Most teams pick Express because they've always picked Express. It's familiar, battle-tested, and surrounded by a rich ecosystem of middleware. But per-request overhead in Express is measurably higher than in modern alternatives, and 2026 benchmarks make that gap impossible to ignore.
When your SaaS platform is processing thousands of API calls per second, that overhead compounds fast. This guide gives you a clear, honest comparison so you can make a decision grounded in real trade-offs, not habit or hype.
Key Takeaways
Point
Details
