Encore Has a Free Backend Framework — Type-Safe APIs With Auto-Generated Infrastructure

Define your API in TypeScript. Encore generates the infrastructure — databases, queues, cron jobs, service mesh — automatically.

What is Encore?

Encore is a backend development platform that uses your application code to understand your infrastructure needs. Write TypeScript services, and Encore provisions databases, pub/sub, caching, and deploys to your own cloud account.

Why Encore Is Unique

1. Type-Safe APIs

import { api } from "encore.dev/api";

interface CreateUserRequest {
  name: string;
  email: string;
}

interface User {
  id: string;
  name: string;
  email: string;
}

export const createUser = api(
  { method: "POST", path: "/users", expose: true },
  async (req: CreateUserRequest): Promise<User> => {
    const user = await db.insert(users).values(req).returning();
    return user[0];
  }
);

Full type safety. Auto-generated API docs. Client SDKs generated from types.

2. Declarative Databases

import { SQLDatabase } from "encore.dev/storage/sqldb";

const db = new SQLDatabase("users", {
  migrations: "./migrations",
});

// Use in handlers
export const getUser = api(
  { method: "GET", path: "/users/:id", expose: true },
  async ({ id }: { id: string }): Promise<User> => {
    const row = await db.queryRow`SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = ${id}`;
    return row;
  }
);

Encore provisions the database automatically. Migrations run on deploy.

3. Pub/Sub Built In

import { Topic, Subscription } from "encore.dev/pubsub";

interface OrderEvent {
  orderId: string;
  userId: string;
  total: number;
}

export const orderTopic = new Topic<OrderEvent>("order-events");

// Publish
await orderTopic.publish({ orderId: "123", userId: "abc", total: 99.99 });

// Subscribe
new Subscription(orderTopic, "send-email", {
  handler: async (event) => {
    await sendOrderConfirmation(event.userId, event.orderId);
  },
});

4. Cron Jobs

import { CronJob } from "encore.dev/cron";

new CronJob("cleanup-expired", {
  title: "Clean up expired sessions",
  schedule: "0 * * * *", // Every hour
  endpoint: cleanupSessions,
});

export const cleanupSessions = api(
  { method: "POST", path: "/internal/cleanup" },
  async () => {
    await db.exec`DELETE FROM sessions WHERE expires_at < NOW()`;
  }
);

5. Auto-Generated Architecture Diagram

Encore analyzes your code and generates:

• Service dependency graph
• API catalog with docs
• Database relationships
• Pub/sub flow visualization
• Request tracing

6. Deploy to Your Cloud

encore app create my-app
encore run  # Local development
encore deploy --env=production  # Deploys to your AWS/GCP

Encore deploys to YOUR cloud account (AWS or GCP), not a proprietary platform.

Encore vs Express vs NestJS

	Encore	Express	NestJS
Type safety	Built-in	Manual	Decorators
Database	Declarative	Manual setup	Manual setup
Pub/Sub	Built-in	Manual	Manual
Cron	Built-in	Via packages	Via packages
Infra provisioning	Automatic	Manual	Manual
API docs	Auto-generated	Via Swagger	Via decorators
Tracing	Built-in	Via OpenTelemetry	Via interceptors

Free Tier

Feature	Free
Services	Unlimited
Environments	2
Team members	1
Deploys/month	Unlimited
Tracing	14 days

Getting Started

# Install
curl -L https://encore.dev/install.sh | bash

# Create app
encore app create my-app

# Run locally
encore run

The Bottom Line

Encore makes infrastructure disappear. Define APIs in TypeScript, and the framework handles databases, queues, cron, and deployment. Less YAML, more product.

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