Comparison

Express vs Koa

On the evidence we track, Express leads this comparison with a composite score of 77/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

Express full profile →Koa full profile →

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★Express77

Koa53

Attribute comparison across 2 tools
Attribute	ExpressLeader	Koa
Vioscale score	77 / 100high · 79%	53 / 100medium · 67%
Pricing
Free tierpricing.free_tier	✓	-
Modelpricing.model	commercial	commercial
Price levelpricing.price_level	free	-
Transparentpricing.transparent	✓	-
Integrations
Countintegrations.count	13	-
Security
Disclosure policysecurity.disclosure_policy	✓	-
Scorecardsecurity.scorecard	8.9	6.2
Vulnerabilitiessecurity.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: 6 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=npm&package_name=koa&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 2 · Max severity: CRITICAL
Reliability
Status pagereliability.status_page	-	✓
Adoption
Dependent reposadoption.dependent_repos	1,853,938	109,950
Github starsadoption.github_stars	69,394	35,689
Package downloads weeklyadoption.package_downloads_weekly	131,895,868	-
Stackoverflow questionsadoption.stackoverflow_questions	96,000	-
Activity
Commits last 30dactivity.commits_last_30d	40	3
Release
Cadence daysrelease.cadence_days	4	16
Historyrelease.history	20 items	18 items
License
Spdxlicense.spdx	MIT	MIT
Language
Primarylanguage.primary	JavaScript	JavaScript
Market
Availabilitymarket.availability	Available worldwide · Popular in US · HQ US	-
Content
Faqcontent.faq	7 items	-

Score

Vioscale score

Express77 / 100high · 79%

Koa53 / 100medium · 67%

Pricing

Free tier

Express✓

Koa–

Model

Expresscommercial

Koacommercial

Price level

Expressfree

Koa–

Transparent

Express✓

Koa–

Integrations

Count

Express13

Koa–

Security

Disclosure policy

Express✓

Koa–

Scorecard

Express8.9

Koa6.2

Vulnerabilities

ExpressCount: 6 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=npm&package_name=express&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 1 · Max severity: MODERATE

KoaCount: 6 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=npm&package_name=koa&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 2 · Max severity: CRITICAL

Reliability

Status page

Express–

Koa✓

Adoption

Dependent repos

Express1,853,938

Koa109,950

Github stars

Express69,394

Koa35,689

Package downloads weekly

Express131,895,868

Koa–

Stackoverflow questions

Express96,000

Koa–

Activity

Commits last 30d

Express40

Koa3

Release

Cadence days

Express4

Koa16

History

Express20 items

Koa18 items

License

Spdx

ExpressMIT

KoaMIT

Language

Primary

ExpressJavaScript

KoaJavaScript

Market

Availability

ExpressAvailable worldwide · Popular in US · HQ US

Koa–

Content

Faq

Express7 items

Koa–

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for web frameworks. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Capability comparison for Web Frameworks
Capability	Express	Koa
Core
Rendering model	-	-
File-based routing	✗	-
Language	JavaScript	JavaScript
Rendering
Server components	✗	-
Streaming SSR	✗	-
Fullstack
Built-in API / backend routes	✓	✓
DX
First-class TypeScript	✗	-
Fast refresh / HMR	✗	-
Deployment
Edge runtime support	✗	-

Core

Rendering model

Express-

Koa-

File-based routing

Express✗

Koa-

Language

ExpressJavaScript

KoaJavaScript

Rendering

Server components

Express✗

Koa-

Streaming SSR

Express✗

Koa-

Fullstack

Built-in API / backend routes

Express✓

Koa✓

First-class TypeScript

Express✗

Koa-

Fast refresh / HMR

Express✗

Koa-

Deployment

Edge runtime support

Express✗

Koa-

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

Express

Leader

A minimal framework providing essential routing, middleware, and HTTP utilities for building web applications and APIs in Node.js without imposing architectural constraints.

Independently observed

Koa

Koa is a lightweight backend framework for Node.js that emphasizes simplicity and developer experience through modern async/await middleware composition, without bundling dependencies.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

Express

Leader

Open sourceFree tier

as of 2026-08-14verify ↗

Koa

Pricing not documented yet.

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platform and deployment support comparison
Supports	Express	Koa
WebPlatforms	✓	-
CLIPlatforms	✓	-
Cloud / SaaSDeployment	✓	-
Self-hostedDeployment	✓	-
On-premiseDeployment	✓	-

Platforms

Web

Express✓

Koa–

CLI

Express✓

Koa–

Deployment

Cloud / SaaS

Express✓

Koa–

Self-hosted

Express✓

Koa–

On-premise

Express✓

Koa–

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

Express

Leader

13 total

Cassandra
Couchbase
CouchDB
LevelDB
MySQL
MongoDB
Neo4j
Oracle
PostgreSQL
Redis
SQL Server
SQLite
Elasticsearch

Independently observed

Koa

Not documented yet.

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.