# Express vs Hono

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** Express

| Attribute | Express | Hono |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 75.7 (77% (high)) | 61.3 (54% (medium)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 10 | 62 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 1,853,938 | 668 |
| adoption.github_stars | 69,528 | 32,540 |
| adoption.package_downloads_weekly | 168,467,798 | - |
| adoption.stackoverflow_questions | 96,000 | - |
| content.faq | `[{"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}]` | `[{"answer":"An open-source TypeScript-based web framework that compiles to under 14kB and runs natively on Cloudflare Workers, Fastly, Deno, Bun, AWS Lambda, Node.js, and other JavaScript runtimes. Emphasizes clean APIs, TypeScript support, and comprehensive middleware ecosystem. It is indexed under Web Frameworks.","source":"https://hono.dev","question":"What is Hono?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Hono 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://hono.dev","question":"Is Hono free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Hono supports a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://hono.dev","question":"What platforms does Hono support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Hono can be deployed cloud / SaaS and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://hono.dev","question":"Can Hono be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Hono 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/honojs/hono","question":"Is Hono open source?","confidence":0.95}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true,"on_prem":true,"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | A flexible web framework providing essential features for web applications and APIs while allowing developers to choose their own complementary tools and libraries. | A fast, lightweight web framework built on web standards that runs on various JavaScript runtimes including Node.js, Cloudflare Workers, Deno, Bun, and AWS. |
| features.capabilities | `{"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}` | `{"language":"TypeScript","api_routes":true,"edge_runtime":true,"typescript_first":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 | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| 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://expressjs.com","retrievedAt":"2026-10-05T10:08:30.684Z"}` | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://hono.dev","retrievedAt":"2026-08-16T21:31:54.094Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | open_source | commercial |
| pricing.price_level | free | free |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| release.cadence_days | 4 | 5 |
| release.history | `[{"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"}]` | `[{"url":"https://github.com/honojs/hono/releases/tag/v5.0.0-rc.1","date":"2026-10-10T12:34:21Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v5.0.0-rc.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/honojs/hono/releases/tag/v5.0.0-rc.0","date":"2026-10-08T05:56:34Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v5.0.0-rc.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/honojs/hono/releases/tag/%40hono/vercel%401.0.1","date":"2026-10-08T05:15:27Z","type":"stable","version":"@hono/vercel@1.0.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/honojs/hono/releases/tag/%40hono/service-worker%401.0.1","date":"2026-10-08T05:15:27Z","type":"stable","version":"@hono/service-worker@1.0.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/honojs/hono/releases/tag/%40hono/netlify%401.0.2","date":"2026-10-08T05:15:26Z","type":"stable","version":"@hono/netlify@1.0.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/honojs/hono/releases/tag/%40hono/lambda-edge%401.0.1","date":"2026-10-08T05:15:25Z","type":"stable","version":"@hono/lambda-edge@1.0.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/honojs/hono/releases/tag/%40hono/deno%401.0.3","date":"2026-10-08T05:15:24Z","type":"stable","version":"@hono/deno@1.0.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/honojs/hono/releases/tag/%40hono/cloudflare-workers%401.0.1","date":"2026-10-08T05:15:23Z","type":"stable","version":"@hono/cloudflare-workers@1.0.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/honojs/hono/releases/tag/%40hono/bun%401.0.1","date":"2026-10-08T05:15:21Z","type":"stable","version":"@hono/bun@1.0.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/honojs/hono/releases/tag/%40hono/aws-lambda%401.0.1","date":"2026-10-08T05:15:20Z","type":"stable","version":"@hono/aws-lambda@1.0.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/honojs/hono/releases/tag/v4.13.13","date":"2026-10-04T03:54:35Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.13.13"},{"url":"https://github.com/honojs/hono/releases/tag/v4.13.12","date":"2026-09-30T09:43:10Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.13.12"},{"url":"https://github.com/honojs/hono/releases/tag/v4.13.11","date":"2026-09-29T06:19:04Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.13.11"},{"url":"https://github.com/honojs/hono/releases/tag/v4.13.10","date":"2026-09-28T08:24:41Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.13.10"},{"url":"https://github.com/honojs/hono/releases/tag/%40hono/netlify%401.0.1","date":"2026-09-28T08:49:12Z","type":"stable","version":"@hono/netlify@1.0.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/honojs/hono/releases/tag/%40hono/deno%401.0.2","date":"2026-09-28T08:48:37Z","type":"stable","version":"@hono/deno@1.0.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/honojs/hono/releases/tag/v4.13.9","date":"2026-09-24T01:32:14Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.13.9"},{"url":"https://github.com/honojs/hono/releases/tag/v4.13.8","date":"2026-09-15T07:31:42Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.13.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/honojs/hono/releases/tag/v4.13.7","date":"2026-09-04T19:18:14Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.13.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/honojs/hono/releases/tag/v4.13.6","date":"2026-09-04T19:08:08Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.13.6"}]` |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | - |
| security.scorecard | 8.9 | - |
| security.trust_center | https://expressjs.com/en/advanced/security-updates | - |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":6,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=npm&package_name=express&per_page=100","last_12m":1,"max_severity":"MODERATE"}` | `{"count":55,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=npm&package_name=hono&per_page=100","last_12m":49,"max_severity":"HIGH"}` |

## Capabilities (Web Frameworks)

| Capability | Express | Hono |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Rendering model | - | - |
| File-based routing | ✗ | - |
| Language | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| **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 2026-10-16T20:48:17.945Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*