hono vs express
Server frameworks · npm download comparison · data as of 17 October 2026
express is downloaded about 2.0× as often as hono — 145,199,376 versus 74,030,176 downloads in the last 7 days.
Over the last 90 days, hono downloads changed +46.4% and express +26.5% compared with the 90 days before, so hono is growing faster.
● hono● expressweekly downloads, last 12 months
Log scale — each grid line is 10× the one below, so both packages stay readable.
| hono | express | |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly downloads | 74,030,176 | 145,199,376 |
| Monthly downloads | 310,866,659 | 635,513,489 |
| Downloads, last 12 months | 1,682,574,307 | 4,694,208,478 |
| 90-day growth | +46.4% | +26.5% |
| Latest version | 4.13.13 | 5.3.0 |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Direct dependencies | 0 | 28 |
| Description | Web framework built on Web Standards | Fast, unopinionated, minimalist web framework |
Download counts come from the public npm registry API and include CI and mirror traffic, so treat them as a popularity signal, not a user count.