Express.js vs Koa

The minimalist Node meets express's minimalist cousin. Here's our take.

Express.js

Nice Pick

The minimalist Node.js framework that's so simple, you'll spend half your time reinventing the wheel.

Pros

• Lightweight and unopinionated, giving you full control over your stack
• Massive ecosystem of middleware for everything from auth to logging
• Easy to get started with minimal boilerplate

Cons

• Lacks built-in structure, leading to messy codebases without discipline
• Can become a dependency hell with too many third-party packages

Koa

Express's minimalist cousin. All the async/await, none of the callback baggage.

Pros

• Async/await support eliminates callback hell
• Lightweight and modular middleware system
• Cleaner error handling with try/catch
• Built by the creators of Express

Cons

• No built-in middleware (you have to install everything)
• Smaller ecosystem compared to Express

The Verdict

Use Express.js if: You want lightweight and unopinionated, giving you full control over your stack and can live with lacks built-in structure, leading to messy codebases without discipline.

Use Koa if: You prioritize async/await support eliminates callback hell over what Express.js offers.

The Bottom Line

Express.js wins

The minimalist Node.js framework that's so simple, you'll spend half your time reinventing the wheel.