8 Node.js Frameworks Every Developer Should Know [UPDATED]

Did you know that tech giants like Amazon, Netflix, Tumblr, PayPal, and Reddit use Node.js? Quite fascinating stats, right? No surprise, Node.js has gained wide popularity in the realms of technology. But why is all this Node.js buzz? To be honest, Node.js is popular because it uses JavaScript, which is the only choice to develop web apps in the browser. Not only this, but this technology also supports microservices architecture, which is powerful and suitable for organizations of any distinct size. 

With 61,000+ stars on GitHub, 7.49K votes on StackShare, and 2450 contributors, there is no shadow of a doubt that Node.js is the fastest-growing open-source project every developer is interested in learning. 

Why is Node Special?

• Perfect for prototyping and agile development.
• Large ecosystem of open-source libraries.
• Supports widely used language JavaScript
• Cleaner and more consistent codebase.

But it’s just beginning. 

Being a developer, it is imperative to gain an in-depth understanding of Node.js and its frameworks. Well, we have covered everything about the Node.js framework here. Before we delve into the Node.js framework, let’s skim through what Node.js is.

Node.js - A Fastest-Growing Open-Source Project 

Node.js is an open-source JavaScript run-time environment that uses V8 JavaScript Engine (used by Chrome Browser) and allows developers to communicate with databases easily. It promotes the ‘JavaScript everywhere’ paradigm that attracts many developers. If you want to develop scalable, real-time, enterprise-level applications, Node.js is the right pick. 

Top 8 Popular Node.js Frameworks

Let us now look at the popular Node.js Frameworks:

1. Hapi.js

Introduced by Eran Hammer at Walmart, it is a powerful and robust open-source Node.js framework used for developing JSON API, websites, API servers, and HTTP proxy applications. This technology holds some key features that make it one of the most popular Node.js frameworks today. Features such as configuration-based functionality, error handling, input validation, logging, and more, attract many developers. Not only this, but a well-developed plugin system also makes Hapi.js one of the most preferred frameworks. Today, tech giants such as Paypal, Mozilla, and American multinational entertainment company Disney also use this Hapi.js. 

Features:

• Writing manageable, controllable, and distributable code is easier with Hapi.js as it promotes end-to-end code hygiene. 
• Hapi blocks error messages and secures your sensitive information. 
• Encrypted and signed cookies, secret or key rotation, and HTTP security headers add to the security of applications. 
• Set of official plugins replace middleware used in frameworks. 

2. Sails.js

The next on our list is Sail.js, a model-view-controller (MVC) framework for Node.js that follows the “convention over configuration” principle. It emulates the MVC pattern in order to build single-page, real-time applications and REST APIs. Sails.js also encourages less code writing because it extensively uses code generators which helps in the faster development of digital solutions. 

Features

• Powerful associations.
• Auto-generate REST APIs.
• Support WebSockets with no additional code. 
• Declarative, reusable security policies. 
• The front-end is agnostic. 
• Flexible asset pipeline.

3. Meteor.js

Meteor.js is another technology used for creating applications with any front-end framework, including React, Angular, or Blaze. Meteor.js uses the MongoDB database by default. It helps build real-time applications because it offers a full ecosystem to work with. So, there is no need to combine different tools and frameworks as you get everything in one place. 

Features:

• It comes with real-time features that make it faster. 
• Excellent platform for app development.
• Nicely integrated frontend with backend
• Meteor offers great accounts and user authentication.

4. Express.js

Created by TJ Holowaychuk, Express.js is another Node.js framework on our list that is specifically designed for single-page, multi-page and hybrid application development. This flexible and minimal framework also provides a set of features for web and mobile applications. 

Express.js is always considered the best pick when it comes to fast prototyping and agile development. Probably this is why this framework is popular among startups. It doesn’t have a lot of legacy code that helps a developer to develop several mobile apps, APIs, and other solutions in no time. 

Features:

• A highly advanced routing mechanism preserves the webpage using its URLs.
• Provide templating engines that help build dynamic web page content by building the HTML templates on the server-side.
• Provides readily-used features of Node.js in the form of functions that saves time and leads to faster server-side development. 
• Express.js makes debugging easier.

5. Koa.js

Koa.js is another open-source Node.js web application framework that gives a set of features for web and mobile apps. It is developed and maintained by the creators of Express.js and is considered a next-level Node.js framework. This framework is a robust foundation for APIs and web applications. It plays a great role in eliminating callbacks and improving error management using async functions. Impressive! Although it doesn’t have any middleware, it encourages faster server writing, thanks to its collection of methods. 

Features:

• A flexible and lightweight Node.js framework.
• Simplifies and improves error handling using middleware in the best way. 
• Developers use Koa.js to write thinner middleware when developing server-side apps.
• It is built based on ECMAScript 2015 specification that simplifies complex application development by providing new classes and modules. 

6. LoopBack.js

Features an easy-to-use CLI and a dynamic API explorer, LoopBack is another Node.js framework that you can rely on for your next project. It is compatible with REST services and different databases such as Postgres, Oracle, MongoDB, MySQL, etc. This Node.js framework allows a developer to build models in the absence of schema. Building a server API mapping to another server is also convenient with LoopBack.js. This technology supports both native mobile and browser SDKs. 

Features:

• Graph QL Support
• Unbelievably extensible

7. Adonis.js

Adonis is a node.js framework with a MVC structure (a popular design pattern that breaks certain functionalities up into different sections of the applications). This framework uses the edge template engine, which is really easy to use.

Features:

• It has its own CLI (Command Line Interface)
• It is easy to learn as it is familiar to Laravel.
• Validators in this framework are used to check if the data flowing into the controllers has the right format or not. It emits messages when some errors occur.

8. Total.js

Total.js is a modern Node.js framework that supports MVC architecture and is fully compatible with client-side frameworks, including Backbone.js, Polymer, Angular.js, etc. It also supports arrays and other prototypes and has NoSql embedded in it. This Node.js framework is quite popular as it is extensible and offers the excellent performance and stability that developers expect from any framework. There is no need to compress tools like Grunt, making it an easy-to-use framework for your projects. 

Features:

• Supports WebSocket
• Supports models, modules, packages, and isomorphic code
• Supports restrictions and redirections
• Supports Image processing via GM or IM
• Supports RESTful routing
• Supports video streaming
• Supports sitemap
• Supports generators
• Rapid support and bug fixing
• Supports localization with diff tool and CSV export
• Supports themes
• Supports workers

Conclusion

So, this is all about the best Node.js framework every developer must know in 2022. We have rounded up all technologies here so that you won’t miss a chance to beat the competitive IT landscape. If you need expert assistance in this journey, 75way can help you. Our assistance can take you a long way and help you achieve your goals.