is HonoJs learning worth it in 2025?

[faisalhrbk]

with options like Express.js, Fastify, and Bun available, is it still worth learning in 2025? Would you recommend it for beginners like me or only for experienced developers who know other frameworks and learning is as fun?

[callumthomson]

Express is still king in terms of adoption, because it's been around for a long time, and is still the go-to in many professional settings. So if you want a job, you should definitely have Express in your toolkit. Bun is not a framework - it is a runtime, like NodeJS. You can use Hono on Bun.

The thing about the JS ecosystem is it moves quickly and there's lots of backend frameworks, but they tend to be quite un-opinionated, so they're pretty simple to pick up. You can probably dedicate a couple days to Express, a couple to Fastify, and a couple to Hono and have a very decent understanding of them at the end. This would also help you understand the similarities/differences and strengths/weaknesses of different frameworks better, and develop your own personal taste as a developer.

I like Hono for the different edge/runtimes it's supports with documentation, but I wouldn't reach for it for every project.