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Fastify vs Express.js

Trust Score comparison · March 2026

Fastify
83
Trust
Good
View profile
VS
Trust Score Δ
4
🏆 Express.js wins
Express.js
87
Trust
Good
View profile

Signal Comparison

3M / wknpm downloads34M / wk
120 commitsCommits (90d)18 commits
33k ★GitHub stars65k ★
5k q'sStack Overflow146k q's
HighCommunityVery High
FastifyExpress.js

Key Differences

FactorFastifyExpress.js
LicenseMITMIT
LanguageTypeScriptJavaScript / TypeScript
HostedSelf-hostedSelf-hosted
Free tier——
Open Source✓ Yes✓ Yes
TypeScript✓✓

Pick Fastify if…

  • Performance-critical Node.js APIs where Express is a bottleneck
  • JSON-heavy APIs that benefit from schema-validated serialization
  • Teams who want Express familiarity with far better performance

Pick Express.js if…

  • You're building a Node.js REST API and want full control
  • Your team knows JavaScript/TypeScript well
  • You need a lightweight framework with a huge middleware ecosystem

Side-by-side Quick Start

Fastify
import Fastify from 'fastify';

const app = Fastify({ logger: true });

app.get('/', async (request, reply) => {
  return { hello: 'world' };
});

await app.listen({ port: 3000 });
Express.js
import express from 'express';

const app = express();
app.use(express.json());

app.get('/tools', async (req, res) => {
  const tools = await db.query(
    'SELECT * FROM tools ORDER BY trust_score DESC'
  );
  res.json(tools.rows);
});

app.post('/tools', async (req, res) => {
  const { name, category } = req.body;
  const tool = await db.insert('tools', { name, category });
  res.status(201).json(tool);
});

app.listen(3000, () => console.log('API on :3000'));

Community Verdict

Based on upvoted notes
🏆
Express.js wins this comparison
Trust Score 87 vs 83 · 4-point difference

Express.js leads on Trust Score with stronger signal data across downloads and community health. That said, the other tool is worth considering if your use case matches its specific strengths above.