Why Use .then() When Async/Await Is Cleaner?

series: JavaScript Deep Dives

If you ask any modern JavaScript developer how to handle asynchronous code, they will almost certainly tell you to use async/await. It reads like synchronous code, eliminates callback nesting, and works beautifully with standard try/catch blocks.

So why does .then() still exist? Is it just legacy technical debt, or does it actually have legitimate use cases in 2026?

Let’s look at why .then() is still a vital tool in your JavaScript toolkit.

1. Fire-and-Forget Operations (Non-Blocking Tasks)

Why Use .then() When Async/Await Is Cleaner?

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