10 Best Node.js Framework in 2021

JavaScript is the most commonly used programming language in the developer community. Node.js has extended the capabilities of JavaScript to the server-side, empowering developers to build an entire application using a single programming language and thus simplifying coding and maintenance.

Node.js is the event-based server-side non-blocking runtime environment highly preferred to build robust, and scalable applications using some extraordinary frameworks. Each of these frameworks offers support for a specific use case in the Node.js application development lifecycle.

In this article, we are going to learn about the 10 best Node.js frameworks that will help you to accelerate the process of app development and improve app performance.

Top Node.js Frameworks

Node.js frameworks are categorized into three types- MVC, Full-stack MVC, and REST API framework.

Express.js: Fast, unopinionated, minimalist web framework
GitHub Popularity: 55K stars

Express.js is the defacto standard server framework for Node js, designed for building web applications and APIs. It was first built by TJ Holowaychuk.

Express.js is a part of popular technology stacks such as MEAN, MERN, and MEVN. Also, it is part of highly popular web applications i.e PayPal and Uber.

Some of its features are,

• Robust routing

• Support for view system 14+ support engines

• HTTP helpers (redirection, caching, etc)

• High coverage debugging mechanism

• Content negotiation

Socket.IO: Real-time application framework
GitHub Popularity: 54.8K Stars

Socket.IO enables real-time bi-directional event-based communication between the client and server. It consists of:

1. A JavaScript library for Node.js client

2. A server-side library for Node.js

Its main features are:

• Reliability

• Support for auto reconnection

• Disconnection detection

• Binary support in data serialization

• Support for multiplexing

• Simple and convenient API

Meteor js: JavaScript app platform
Github Popularity: 42.7K Stars

Meteor.js is an open-source API framework built on top of Node.js and used for developing web, mobile, and desktop applications. The framework makes app development more accessible with JavaScript.

Features of Meteor.js are,

• Integrated live browser reloading

• Custom package manager

• Database integration (MongoDB)

• Reactive templates

• Automatic CSS and JS minification on the production server

Nest.js: A progressive Node.js framework
GitHub Popularity: 42.3 K Stars

Nest.js is the progressive Node.js framework for building dynamic and scalable server-side applications. It is adored among developers for its ability to improve backend productivity. It makes use of progressive JavaScript which is written on TypeScript.

The framework provides compatibility with a wide range of other libraries, such as Fastify. It has some amazing features:

• It leverages TypeScript

• Has powerful CLI

• Supports multiple nest-specific modules that facilitate easy integration with common technologies.

• Designed for monolithic and microservices

• Easy unit testing

Koa.js: An Expressive HTTP middleware framework
GitHub Popularity: 32K Stars

The framework is used to build web applications and APIs. Its middleware stack flows in a stack-like manner allowing you to perform actions downstream and then filter and manipulate the response upstream.

Some of its best features are:

• Can take asynchronous and common functions

• Uses context objects

• Modern and lightweight

• Better for error handling

Sails.js: Realtime MVC framework for Node.js
GitHub Popularity: 22.1K Stars

Sails.js simplifies creating custom, enterprise-grade Node.js applications. The framework is built on Node.js, Express, and Socket.io, and its actions are compatible with Connect middleware. Also, it is good for building real-time features in the apps.

Sails.js features:

1. Build an entire app in JavaScript

2. Supports multiple databases

3. Makes data modeling more practical

4. Auto-generated REST APIs

5. Supports Websocket with no additional code

6. Front end agnostic

7. Declarative, reusable security policies

Mocha.js: Javascript test framework for Node.js
GitHub Popularity: 20.9 K Stars

Mocha.js is a feature-rich JavaScript test framework that makes asynchronous testing simple and fun. Its tests run serially, allowing flexible and exact reporting during the mapping of uncaught exceptions to the correct test cases.

Mocha.js features:

1. Supports both BDD and TDD

2. Has multiple installation options

3. Supports several assertion libraries

4. Makes asynchronous testing easy

5. Compatible with multiple web browsers

Restify.js: Future of Node.js REST development
GitHub Popularity: 10.3K Stars

Restify.js is a web service framework optimized for developing semantically correct Restful services. It helps to optimize introspection and performance. The framework is used by some well-known companies such as Netflix, Pinterest, and Napster.

Features of Resify.js are:

• Power up Node.js deployment

• Build up with better debugging capabilities

• Helps to build your app semantically correct

Adonis.js: Web framework for Node.js
Github Popularity: 11.5K Stars

Adonis is a backend framework for Node.js that covers essentials to quick start your app development. The framework provides you with an easy-to-use and good-looking syntax. It helps to build stable server-side applications.

Adonis.js Features:-

• Provides an ecosystem to create a fully functional web app or API server while avoiding multiple package selections.

• Provides feature-rich routing layer that supports route groups, and subdomain based routing

• Controllers to remove inline route handlers to dedicated controller files.

• Support for managing file uploads.

• Provides runtime Validations and static type safety with Schema-based validator.

• Template engine to create a server-rendered web app.

Loopback 4: A framework for building APIs and Microservices
GitHub Popularity: 3.9K Stars

Loopback is a highly extensible, open-source Node.js and TypeScript framework based on the Express. It simplifies the development of modern API applications that requires complex integrations.

Some of its best features are:

• It is a faster, lightweight, yet powerful framework

• Generates real API with a single command

• Define your data and endpoints with OpenAPI

Key Takeaways

So, here you have gone through the list of best Node.js frameworks you should know in 2021 based on GitHub’s popularity.

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