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ExpressJS vs Socket.IO: What are the differences?
What is ExpressJS? Sinatra inspired web development framework for node.js -- insanely fast, flexible, and simple. Express is a minimal and flexible node.js web application framework, providing a robust set of features for building single and multi-page, and hybrid web applications.
What is Socket.IO? Realtime application framework (Node.JS server). Socket.IO enables real-time bidirectional event-based communication. It works on every platform, browser or device, focusing equally on reliability and speed.
ExpressJS can be classified as a tool in the "Microframeworks (Backend)" category, while Socket.IO is grouped under "Realtime Backend / API".
Some of the features offered by ExpressJS are:
- Robust routing
- HTTP helpers (redirection, caching, etc)
- View system supporting 14+ template engines
On the other hand, Socket.IO provides the following key features:
- Real-time analytics - Push data to clients that gets represented as real-time counters, charts or logs.
- Binary streaming - Starting in 1.0, it's possible to send any blob back and forth: image, audio, video.
- Instant messaging and chat - Socket.IO's "Hello world" is a chat app in just a few lines of code.
"Simple", "Node.js" and "Javascript" are the key factors why developers consider ExpressJS; whereas "Real-time", "Event-based communication" and "Node.js" are the primary reasons why Socket.IO is favored.
ExpressJS and Socket.IO are both open source tools. It seems that Socket.IO with 46.9K GitHub stars and 8.54K forks on GitHub has more adoption than ExpressJS with 44.6K GitHub stars and 7.48K GitHub forks.
According to the StackShare community, ExpressJS has a broader approval, being mentioned in 854 company stacks & 790 developers stacks; compared to Socket.IO, which is listed in 561 company stacks and 397 developer stacks.
We are starting to work on a web-based platform aiming to connect artists (clients) and professional freelancers (service providers). In-app, timeline-based, real-time communication between users (& storing it), file transfers, and push notifications are essential core features. We are considering using Node.js, ExpressJS, React, MongoDB stack with Socket.IO & Apollo, or maybe using Real-Time Database and functionalities of Firebase.

I would recommend looking hard into Firebase
for this project, especially if you do not have dedicated full-stack or backend members on your team.
The real time database, as you mentioned, is a great option, but I would also look into Firestore
. Similar to RTDB, it adds more functions and some cool methods as well. Also, another great thing about Firebase is you have easy access to storage and dead simple auth as well.
Node.js
Express
MongoDB
Socket.IO
and Apollo
are great technologies as well, and may be the better option if you do not wish to cede as much control to third parties in your application.
Overall, I say if you wish to focus more time developing your React
application instead of other parts of your stack, Firebase
is a great way to do that.

Hello Noam 👋,
I suggest taking a look at Ably, it has all the realtime features you need and the platform is designed to guarantee critical functionality at scale.
Here is an in depth comparison between Ably and Firebase
Pros of ExpressJS
- Simple375
- Node.js331
- Javascript241
- High performance192
- Robust routing150
- Middlewares71
- Open source70
- Great community57
- Hybrid web applications36
- Well documented13
- Sinatra inspired9
- Rapid development8
- Isomorphic js.. superfast and easy7
- Socket connection5
- Light weight5
- Npm4
- Resource available for learning4
- Event loop3
- Callbacks3
- Data stream2
Pros of Socket.IO
- Real-time214
- Event-based communication141
- Node.js141
- WebSockets102
- Open source101
- Binary streaming26
- No internet dependency21
- Large community10
- Fallback to polling if WebSockets not supported9
- Push notification6
- Ease of access and setup5
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Cons of ExpressJS
- Not python26
- Overrated17
- No multithreading14
- Javascript7
- Not fast5
- Easily Insecure for Novices2
Cons of Socket.IO
- Bad documentation11
- Githubs that complement it are mostly deprecated4
- Doesn't work on React Native3
- Websocket Errors2
- Small community2