# Deno Fresh vs Express

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** Express

| Attribute | Deno Fresh | Express |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 42.8 (55% (medium)) | 75.7 (77% (high)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 0 | 10 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 0 | 1,853,938 |
| adoption.github_stars | 13,792 | 69,528 |
| adoption.package_downloads_weekly | - | 168,467,798 |
| adoption.stackoverflow_questions | - | 96,000 |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"Fresh is a web framework that renders pages on the server by default, serving plain HTML with zero JavaScript to browsers unless you explicitly enable interactive components. It eliminates configuration files, build steps, and node_modules, using Preact-powered islands for selective client-side interactivity. It is indexed under Web Frameworks.","source":"https://fresh.deno.dev/","question":"What is Deno Fresh?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Deno Fresh is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the MIT licence. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://fresh.deno.dev/","question":"Is Deno Fresh free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed browser-based access to Deno Fresh. That is the extent of what we could verify from public sources, so it may well offer desktop or mobile clients we have not indexed.","source":"https://fresh.deno.dev/","question":"What platforms does Deno Fresh support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Deno Fresh can be deployed cloud / SaaS, on-premise and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://fresh.deno.dev/","question":"Can Deno Fresh be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Deno Fresh is published under the MIT licence, a permissive licence that generally allows commercial use and modification. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://github.com/denoland/fresh","question":"Is Deno Fresh open source?","confidence":0.95}]` | `[{"answer":"A minimal framework providing essential routing, middleware, and HTTP utilities for building web applications and APIs in Node.js without imposing architectural constraints. It is indexed under Web Frameworks.","source":"https://expressjs.com","question":"What is Express?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Express is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the MIT licence. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://expressjs.com","question":"Is Express free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Express supports the web and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://expressjs.com","question":"What platforms does Express support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Express can be deployed cloud / SaaS, on-premise and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://expressjs.com","question":"Can Express be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 13 integrations for Express, including Cassandra, Couchbase, CouchDB, LevelDB, MySQL, MongoDB, Neo4j and Oracle, plus 5 more. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://expressjs.com","question":"What does Express integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Express is published under the MIT licence, a permissive licence that generally allows commercial use and modification. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://github.com/expressjs/express","question":"Is Express open source?","confidence":0.99},{"answer":"Express is available worldwide. Its primary market is the United States. The vendor is headquartered in the United States.","source":"https://expressjs.com","question":"Where is Express available?","confidence":0.95}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true,"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"on_prem":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | Fresh is a server-rendering web framework built on Deno that eliminates unnecessary client-side JavaScript by default, allowing developers to write interactive features as isolated 'islands' that hydrate only when required. It provides file-based routing, built-in component support, and deploys efficiently across multiple platforms including edge networks. | A flexible web framework providing essential features for web applications and APIs while allowing developers to choose their own complementary tools and libraries. |
| features.capabilities | `{"language":"TypeScript","rendering":"ssr","api_routes":true,"edge_runtime":true,"file_routing":true,"streaming_ssr":true,"typescript_first":true,"server_components":true}` | `{"language":"JavaScript","api_routes":true,"hot_reload":false,"edge_runtime":false,"file_routing":false,"license_type":"MIT/BSD","orm_included":false,"streaming_ssr":false,"language_runtime":"JS/TS","typescript_first":false,"server_components":false,"architecture_style":"minimalist","templating_included":true}` |
| integrations.count | - | 13 |
| integrations.list | - | `[{"name":"Cassandra"},{"name":"Couchbase"},{"name":"CouchDB"},{"name":"LevelDB"},{"name":"MySQL"},{"name":"MongoDB"},{"name":"Neo4j"},{"name":"Oracle"},{"name":"PostgreSQL"},{"name":"Redis"},{"name":"SQL Server"},{"name":"SQLite"},{"name":"Elasticsearch"}]` |
| language.primary | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| license.spdx | MIT | MIT |
| market.availability | - | `{"source":"https://expressjs.com","hqCountry":"US","confidence":0.95,"primaryMarkets":["US"],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://fresh.deno.dev/","retrievedAt":"2026-08-13T22:58:56.007Z"}` | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://expressjs.com","retrievedAt":"2026-10-05T10:08:30.684Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | commercial | open_source |
| pricing.price_level | free | free |
| pricing.transparent | - | yes |
| release.cadence_days | 10 | 4 |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/freshframework/fresh/releases/tag/2.3.3","date":"2026-04-28T11:38:20Z","type":"stable","version":"2.3.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/freshframework/fresh/releases/tag/2.3.2","date":"2026-04-28T07:23:54Z","type":"stable","version":"2.3.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/freshframework/fresh/releases/tag/2.3.1","date":"2026-04-27T16:02:21Z","type":"stable","version":"2.3.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/freshframework/fresh/releases/tag/2.3.0","date":"2026-04-24T16:02:16Z","type":"stable","version":"2.3.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/freshframework/fresh/releases/tag/2.2.2","date":"2026-03-28T09:05:57Z","type":"stable","version":"2.2.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/freshframework/fresh/releases/tag/2.2.1","date":"2026-02-11T13:40:13Z","type":"prerelease","version":"2.2.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/freshframework/fresh/releases/tag/2.2.0","date":"2025-11-18T13:11:08Z","type":"stable","version":"2.2.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/freshframework/fresh/releases/tag/2.1.4","date":"2025-10-30T14:59:42Z","type":"stable","version":"2.1.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/freshframework/fresh/releases/tag/2.1.3","date":"2025-10-23T11:18:04Z","type":"stable","version":"2.1.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/freshframework/fresh/releases/tag/2.1.2","date":"2025-10-08T10:59:32Z","type":"stable","version":"2.1.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/freshframework/fresh/releases/tag/2.1.1","date":"2025-09-19T18:30:42Z","type":"stable","version":"2.1.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/freshframework/fresh/releases/tag/2.1.0","date":"2025-09-15T17:31:32Z","type":"stable","version":"2.1.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/freshframework/fresh/releases/tag/2.0.2","date":"2025-09-12T17:17:46Z","type":"stable","version":"2.0.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/freshframework/fresh/releases/tag/2.0.1","date":"2025-09-12T09:08:13Z","type":"stable","version":"2.0.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/freshframework/fresh/releases/tag/2.0.0","date":"2025-09-09T16:58:46Z","type":"stable","version":"2.0.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/freshframework/fresh/releases/tag/1.7.3","date":"2024-10-14T12:51:05Z","type":"stable","version":"1.7.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/freshframework/fresh/releases/tag/1.7.2","date":"2024-10-04T06:29:04Z","type":"stable","version":"1.7.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/freshframework/fresh/releases/tag/1.7.1","date":"2024-08-15T07:34:16Z","type":"stable","version":"1.7.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/freshframework/fresh/releases/tag/1.7.0","date":"2024-08-15T07:28:35Z","type":"stable","version":"1.7.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/freshframework/fresh/releases/tag/1.6.8","date":"2024-03-22T21:26:07Z","type":"stable","version":"1.6.8"}]` | `[{"url":"https://github.com/expressjs/express/releases/tag/v4.22.2","date":"2026-05-11T18:54:02Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.22.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/expressjs/express/releases/tag/v5.2.1","date":"2025-12-01T20:54:44Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.2.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/expressjs/express/releases/tag/v5.2.0","date":"2025-12-01T16:21:03Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.2.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/expressjs/express/releases/tag/v4.22.1","date":"2025-12-01T20:55:45Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.22.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/expressjs/express/releases/tag/4.22.0","date":"2025-12-01T16:19:48Z","type":"stable","version":"4.22.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/expressjs/express/releases/tag/v5.0.1","date":"2024-10-08T19:41:00Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.0.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/expressjs/express/releases/tag/v5.1.0","date":"2025-03-31T14:04:44Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.1.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/expressjs/express/releases/tag/4.21.2","date":"2024-12-05T22:41:41Z","type":"stable","version":"4.21.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/expressjs/express/releases/tag/4.21.1","date":"2024-10-08T18:38:48Z","type":"stable","version":"4.21.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/expressjs/express/releases/tag/4.21.0","date":"2024-09-11T22:34:26Z","type":"stable","version":"4.21.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/expressjs/express/releases/tag/v5.0.0","date":"2024-09-10T04:51:37Z","type":"stable","version":"v5.0.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/expressjs/express/releases/tag/4.20.0","date":"2024-09-10T02:06:04Z","type":"stable","version":"4.20.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/expressjs/express/releases/tag/v5.0.0-beta.3","date":"2024-03-25T14:59:35Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v5.0.0-beta.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/expressjs/express/releases/tag/4.19.2","date":"2024-03-25T14:32:36Z","type":"stable","version":"4.19.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/expressjs/express/releases/tag/5.0.0-beta.2","date":"2024-03-25T14:59:09Z","type":"prerelease","version":"5.0.0-beta.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/expressjs/express/releases/tag/4.19.1","date":"2024-03-25T14:31:15Z","type":"stable","version":"4.19.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/expressjs/express/releases/tag/4.19.0","date":"2024-03-20T16:43:00Z","type":"stable","version":"4.19.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/expressjs/express/releases/tag/4.18.3","date":"2024-02-29T11:44:48Z","type":"stable","version":"4.18.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/expressjs/express/releases/tag/4.18.2","date":"2022-10-08T20:12:36Z","type":"stable","version":"4.18.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/expressjs/express/releases/tag/4.18.1","date":"2022-04-29T19:32:52Z","type":"stable","version":"4.18.1"}]` |
| security.disclosure_policy | - | yes |
| security.scorecard | - | 8.9 |
| security.trust_center | - | https://expressjs.com/en/advanced/security-updates |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=deno&package_name=deno_fresh&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` | `{"count":6,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=npm&package_name=express&per_page=100","last_12m":1,"max_severity":"MODERATE"}` |

## Capabilities (Web Frameworks)

| Capability | Deno Fresh | Express |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Rendering model | Server-side | - |
| File-based routing | ✓ | ✗ |
| Language | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| **Rendering** |  |  |
| Server components | ✓ | ✗ |
| Streaming SSR | ✓ | ✗ |
| **Fullstack** |  |  |
| Built-in API / backend routes | ✓ | ✓ |
| **DX** |  |  |
| First-class TypeScript | ✓ | ✗ |
| Fast refresh / HMR | - | ✗ |
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Edge runtime support | ✓ | ✗ |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T20:12:45.885Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*