Is Express.js Still Worth Using in 2025?

It’s 2025. We’ve got Bun running laps around startup times. Deno is locked down tighter than your production firewall. Fastify benchmarks are everywhere. So what’s Express.js still doing in the mix?

Simple: it just works.

Even after 15+ years, Express.js remains one of the most-used web frameworks for Node.js—and not because devs forgot to move on. It's because Express still solves real problems without getting in your way.

Let’s talk about why Express refuses to die—and why that might be a good thing.

What Is Express.js, Again?

Express is a minimalist web framework for Node.js. It doesn’t force structure. It doesn’t come with opinions. You wire up routes, middleware, and business logic however you like.

You want a fully RESTful API with five lines of code? Express can do that. You want a service that proxies three microservices and wraps a legacy auth layer? Still Express.

Why Express Still Holds Up in 2025

1. Minimalism That Scales

You can spin up a working server in less than 30 seconds:

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          const express = require("express");
const app = express();

app.get("/", (req, res) => res.send("Hello, world"));
app.listen(3000);

That simplicity hasn’t gone out of style. Especially when you're building quick APIs, MVPs, internal tools, or just trying to avoid spending a day reading docs.

2. Middleware Is Still Express's Secret Weapon

Express pioneered the middleware pattern that modern web frameworks now copy or refine.

Need logging? morgan. Need authentication? passport. Need to parse a body or compress responses or rate-limit traffic? There’s a middleware for that. Probably ten.

And if you want to write your own, it’s just a function: (req, res, next) => {}. No decorators. No magic.

3. It's Everywhere

Hosting platforms love Express. Every tutorial on the internet loves Express. Most new devs still start with Express.

  • Works great on traditional servers, Docker, or serverless.
  • Runs on Node, which still rules the npm ecosystem.
  • Has a massive developer community and absurdly high Google search visibility.

Even newer frameworks like NestJS build on top of Express (or Fastify) behind the scenes. It's still the backbone of many “modern” stacks.

Use Cases Where Express Still Wins

REST APIs

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          app.use(express.json());

app.post("/todos", (req, res) => {
  const todo = { id: Date.now(), text: req.body.text };
  res.status(201).json(todo);
});

Fast to build, easy to test, and flexible enough to evolve.

Middleware-Based Logic

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          const auth = (req, res, next) => {
  if (req.headers.authorization === "valid-token") next();
  else res.status(401).json({ error: "Unauthorized" });
};

app.get("/dashboard", auth, (req, res) => {
  res.json({ message: "You made it!" });
});

Plug, play, reuse. Perfect for apps with layered logic.

Prototypes, Internal Tools, Simple Services

Sometimes you don’t need the bells and whistles. You just need to ship something useful—and fast.

But What About Fastify, NestJS, Bun, Deno?

**Fastify**: Faster, stricter, and built for performance

  • Great for JSON-heavy APIs.
  • Schema-first validation.
  • More opinionated than Express.

**NestJS**: TypeScript-first with decorators and DI

  • Excellent for enterprise projects.
  • Heavier learning curve.
  • More structure, more boilerplate.

**Bun/Deno**: Modern runtimes with their own frameworks

  • Not Node (yet).
  • Still maturing, still catching up on npm compatibility.

Should You Use Express in 2025?

Yes, if you value:

  • Simplicity over abstraction.
  • Familiarity over framework churn.
  • Control over convention.
  • Fast iterations with minimal setup.

Express is perfect for:

  • Solo projects.
  • Small to mid-sized APIs.
  • Rapid prototyping.
  • Devs who don’t want to relearn a new stack every year.

No, if you need:

  • Strict typing and architectural patterns.
  • Advanced DI and modules (use Nest).
  • Max performance (use Fastify or Bun).

Final Verdict: Express Isn’t Dead—It’s Battle-Tested

In a landscape filled with shiny new runtimes, Express is still here because it doesn’t try to do too much. It gives you the basics—and gets out of your way.

It’s not the fastest. It’s not the trendiest. But it’s still relevant, still useful, and still powering everything from side projects to production APIs at scale.

You don’t always need the new hotness. Sometimes, you just need to get stuff done.

And for that? Express still delivers.