Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Quarkus VS Node.js

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

Quarkus logo Quarkus

Quarkus: Supersonic Subatomic Java. . Contribute to quarkusio/quarkus development by creating an account on GitHub.

Node.js logo Node.js

Node.js is a platform built on Chrome's JavaScript runtime for easily building fast, scalable network applications
  • Quarkus Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-29
  • Node.js Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-18

Quarkus features and specs

  • Fast Startup Time
    Quarkus is designed with a focus on GraalVM and ahead-of-time compilation, which significantly reduces startup time, making it ideal for cloud-native applications and microservices that may be frequently started and stopped.
  • Low Memory Footprint
    Quarkus optimizes for low RAM usage by leveraging techniques like dead code elimination and native image generation, which is beneficial in resource-constrained environments such as containers and serverless platforms.
  • Developer Productivity
    Quarkus provides developer-friendly features like live reload and Dev UI, which enhance productivity by allowing developers to test changes immediately and manage extensions with ease.
  • Extensive Extension Ecosystem
    Quarkus supports a wide range of extensions for various popular technologies and frameworks, making it versatile and easier to integrate with existing systems and tools.
  • Kubernetes Native
    Built with Kubernetes in mind, Quarkus offers out-of-the-box integration with Kubernetes and OpenShift, simplifying deployment and management of applications in container orchestration platforms.

Possible disadvantages of Quarkus

  • Steep Learning Curve
    For developers unfamiliar with reactive programming or GraalVM, the learning curve can be steep when adopting Quarkus, especially when transitioning from traditional Java EE or Spring Boot.
  • Limited Legacy Support
    Quarkus is optimized for modern Java applications, which means that migrating large, legacy applications may require significant refactoring, posing a challenge for enterprises with extensive existing codebases.
  • Native Image Limitations
    While GraalVM's native images provide performance benefits, they can have limitations related to reflection and dynamic class loading, making certain Java libraries incompatible or requiring workarounds.
  • Community Maturity
    Although rapidly growing, the Quarkus community is not as mature as some other Java frameworks. This could lead to fewer resources or longer wait times for community-driven support and contributions.
  • Complex Configuration for Native Build
    Building native images often requires more complex configurations and understanding of GraalVM internals, which can complicate the build process and management compared to running JVM-based applications.

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.

Quarkus videos

Quarkus in Real-World Deployments

More videos:

  • Review - Secure your Quarkus applications | DevNation Tech Talk
  • Review - Hands-On Cloud-Native Applications with Java and Quarkus | 1. Introduction to Quarkus Core Concepts

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

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Quarkus and Node.js)
Web Frameworks
9 9%
91% 91
Developer Tools
2 2%
98% 98
Runtime
0 0%
100% 100
Application And Data
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

Share your experience with using Quarkus and Node.js. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Reviews

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

Quarkus Reviews

We have no reviews of Quarkus yet.
Be the first one to post

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,...

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Node.js seems to be a lot more popular than Quarkus. While we know about 896 links to Node.js, we've tracked only 2 mentions of Quarkus. 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.

Quarkus mentions (2)

  • Your First Open Source Contribution: A Beginner's Guide
    If you are into Java and are looking for a great project to start, make sure to check out Quarkus. They also have a great contributor guide which you can check out and get started directly! - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • Quarkus fundamentals
    First of all, extensions are developed and maintained by the Quarkus team. You can find them on the Quarkus GitHub repository. They integrate seamlessly into the Quarkus architecture as they can be processed at build time and be built in native mode with GraalVM. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago

Node.js mentions (896)

View more

What are some alternatives?

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

Guava - Google core libraries for Java 6+.

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

RxJava - RxJava – Reactive Extensions for the JVM is a library for composing asynchronous and event-based programs using observable sequences.

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

Laravel - A PHP Framework For Web Artisans

Java - A concurrent, class-based, object-oriented, language specifically designed to have as few implementation dependencies as possible