Hey everyone! I'm diving into a new project and trying to figure out which frameworks and libraries to use in 2025. After hearing for years that Express is outdated, I decided to give Koa a shot because it was supposed to be simpler and less bloated. But honestly, my first hour with it has me frustrated.
For starters, Koa doesn't come with built-in TypeScript support, so I have to deal with `@types` packages. Then, I find out that I need a separate library, koa-router, just to set up a POST request, along with another `@types` for that.
It doesn't stop there; accessing a JSON request body requires yet another library, Body Parser! This was supposed to be the deal-breaker for Express, and now Koa feels just as painful.
Trying to find decent documentation leads me to old posts on GitHub and Stack Overflow, many of which are outdated thanks to substantial changes from Koa 1 to Koa 2.
Honestly, I'm at a loss here. Is Koa really worth it, or are people just using it to spite Express? It feels like I need to read three different sets of docs and install a bunch of extensions just to get the same results as Express. What's the real advantage of using Koa?
3 Answers
Honestly, you might want to ditch the noise and just stick with what works for you. Switching libraries constantly won't make you a better coder. Find a tool that solves your specific problem rather than hopping on trends.
It’s funny, I thought using more stacks and libraries made me a senior developer, but it’s really about ignoring the trends that don’t help. Maybe Koa was a bit ahead of the curve, but now it seems like it’s lagging behind. Check out Hono or Nitro for possibly better options!
Koa had a lot of potential, but now it feels like it’s missed the boat a bit. There are definitely newer frameworks emerging that are simpler and more intuitive, so you might explore those instead!
We’ve all switched libraries just because something seems 'outdated' when it still just works. Sometimes it's best to just stick with what you know!
I get that, but some libraries definitely offer better performance and modern features. Just gotta find a good fit like Drizzle instead of Sequelize or Got as a lighter Axios alternative. Koa feels more like a chore right now.