Node.js
Open-source JavaScript runtime built on V8 for running code outside the browser.
HN commenters like Node.js for its native TypeScript type stripping, which lets them skip the compile step,1234 and for being stable and good enough for most backend work.5678 The most common complaint is a fragile, fast-churning ecosystem,910 along with a bad reputation and a dislike of npm.111213
Why people recommend it
TypeScript support · 3
Native type stripping lets commenters run TypeScript directly without a compile step.
“Since both Bun and Node.js start up my large applications about twice as fast as the Typescript compiler executes I don't see any reason to bother.”
“Even for front end code destined for the browser I rely on Node's type stripping.”
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“Node.js is also more stable, and it has started supporting TypeScript out of the box.”
Stability · 3
Seen as more stable and less prone to breaking between releases than alternatives like Bun and Deno.
“I think I'll probably just go back to normal Node because it's stable and won't break things like this between minor releases”
“Node.js is also more stable, and it has started supporting TypeScript out of the box.”
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“I work on a ~9y old nodejs codebase, have none of those issues”
Good enough · 3
Commenters say Node is low-friction and has met their needs, so they see no reason to switch.
“The only reason I don't use Bun is I never ran into a situation where Node didn't cut it.”
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“Node is already powerful enough and well maintained.”
Built-in features · 1
Node has added --run, .env loading, watch mode and sqlite.
“Node at least picked up --run, TS stripping support, .env loading, watch mode, and sqlite”
Business logic focus · 1
Lets developers focus on business logic rather than memory management.
“I want to focus on business logic, so I use Node.js instead of Rust”
Caveats and dissent
Ecosystem churn · 2
The ecosystem is described as fragmented, fragile and exhausting to keep up with.
“getting tired of the nodejs ecosystem fragmentation and how fragile things feel”
“I'm not sold on NodeJS”
Reputation · 3
Some commenters dislike Node and npm, and one says Node has a bad reputation.
“Node.js has a bad reputation, full stop.”
“Always disliked Node.js and especially npm.”
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Cold starts · 1
One benchmark found Node 22 had about 50ms slower Lambda cold starts than Node 20.
“I found that Node 22 had ~50ms slower coldstarts than Node 20.”
Security · 1
One commenter's team picks Deno over Node for its security benefits.
Memory footprint · 1
A lighter runtime's author says it uses less memory than Node and ships a smaller binary.
“It uses less memory in a Hono app compared to Node.js and Bun.”
Often compared with
Who recommends it in their own words
Threads where it came up
- Cloudflare acquires Deno 3 mentions
- Why Vanilla JavaScript 3 mentions
- I am worried about Bun 2 mentions
- item 50225852 1 mention
- Tsrs: A Port of TypeScript to Rust 1 mention
- Go will reject certificate chains containing eight distrusted SPKIs 1 mention
Data: node-js.json. Quotes are verbatim; the verdict and theme labels are written by a model from these comments, and every clause links to its sources.
All comments 35
“started porting it to typescript to run on Node.js”
“Since both Bun and Node.js start up my large applications about twice as fast as the Typescript compiler executes I don't see any reason to bother.”
“Other certificate verifiers are doing the same:”
“Node has a bright future.”
“I've been using Node since 2013”
“I strongly believe Node.js semantics are likely the right ones for agents.”
“Node at least picked up --run, TS stripping support, .env loading, watch mode, and sqlite”
“Node does support this!”
“Why do you think the likes of nodejs dominates backend development?”
“Node.js has a bad reputation, full stop.”
“getting tired of the nodejs ecosystem fragmentation and how fragile things feel”
“I'm glad something like Go and Node came along”
“It uses less memory in a Hono app compared to Node.js and Bun.”
“I've used node.js for more than a decade now”
“I'm not sold on NodeJS”
“Node is already powerful enough and well maintained.”
“I am still going to use bun as a nice dev tool, and use node for production.”
“If Node is your web server then node does have a way to serve the code to the browser”
“In node it should be even easier than Go because Node added native type stripping starting with v22[2]”
“I want to focus on business logic, so I use Node.js instead of Rust”
“Even for front end code destined for the browser I rely on Node's type stripping.”
“I use Node.js 24.17 here.”
“Them move to a NodeJS script.”
“I think I'll probably just go back to normal Node because it's stable and won't break things like this between minor releases”
“I'm still using node/npm and it's... fine.”
Location: Istanbul, Türkiye (relocating to Guildford, UK in Sept 2026) Remote: Yes — full EU overlap; US-East evenings (UTC+3, moving to UTC+0) Willing to relocate: No Technologies: TypeScript, Node.js, NestJS, Fastify, Next.js, React, React Native/Expo, PostgreSQL/Prisma, Redis/BullMQ, Claude API, RAG, tool-calling/MCP, pgvector, Playwright Résumé/CV: https://github.com/denizcakiroglu322 Email: denizcakiroglu322@gma
“then back to basics with Node and PostgreSQL”
“The only reason I don't use Bun is I never ran into a situation where Node didn't cut it.”
“Node.js is also more stable, and it has started supporting TypeScript out of the box.”
“Node.js, Postgres & Redis”
“node is pretty awful”
“Tech we use: Node.js / TypeScript backend, Postgres, AWS, React.”
“I work on a ~9y old nodejs codebase, have none of those issues”
“Always disliked Node.js and especially npm.”
“I found that Node 22 had ~50ms slower coldstarts than Node 20.”