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Restify VS FeathersJS

Compare Restify VS FeathersJS and see what are their differences

Restify logo Restify

Application and Data, Languages & Frameworks, and Microframeworks (Backend)

FeathersJS logo FeathersJS

Wow your users. Build incredible real-time applications in record time.
  • Restify Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-26
  • FeathersJS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-01-17

Restify features and specs

  • Optimized for building APIs
    Restify is designed specifically for creating RESTful web services, making it lightweight and optimized for building high-performance APIs.
  • Excellent HTTP support
    Restify provides fine-grained control over HTTP interactions, allowing developers to handle HTTP verbs, validation, and header interactions efficiently.
  • Middleware support
    Restify supports a rich set of middleware that can be used to handle requests and responses in various ways, enhancing the API's functionality.
  • Focus on performance
    Restify focuses on being a performance-oriented framework, which is a great fit for high-speed data transactions needed in production environments.
  • Detailed logging mechanism
    Restify comes with integrated logging capabilities, helping developers monitor their applications and diagnose issues effectively.

Possible disadvantages of Restify

  • Limited features compared to Express
    While Restify is optimized for REST APIs, it offers fewer features and less flexibility compared to more general web frameworks like Express.
  • Smaller community
    Restify has a smaller user base and community compared to more popular frameworks like Express, which might limit available resources and third-party modules.
  • Learning curve
    For developers who are used to full-featured frameworks, there might be an initial learning curve to get used to Restify's way of handling things.
  • Less frequent updates
    Development on Restify is slower compared to larger projects, meaning new features and bug fixes may not be as rapidly introduced.

FeathersJS features and specs

  • Real-Time Functionality
    FeathersJS makes it easy to create real-time applications with WebSocket and RESTful APIs. It supports real-time data synchronization, which can be especially useful for interactive applications.
  • Flexibility
    FeathersJS is designed to work seamlessly with a variety of databases and frontend frameworks. This makes it highly flexible for different project requirements.
  • Microservice Ready
    FeathersJS supports modular architecture, which is well-suited for building microservices. Services can be easily scaled and managed independently.
  • Ease of Use
    The framework is designed to be intuitive and easy to use, even for developers who may not have extensive experience with Node.js. It includes built-in authentication and other common features.
  • Extensible
    FeathersJS has a rich ecosystem of plugins and hooks, allowing developers to extend functionality without modifying the core codebase.
  • Good Documentation
    FeathersJS provides well-written and comprehensive documentation, which makes it easier for new developers to get started and for experienced developers to find advanced features.

Possible disadvantages of FeathersJS

  • Limited Community
    Compared to more popular frameworks like Express or Koa, the FeathersJS community is smaller, which may result in fewer third-party resources and community support.
  • Learning Curve
    While FeathersJS is designed to be easy to use, its concepts and architecture can be different from other Node.js frameworks, which may require some time to learn.
  • Middleware Complexity
    FeathersJS uses a special middleware structure that might be complex for developers who are used to traditional middleware in Express.js.
  • Performance
    Although FeathersJS is generally performant, it might not be as fast as some lower-level frameworks, especially when dealing with very high volumes of traffic.
  • Dependency on JSON Schema
    FeathersJS heavily relies on JSON Schema for data validation, which can add complexity and may not be suitable for all applications.
  • Limited Middleware
    The middleware ecosystem is not as extensive as some other Node.js frameworks, which might necessitate custom middleware development for certain use cases.

Restify videos

Build REST APIs in Node.js using restify

FeathersJS videos

OSS 2019: FeathersJS with David Lueke

More videos:

  • Review - ❄️ Chill Stream | Building EntropyChat.app | node.js, FeathersJS, Vue.js, Vuex, Electron

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Restify and FeathersJS)
Web Frameworks
21 21%
79% 79
JavaScript Framework
11 11%
89% 89
Developer Tools
22 22%
78% 78
Development
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

Share your experience with using Restify and FeathersJS. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, FeathersJS seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 39 times since March 2021. 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.

Restify mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Restify yet. Tracking of Restify recommendations started around Mar 2021.

FeathersJS mentions (39)

  • Show HN: Triplit – Open-source syncing database that runs on server and client
    This is just using sqlite under the hood and none of this will scale. Why build your own query builder as well when you could just hook in one of the many ORMs in the NPM ecosystem and add support for 50+ other databases. This also isn't really something you could drop into an existing project very easily. Overall, I'm not impressed. Here are some other options I prefer: https://feathersjs.com/. - Source: Hacker News / 12 months ago
  • Ask HN: Can anyone suggest few open source projects for SaaS Boilerplate?
    For backend this might help https://feathersjs.com. I’m not affiliated with them, just a happy user. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Best NodeJS frameworks for seamless backend development
    Feathers.js is a web framework built on top of Express which provides a simple way to develop a scalable and reliable application. Feathers.js supports many databases and works with any frontend technology including iOS, Android, and React Native. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Choosing a backend API framework
    Feathers.js - fully fledged backend framework, with almost anything out of the box. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Node.js 20 is now available
    For anything CRUD or that can be modeled as such, I use FeathersJS (https://feathersjs.com/). - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Restify and FeathersJS, you can also consider the following products

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

Sails.js - Realtime MVC Framework for Node.js

Koa.js - Next generation web framework for node.js

hapi.js - Server Framework for Node.js

Famous Engine - The Famous Engine is a free and open source JavaScript rendering engine.

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