASGI application (Asynchronous Server Gateway Interface) for serving this project. ASGI is a specification for building asynchronous web...
Top 10 Phoenix Framework Alternatives
Phoenix borrows heavily from other frameworks built on the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture, like Rails and Django, providing a large part of everything you need to develop a web app out of the box, albeit in a less “batteries included” manner.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Node.js seems to be a lot more popular than Django. While we know about 896 links to Node.js, we've tracked only 15 mentions of Django. 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.

Node.js mentions (896)

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Django mentions (15)

  • Emails Setup in Django Using AWS
    Let's dive into a quick implementation of this using AWS and Django. We will be using a couple of ideas from the AWS Official Blog. - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
  • Top 10 Backend Frameworks in 2022
    Django is a high-level Python web framework. It is an Model-View-Template(MVT)-based, open-source web application development framework. It was released in 2005. It comes with batteries included. Some popular websites using Django are Instagram, Mozilla, Disqus, Bitbucket, Nextdoor and Clubhouse. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Boss wants me to make a student management system
    This seems like a job for Django. MDN offers a really good tutorial here. To be honest, it would be a massive undertaking so I’d recommend going for a prebuilt solution like PowerSchool and the like. Source: over 2 years ago
  • What's django equivalent to ruby gems? Django beginner here
    The first party docs are second to none. Start out with the official tutorial on https://djangoproject.com . Source: almost 3 years ago
  • What's django equivalent to ruby gems? Django beginner here
    Im teaching myself to build a backend SaaS. Can you build it just as fast as with RoR and gems? Is it all on the documentation on djangoproject.com? Just learning how to use it atm, any good tutorials as well? Source: almost 3 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Node.js and Django, you can also consider the following products

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

Laravel - A PHP Framework For Web Artisans

VS Code - Build and debug modern web and cloud applications, by Microsoft

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

ASP.NET - ASP.NET is a free web framework for building great Web sites and Web applications using HTML, CSS and JavaScript.

Flask - a microframework for Python based on Werkzeug, Jinja 2 and good intentions.