Deno 2 Has a Free API — Here's How to Use It

Deno 2 is the next evolution of the secure JavaScript and TypeScript runtime — and it ships with a free, built-in API that most developers don't know about.

What Changed in Deno 2?

Deno 2 brings backward compatibility with Node.js and npm, while keeping its security-first model. The key changes:

• Full npm compatibility — import npm:express works natively
• Node.js built-in support — node:fs, node:path all work
• deno.json workspaces — monorepo support out of the box
• Stable Deno.serve() — the fastest HTTP server API in any runtime

The Free API You're Missing

Deno Deploy gives you a free tier with:

• 1M requests/month
• 100 GiB data transfer
• Automatic HTTPS and global edge deployment
• KV storage (built-in database, no setup)
• Cron jobs (scheduled tasks, zero config)

// server.ts — deploy for free on Deno Deploy
Deno.serve((req: Request) => {
  const url = new URL(req.url);

  if (url.pathname === "/api/data") {
    return Response.json({
      message: "Hello from Deno 2!",
      timestamp: Date.now(),
      runtime: Deno.version
    });
  }

  return new Response("Deno 2 API Server", { status: 200 });
});

Built-in KV Database (Free!)

const kv = await Deno.openKv();

// Store data
await kv.set(["users", "user123"], { 
  name: "Alex", 
  plan: "free",
  signedUp: new Date().toISOString()
});

// Retrieve data
const user = await kv.get(["users", "user123"]);
console.log(user.value); // { name: "Alex", plan: "free", ... }

// List all users
const users = kv.list({ prefix: ["users"] });
for await (const entry of users) {
  console.log(entry.key, entry.value);
}

No database setup. No connection strings. No ORM. Just works.

Cron Jobs (Also Free)

Deno.cron("daily-cleanup", "0 0 * * *", async () => {
  const kv = await Deno.openKv();
  const oldEntries = kv.list({ prefix: ["temp"] });

  for await (const entry of oldEntries) {
    await kv.delete(entry.key);
  }
  console.log("Cleanup complete");
});

Schedule tasks without crontab, without external services, without configuration files.

Quick Start

# Install Deno 2
curl -fsSL https://deno.land/install.sh | sh

# Create a project
deno init my-api

# Run with all permissions
deno run --allow-net server.ts

# Deploy to edge (free)
deno deploy

Why Deno 2 Over Node.js?

Feature	Deno 2	Node.js
TypeScript	Native, zero config	Requires ts-node/tsx
Security	Permissions by default	Full access by default
Package manager	Built-in (no npm install)	npm/yarn/pnpm
Formatter	Built-in deno fmt	Prettier (install separately)
Linter	Built-in deno lint	ESLint (install + config)
Test runner	Built-in deno test	Jest/Vitest (install + config)
Deploy	Deno Deploy (free tier)	Requires separate hosting
Database	Built-in KV	External DB required

Real-World Example: URL Shortener

const kv = await Deno.openKv();

Deno.serve(async (req: Request) => {
  const url = new URL(req.url);

  // Create short URL
  if (req.method === "POST" && url.pathname === "/shorten") {
    const { target } = await req.json();
    const id = crypto.randomUUID().slice(0, 8);
    await kv.set(["urls", id], target);
    return Response.json({ short: `${url.origin}/${id}` });
  }

  // Redirect
  const id = url.pathname.slice(1);
  const entry = await kv.get(["urls", id]);
  if (entry.value) {
    return Response.redirect(entry.value as string, 302);
  }

  return new Response("Not found", { status: 404 });
});

Deploy this for free. Zero dependencies. Full URL shortener in 20 lines.

---

Need to scrape data from any website and get it in structured JSON? Check out my web scraping tools on Apify — no coding required, results in minutes.

Have a custom data extraction project? Email me at [e-mail] — I build tailored scraping solutions for businesses.