Why I Picked Hono Over Express for My APIs

What is Hono?

Hono is a lightweight, fast web framework tailored for modern edge platforms like Cloudflare Workers, Vercel, and Bun. It offers simple syntax and native TypeScript support.

Why I Moved Away from Express

• Heavier setup: Express felt too bloated for small APIs.
• Middleware complexity: Managing and chaining middleware became messy.
• TypeScript overhead: Getting types to work well took too much configuration.

Why Hono Works Better for Me

• Faster performance: Especially on edge runtimes.
• Minimalistic syntax: Straightward and readable.
• TypeScript-first design: Built-in types for routes and contexts.
• Small bundle size: Great for microservices and serverless.

Code Comparison

const express = require('express')
const app = express
app.get('/', (req, res) => {
res.send('Hello from Express!')
})
app.listen(3000)

import { Hono } from 'hono'
const app = new Hono()
app.get('/', (c) => c.text('Hello from Hono!'))
export default app

Conclusion

Hono has proven to be a leaner, more developer-friendly choice for building APIs in modern JavaScript environments. If you're using TypeScript and care about performance, it's worth checking out.