Express.js is a Node.js framework with broader ecosystem maturity and npm package availability, while Gin is a lightweight Go framework that delivers superior raw performance with significantly lower memory consumption and faster request handling.
Express.js vs Gin Web Framework — Side-by-side comparison on A Versus B
Minimal Node.js web framework offering flexibility and rapid API development with massive ecosystem
Lightweight and performant Go web framework designed for building fast REST APIs.
Language & Runtime. Request Throughput. Memory Usage (Baseline). Package Ecosystem Size. GitHub Stars. Learning Curve. Production Deployment Complexity
Choose Express.js if you prioritize rapid development, have a JavaScript team, need extensive third-party integrations, or are building MVPs where time-to-market is critical. Choose Gin if you need maximum performance, minimal resource consumption, easy deployment, or are scaling to handle millions of requests with constrained infrastructure—especially for microservices, APIs, and high-concurrency systems.
Express.js: ~120 ms | Gin Web Framework: 0.05-0.2
Express.js: 0.05 MB | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: None (third-party required) | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: Third-party package required | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: ~3,500 req/s | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: 25 hours | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: 65k stars | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Development Speed (Median Project Timeline)
Express.js: 10-16 weeks | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: ~4,500 req/s | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: 25-40 ms | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: 2.7M+ (npm) | Gin Web Framework: 170k+ (Go modules)
Express.js: ~64,000 | Gin Web Framework: 23,000+
Express.js: ~85% | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: 2010 | Gin Web Framework: 2014
Express.js: Manual (requires express-swagger-jsdoc or similar) | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: Optional (TypeScript) | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: ~8,000 req/sec | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: 15 minutes | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: ~55 MB per instance | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: ~300 ms | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: Native Socket.io integration | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: Requires Node bindings/bridges | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: 64,000+ stars | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: 18.2 million | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: ~50KB | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: Via @types/express | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: Node.js only | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: 500,000+ | Gin Web Framework: 85+
Express.js: ~8,000 req/s | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: 47.5 | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: 10,000+ | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: 50.3 KB | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: Partial (middleware adapters needed) | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: 100,000+ | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: Callback-based (req, res, next) | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: 80-120 | Gin Web Framework: 5-10
Express.js: ~20,000,000 (npm) | Gin Web Framework: 2.1 million (Go modules)
Express.js: 15 years (since 2010) | Gin Web Framework: 9 years (since 2014)
Express.js: 40-80 | Gin Web Framework: 1-5
Express.js: 52KB | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: No (manual setup with Swagger) | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: ~2,300,000 (NPM) | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: Promise/async-await (event loop) | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: ~80ms | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: No (requires Joi/Zod) | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: No (requires Swagger package) | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: Yes (Promises/callbacks) | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: Node.js 12+ | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: 28.4 million | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: Callback-based (legacy approach) | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: 410,000+ | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: 12-18 months | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: ~10,000 req/s | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: 185,000 | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: 20-30 hours | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: ~35-50 MB | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: No (requires Swagger, apiDoc packages) | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: No (requires middleware like celebrate) | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: ~45MB | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: ~2,700,000+ npm packages | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: Limited: TensorFlow.js only, requires external API calls | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: ~64,000 stars | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: 6 lines | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: Yes - runs directly with Node.js | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: ~50 KB | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: 3,000+ | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: 2010 | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: Limited via adapters | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: 50 KB | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: 4-8 hours | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: Optional (requires setup) | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: Not included | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: 68% | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: None (requires external libraries) | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: 300,000+ | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: 8,000-12,000 req/sec | Gin Web Framework: 30,000-40,000 req/sec
Express.js: 50-100 MB | Gin Web Framework: 10-20 MB
Express.js: 5-7 days for JS developers | Gin Web Framework: 14-21 days for new developers
Express.js: 50,000+ npm packages | Gin Web Framework: 100,000+ Go packages
Express.js: 2 minutes | Gin Web Framework: 8 minutes
Express.js: 32% of Node.js projects | Gin Web Framework: 18% of Go microservices
Express.js: 45-60 ms | Gin Web Framework: 5-10 ms
Express.js: ~8,000 req/sec | Gin Web Framework: ~30,000 req/sec
Express.js: 40-60 MB | Gin Web Framework: 5-10 MB
Express.js: ~400-600 ms | Gin Web Framework: ~20-50 ms
Express.js: ~40-100 MB (with node_modules) | Gin Web Framework: ~5-15 MB (single binary)
Express.js: ~10,000 per instance | Gin Web Framework: ~100,000+ per instance
Express.js: 75ms (average) | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: ~32,000 | Gin Web Framework: N/A
Express.js: ~20M+ (NPM/week) | Gin Web Framework: N/A
How to choose between Express.js and Gin Web Framework
Express.js vs Gin Web Framework — Structured Comparison Data
Machine-readable comparison dataset for Express.js vs Gin Web Framework. Contains 96 attribute comparisons, 5 FAQ pairs.
Express.js vs Gin Web Framework — Attribute Category Vocabulary
Taxonomy of attribute categories used to classify comparison data for Express.js vs Gin Web Framework.
Which framework is faster, Express.js or Gin?
Gin is significantly faster with ~30,000 requests/second throughput compared to Express.js at ~8,000 req/sec—a 3.75x performance advantage. This is due to Go's compiled nature, efficient concurrency model using goroutines, and minimal runtime overhead. However, Express.js is adequate for most web applications not requiring extreme scale.
Can I use Express.js for high-traffic APIs?
Express.js can handle typical high-traffic scenarios (millions of daily requests) with proper optimization: clustering across multiple CPU cores, load balancing, caching layers (Redis), and database optimization. However, each Node.js instance consumes 40-60 MB baseline memory, making infrastructure costs higher than Gin at equivalent scale. For APIs expecting 50,000+ concurrent requests, Gin is more suitable.
Which has better documentation and community support?
Express.js has significantly better documentation, tutorials, and community support due to 16 years of maturity (since 2010) and broader adoption. It has 64,000+ GitHub stars and ~300,000 Stack Overflow questions. Gin (23,000 stars, ~25,000 SO questions) has solid documentation but a smaller community, making it harder to find solutions to edge cases.
Is Gin worth learning if I know JavaScript?
Gin is worth learning if you need to build performance-critical systems, microservices, or APIs serving millions of requests with minimal resources. However, it requires learning Go (steeper curve than JavaScript), and you lose the ability to share code between frontend and backend. For typical REST APIs and web applications, Express.js remains more practical for JavaScript-fluent teams.
Which is better for serverless (AWS Lambda, Google Cloud Functions)?
Gin is superior for serverless due to 5-10 MB memory baseline and 20-50 ms startup time versus Express.js at 50 MB+ and 400-600 ms startup. AWS Lambda's pricing is memory-based, so Gin instances cost 75% less per hour and invoke faster. For memory-constrained serverless environments (128-256 MB), Gin may be the only practical option.
How to Choose Between Express.js and Gin Web Framework
Language & Runtime: Express.js has JavaScript (Node.js), while Gin Web Framework has Go (Compiled).
Request Throughput: Express.js has ~8,000 req/sec, while Gin Web Framework has ~30,000 req/sec.
Memory Usage (Baseline): Express.js has ~40-60 MB per instance, while Gin Web Framework has ~5-10 MB per instance.
Package Ecosystem Size: Express.js has ~2.7M packages (npm), while Gin Web Framework has ~170k packages (Go modules).
GitHub Stars: Express.js has 64,000+ stars, while Gin Web Framework has 23,000+ stars.
Learning Curve: Express.js has Moderate (JavaScript experience helps), while Gin Web Framework has Steeper (Go syntax unfamiliar to most).
Consider: Production Deployment Complexity
Production Deployment Complexity: Express.js has Requires Node.js runtime + package manager, while Gin Web Framework has Single compiled binary, zero runtime dependencies.