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Sails.js VS AngularJS

Compare Sails.js VS AngularJS and see what are their differences

Sails.js logo Sails.js

Realtime MVC Framework for Node.js

AngularJS logo AngularJS

AngularJS lets you extend HTML vocabulary for your application. The resulting environment is extraordinarily expressive, readable, and quick to develop.
  • Sails.js Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-04-14
  • AngularJS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-04-15

Sails.js features and specs

  • MVC Architecture
    Sails.js follows a Model-View-Controller (MVC) pattern, making it easier to organize and maintain code, particularly for larger applications.
  • Auto-Generated REST APIs
    Automatically generates RESTful APIs based on your models, saving development time and reducing boilerplate code.
  • WebSocket Support
    Built-in support for WebSockets allows for real-time features without needing additional configurations.
  • ORM Integration
    Waterline, Sails.js' built-in ORM, provides a straightforward way to interact with databases, supporting multiple database systems with the same codebase.
  • Modularity
    Encourages modular development by supporting hooks and middleware, which can be reused or extended for various functionalities.
  • Blueprints
    Blueprints provide automatic actions for basic CRUD operations, streamlining common tasks and making development faster.
  • Scalability
    Designed to be scalable, allowing you to build applications that can handle a large number of simultaneous connections.

Possible disadvantages of Sails.js

  • Learning Curve
    Although Sails.js simplifies many aspects of development, there is still a learning curve, especially for those not familiar with Node.js.
  • Performance Overhead
    The abstractions provided by Sails.js and its ORM can introduce performance overhead, potentially making it slower than more lightweight frameworks.
  • Limited Flexibility
    While the conventions in Sails.js can speed up development, they can also limit flexibility, making it harder to implement customized or unconventional features.
  • Community and Support
    The community and support for Sails.js are not as extensive as some other frameworks like Express.js, which might make troubleshooting and finding solutions more challenging.
  • Outdated Documentation
    Some parts of the documentation may be outdated, which can lead to confusion and require additional time to find updated resources or examples.

AngularJS features and specs

  • Two-way data binding
    AngularJS's two-way data binding feature synchronizes data between the model and the view components, reducing the amount of boilerplate code required for data manipulation and improving ease of use.
  • Dependency Injection
    The built-in dependency injection mechanism in AngularJS facilitates better organization and management of services, making the code more modular, testable, and reusable.
  • Modular Development
    AngularJS allows developers to break down applications into modules. This modular approach helps in better code organization, easier maintenance, and parallel development.
  • Community and Ecosystem
    Backed by Google, AngularJS has a large and active community. This extensive support system provides a wealth of resources, plugins, and third-party tools that can facilitate the development process.
  • Directives
    Directives in AngularJS allow developers to extend HTML with new attributes and elements, enabling the creation of custom and reusable components with ease.
  • MVVM Architecture
    The Model-View-ViewModel (MVVM) architecture promotes the separation of concerns, allowing developers to work on different parts of the application without interfering with each other.

Possible disadvantages of AngularJS

  • Performance Issues
    AngularJS's two-way data binding can induce performance issues in large applications due to the constant checking and updating of the binding, which can impact the overall application speed.
  • Steep Learning Curve
    The complexity of AngularJS, with its various concepts such as directives, dependency injection, and MVVM architecture, can present a steep learning curve for new developers.
  • Migration Challenges
    Migrating from AngularJS to newer versions like Angular (2+), which are fundamentally different, poses significant challenges and often requires a complete codebase rewrite.
  • Verbose Code
    AngularJS's syntax can sometimes lead to verbose and complicated code, which can be difficult to read and maintain, especially for large-scale applications.
  • Limited Mobile Support
    Despite its strengths, AngularJS does not offer the same level of performance optimization for mobile applications, making it less ideal for mobile-first development compared to some other frameworks.
  • Legacy Framework
    AngularJS is considered a legacy framework with a focus shifted towards Angular (2+). As a result, it receives fewer updates and less community attention compared to newer frameworks.

Analysis of Sails.js

Overall verdict

  • Sails.js is a solid choice for developers who are already familiar with Node.js and require a well-structured framework to build scalable and maintainable applications quickly. Its convention over configuration approach can significantly increase development efficiency, though it may introduce a learning curve for developers unfamiliar with its conventions. Overall, it's a robust tool for building apps that need real-time features or are backed by databases.

Why this product is good

  • Sails.js is good for building data-driven APIs and real-time apps due to its adherence to the Model-View-Controller (MVC) pattern, compatibility with Node.js, and its powerful built-in features like websockets, which facilitate real-time communication. It provides a comprehensive framework with out-of-the-box support for ORM (via Waterline), making database interaction straightforward. This can significantly reduce the amount of boilerplate code needed to set up HTTP APIs and enhance development speed.

Recommended for

    Sails.js is recommended for developers and teams looking to build enterprise-level applications, startups that need to rapidly prototype and iterate on real-time applications, and any development projects that require a powerful, flexible API system. It is especially suitable for small to medium-sized projects that wish to leverage Node.js, and those who appreciate a comprehensive framework that can provide rapid development and robust feature sets.

Sails.js videos

Intro to Sails.js Framework for Next-Level Nodejs Backend Apps

More videos:

  • Review - Sails.js LOGIC 101: Dynamic data

AngularJS videos

What Is AngularJS

More videos:

  • Review - AngularJS Fundamentals In 60-ish Minutes

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Sails.js and AngularJS)
Web Frameworks
100 100%
0% 0
Javascript UI Libraries
Developer Tools
58 58%
42% 42
JavaScript Framework
24 24%
76% 76

User comments

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Reviews

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

Sails.js Reviews

Top 14 Node.JS Frameworks: Which Will Rule in 2020?
This is another real-time MVC web development Node.js framework created on Express. It builds the latest, data-driven style of APIs and web apps. Sails.js can develop an API bookstore.

AngularJS Reviews

Top JavaScript Frameworks in 2025
AngularJS is an open-source framework used for developing web applications. Google developed it and made it open-source in 2010. It is one of the top choices of developers when it comes to building web applications using JavaScript. Hire web developers from SolGuruz and allow us to help you build white-label solutions.
Source: solguruz.com
20 Next.js Alternatives Worth Considering
Yes, Angular Universal provides server-side rendering capabilities for Angular applications. This tool allows Angular apps to benefit from SSR, improving performance and SEO by rendering pages on the server before sending them to the client.
The 20 Best Laravel Alternatives for Web Development
NestJS is a Node.js framework that’s inspired by Angular, and guess what? It’s written in TypeScript. Building with Typescript is like you’re navigating with the stars. It’s all about sturdy architecture, a server-side framework that enjoys the scripting superness while piling on extra sturdiness.
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
Angular.js is a powerful JavaScript-based web development framework. It has been designed to make web development more efficient and easy to use. Angular.js is based on the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture, which makes it easy to develop dynamic web applications. It also provides many features that make web development more efficient, such as data binding, dependency...
Source: ninetailed.io

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, AngularJS should be more popular than Sails.js. It has been mentiond 50 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.

Sails.js mentions (26)

  • AdonisJS
    I haven't used either so I can't chime in on that front, but long ago I was pretty into Sails which is written by a team that loves rails, but switched to NodeJS so it's basically Node on Rails. I actually thought they discontinued it, but I just searched and it still exists. It was a solid framework like 5 years ago when I used it last so I assume it's quite mature now. https://sailsjs.com/. - Source: Hacker News / 12 months ago
  • Choosing the best JavaScript framework for your next project
    Sails is a realtime JavaScript framework built on top of Express. Sails offers built-in realtime communication support and a flexible routing system. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Best NodeJS frameworks for seamless backend development
    Sails is a realtime MVC framework for NodeJS built on top of Express. Sails has a flexible routing system and comes with built-in realtime communication support. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • The Ascent of Node.js: How a runtime changed the Web
    Sails.js: Sails.js pitched itself as the MVC framework for Node.js, bringing a Rails-like experience while being database agnostic. - Source: dev.to / almost 2 years ago
  • WebSockets 101
    Disclaimer: I didn't know much about Websockets 1 week ago, all the experience I had with Websockets was when I developed a chat application back in 2016 using a JS framework that tried to be a Ruby on Rails implementation called SailsJS, so I decided to research about this technology and consumed multiple resources which I will link in this blog post and each section. - Source: dev.to / almost 2 years ago
View more

AngularJS mentions (50)

  • Between Diapers and Development – How My Blog Came to Life with Eleventy
    To maximize learning, I could choose something new. Normally, I consider that a valid reason. But given my limited time, that wasn't a priority for me. Another criterion could be long-term viability: Is there a large core team and an active community? Well, who still remembers AngularJS? From Google? And didn’t Facebook/Meta start Jest? I wouldn’t rely too much on that. - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • 11 Quick and Easy Tips for Optimizing AngularJS Performance
    AngularJS is an open-source JavaScript framework that developers use to build frontend applications. It comes with modular support, an extensive community, and all the tools that help develop and manage dynamic frontend web apps. - Source: dev.to / 6 months ago
  • Angular Tutorial: Host Element Binding
    Ok, what we'll use now is something that existed back in the day, after we switched from AngularJS to Angular 2 or modern Angular. We'll use the old/new host property on the component decorator. - Source: dev.to / 12 months ago
  • ⏰ It’s time to talk about Import Map, Micro Frontend, and Nx Monorepo
    Just to give you more context, I led the migration of several AngularJS applications to the newer Angular Framework. My client finally decided to make that move following the AngularJS deprecation announcement (stay up to date please 🙏)️. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • JS Toolbox 2024: Essential Picks for Modern Developers Series Overview
    The next post in the series provides a thorough comparison of popular frameworks like React, Vue, Angular, and Svelte, focusing on their unique features and suitability for different project types. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Sails.js and AngularJS, you can also consider the following products

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

Vue.js - Reactive Components for Modern Web Interfaces

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

React - A JavaScript library for building user interfaces

Nest.js - A progressive Node.js framework for building efficient, reliable and scalable server-side applications.

ember.js - A JavaScript framework for creating ambitious web apps