compare
Express vs Hono
The same facts for both, read from GitHub every night, and the relation a person reviewed.
| Fact | Express | Hono |
|---|---|---|
| Language | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| Stars | 70k | 32k |
| Latest | v5.2.1 | v4.13.13 |
| Last push | 2026-10-01 | 2026-10-06 |
| Release cadence | about 63 days between releases | about 1 day between releases |
| Active contributors | 9 commit authors on the default branch in the last 90 days | 48 commit authors on the default branch in the last 90 days |
| Flags | none | none |
How they relate
Hono replaces Express. Alternatives to Express →
Full replacementBuilt on Web Standards, runs on Node.js, Deno, Bun and edge runtimes.
Express
Hono
- v4.13.132026-10-04app.mount() is now available as the Mount Middleware, hono/mount. It is just a handler, so you register it with app.all…
- v4.13.122026-09-30fix(build): keep internal types private in bundled d.ts and avoid a self-referencing JSX.IntrinsicElements in
- v4.13.112026-09-29Affects: hono/serve-static and the adapters built on it (hono/bun, hono/deno, hono/cloudflare-workers, @hono/bun, @hono…
- @hono/netlify@1.0.12026-09-28
- @hono/deno@1.0.22026-09-28
Express
unsigned The latest release, v5.2.1, carries no signature GitHub could verify.
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Hono
unsigned The latest release, v4.13.13, carries no signature GitHub could verify.
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