Nest is a kitchen-sink type framework. It has a lot of tools that you don't always need and a lot of opinions about how things should be done. If your project requirements deviate at all from what is documented in basic use cases you can actually be worse off then using a lightweight framework like express and bringing in the pieces you need. Answer from WarInternal on reddit.com
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/node › express or nestjs for the backend?
r/node on Reddit: Express or NestJS for the backend?
April 9, 2021 -

I want to learn backend with JavaScript and NodeJs. I came upon two frameworks. Express and NestJs. Seems like NestJs uses Express (and Fastify) under the hood. But I have a history with Java and Spring. And NestJs is similar to Spring.

Now my question is, as a begginner to JavaScript backend development, Should I learn Express or NestJs at the start?

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Reddit
reddit.com › r › node › comments › cejxyn › future_proof_service_with_express_or_nestjs
Future proof service with Express or Nestjs? : r/node
February 23, 2019 - What I see as the biggest advantage of Express besides it's the most popular, is that it's survived many years in JS ecosystem. On the other hand I really like what NestJs can offer over Express (integration with TypeOrm/Passport, project structuring, DI, etc).
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/node › express.js, nest.js or both?
r/node on Reddit: Express.js, Nest.js or both?
November 4, 2021 -

Hi everyone, i'm a young Junior Developer and i have some questions for getting a job as a backend node developer. When i appliying to a job as backend node developer, i should be an expert in Express.js, Nest.js or both? I've seen a lot of jobs that are asking about Express specific, but I've seen too little for Backend Node Developer using Nest.js. I'm currently know pretty much about Nest.js, I domain things like REST, Websocket, GraphQL, Databases like MongoDB, Redis, Elasticsearch , and PostgreSQL, Autentication with jwt http only cookie or OAuth, ORM like TypeORM, Prisma and Moongose, Authorization using CASL, CSRF middleware, Local File Storage, SQL lenguage and a little more. I work already in a company in my country as a Fullstack Typescript Developer using Nest.js and Next.js, but I'm trying to get a better job in the international scope. I know too little about Express (I know how it work but never used it), because in the pass i make a jump from Node to Nest.js. Learning Express will increase my probabilitys of getting a job as a Backend Node Developer? And what should I learn next? I have been thinking about microservices. Sorry for my bad english btw.

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Reddit
reddit.com › r/node › why most of nodejs developers prefer express over nest ?
r/node on Reddit: why most of nodejs developers prefer Express over Nest ?
June 20, 2022 - NestJS is nicer when you want more of a framework. One key difference for me was discovering how Nest handles different transport layers, for example a Kafka listener. They’re all handled through the same ...
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/node › should i learn nestjs or express first?
r/node on Reddit: Should I learn NestJs or Express first?
April 30, 2025 -

For a Fullstack, I already have Js, Tailwind, Html, css, React, now I want to get into Back, but I don't know if NestJs or Express with Mysql and some NoSql.

The problem is that I never got into Typescript, I did some things with Express years ago that I don't remember.

So getting straight into trying to build something with NestJs, is proving to be a pain because I don't understand anything despite having a solid foundation in Front.

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Reddit
reddit.com › r/node › nest js or express js, what is your feedback about them ?
r/node on Reddit: Nest JS or Express JS, what is your feedback about them ?
October 13, 2021 -

Hello guys,
I want to start coding in backend with NodeJS but I checked out existing NodeJS frameworks and I found two ones that are quite popular now (it is important for me, as I know with a framework that is widely used, I will have resources to improve easily)
But I want to make a choice between Nest JS and Express and I would like to have your feedback if you have already used one or both.

Thanks

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Reddit
reddit.com › r/node › why isn't nest.js as popular as express?
r/node on Reddit: Why isn't Nest.Js as popular as Express?
September 14, 2022 - After I started using nestJS, which ... (or Fastify, depending on your preferences) underneath. Unlike "pure" Express, it's opinionated and inspired by Angular....
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Neither. Start with Spring Boot, Django or ASP.NET if that is your goal. Nest.js is a sensitive topic. Some people in the JS world despise it, some swear by it. I think it's badly designed, but structurally it's similar to Spring or ASP.NET. Don't know about Django. Express.js is a minimalistic router only. It's used by Nest.js by default. Either way, it doesn't make sense to learn one of those as a stepping stone to a different framework and a different language.
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NestJS does feel a lot like Spring Boot, but as the other poster said, start with what you plan to use in the longrun. The "controversy" with Nestjs is pretty straightforward. Because it's modelled after Spring Boot, many of its features exist for the wrong reason - to circumvent challenges and limitations of the Java (and also more generally, any strictly typed) language. For example, standardized and encapsulated Dependency Injection as a pattern is controversial in node.js anyway when you have all the tools you need to mock dependencies. Spring Boot's implementation (mimicked by Nestjs) was already controversial because it broke a lot of DI best practices - specifically, all the "automatic injection" done under the hood is considered an antipattern in DI in general. But the goal was never strict philosophical DI, but circumvention of problems with testing. Similarly, the "standard" of using creating type classes for everything. In most javascript frameworks, it's WEIRD because we have typescript and we have functional validators/parsers. But you don't have that type flexibility in Java (ad-hoc typing that just works), so everything needs an interface there... which structure isn't really feasible to mimic with interfaces in javascript and so they use classes. All-in-all, NestJS works and provides some decent structure and patterns for a large scale app. The cost is that it uses a laundry list of features that provide at best marginal value in javascript and makes it hard (if not impossible) to use other features and patterns that are more javascript-native (I mean, just try using effect.js. Or just have fun with all the extra code and sometimes redundancy if you aren't using class-validator+typeORM. Even plugging in swagger leads to things getting "weird")
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/node › is express.js & nest.js really the only two most popular frameworks in the node.js community?
Is Express.js & Nest.js really the only two most popular frameworks in the Node.js community? : r/node
October 22, 2020 - don't use express, it essentially not maintained anymore. Last release was almost 2 years ago. The performance is also pretty bad compared to other solutions · For microframeworks, koa and fastify are good choices. NestJS is amazing and can be used with any http framework (https://docs.nestjs.com/techniques/performance)
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/node › nest or express for freelancing ?
r/node on Reddit: Nest or express for Freelancing ?
March 6, 2025 -

I have seen a lot of tasks requests node.js without explicitly mentioning the stack whether it was express or nestJs , From your experience which framework is better overall?

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Reddit
reddit.com › r/nestjs_framework › nestjs vs express
r/Nestjs_framework on Reddit: Nestjs vs express
March 8, 2025 -

Our team is good at express framework we don't have knowledge about nestjs, but week ago i realise why nestjs is better but still I don't understand when it comes to large scale application why express sucks, rather than built in feature(ws, grpc, graphql, guards, interceptors, middlewares) of nestjs what are the reasons or features nestjs provide over the express

Our architecture is microservice based and software design pattern is ddd+hexagonal

Pl help me out which one should I choose btw nestjs and express?

Thanks!

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Reddit
reddit.com › r/node › should i learn nestjs if i already know express?
r/node on Reddit: Should I Learn NestJS if I Already Know Express?
March 21, 2024 - Nestjs uses express under the hood; it's an attempt to organize express's non-structure (it leads to messy code always).