Philosophy: The Best of Two Worlds
Ignis combines the structured, enterprise-grade development experience of LoopBack 4 with the speed and simplicity of Hono.
Enterprise patterns. Hono performance. Modern simplicity.The framework for developers who want structure without the weight.
The Framework Landscape
When building REST APIs with Node.js/Bun, developers choose from three categories of frameworks:
Express, Hono, Fastify, Koa
MinimalFreedom, speed, flexibility
Lightning fastTotal controlTiny footprintDIY architectureManual patterns
Ignis, Ts.ED
BalancedStructure with lighter footprint
Lighter weightSingle file buildFast startupESM nativeModern stack
NestJS, LoopBack 4, AdonisJS
EnterpriseStructure, patterns, conventions
Battle-testedRich ecosystemStrong typingHeavy footprintSteep learning
Honest Comparison
Performance & Runtime
Hono
Bun, Node, Deno, CF Workers
Ignis
Bun, Node
Fastify
Node only
NestJS
Node (Bun experimental)
LoopBack 4
Node only
Express
Node only
* Benchmarks are approximate and vary by use case
Developer Experience
| Aspect | Minimal (Hono/Express) | Enterprise (NestJS/LoopBack) | Ignis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setup Time | 5 minutes | 30+ minutes | 10 minutes |
| Learning Curve | Low | High | Medium |
| Boilerplate | Minimal | Heavy | Moderate |
| Type Safety | Manual | Excellent | Excellent |
| IDE Support | Basic | Excellent | Good |
| Documentation | Good | Excellent | Growing |
| Flexibility vs Convention | Total Freedom | Opinionated | Guided Flexibility |
Architecture & Patterns
| Feature | Minimal | Enterprise | Ignis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dependency Injection | Manual | Built-in (full-featured) | Built-in (simpler) |
| Layered Architecture | DIY | Enforced | Guided |
| Repository Pattern | DIY | Built-in | Built-in |
| Validation | 3rd party | Built-in (class-validator) | Zod |
| OpenAPI/Swagger | 3rd party | Built-in | Built-in |
| Authentication | DIY | Passport + Guards | Component |
Ecosystem & Maturity
| Aspect | Hono | NestJS | Ignis |
|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub Stars | ~20k | ~70k | New |
| Weekly Downloads | ~500k | ~3M | Starting |
| First Release | 2021 | 2017 | 2025 |
| Production Ready | Yes | Yes | Early stage |
| Corporate Backing | Cloudflare | Trilon | Independent |
| Official Plugins | 20+ | 50+ | Core only |
| Community Packages | Growing | Extensive | Few |
| LTS / Support | Active | Enterprise LTS | Planning |
The Ignis Synthesis
LoopBack 4
- DI Container
- Layered Architecture
- Components
- Decorators
+
Hono
- Blazing Speed
- Minimal Core
- Modern API
- Multi-Runtime
=
Ignis
- DI + Speed
- Structure + Simplicity
- Patterns + Performance
- Enterprise + Edge
What Each Approach Excels At
⚡ Minimal Frameworks
Hono, Express, Fastify
Strengths
- Maximum raw performance
- Complete architectural freedom
- Fastest time to first endpoint
- Smallest bundle/memory footprint
- Perfect for edge/serverless
- Huge ecosystem (Express has 50k+ packages)
Trade-offs
- Architecture decisions on your shoulders
- Patterns must be implemented manually
- Code structure varies per developer
- Harder to maintain as project grows
🔥 Ignis
The balanced choice
Strengths
- Enterprise patterns with Hono's performance
- Lighter weight than NestJS/LoopBack
- Modern TypeScript-first with Zod validation
- ESM native, Bun optimized
- Single file executable build with Bun
- Built on proven Hono foundation
- Scales from solo dev to large teams
Considerations
- Growing community and ecosystem
- Documentation expanding continuously
- Early adopter opportunity
🏢 Enterprise Frameworks
NestJS, LoopBack, AdonisJS
Strengths
- Battle-tested at massive scale
- Comprehensive, mature documentation
- Huge community & ecosystem (NestJS ~3M weekly downloads)
- Excellent for large teams & long-term projects
- Strong conventions prevent architectural chaos
- Easy to hire developers who know the framework
- Extensive third-party integrations
Trade-offs
- Higher resource consumption
- Steeper learning curve
- More boilerplate code
- Slower startup times
When Should You Use Ignis?
Medium API (10-100 endpoints)
✓ Yes
Structure prevents spaghetti code
Any team size (solo to large)
✓ Yes
Scales from solo dev to enterprise teams
Want DI without NestJS/LoopBack weight
✓ Yes
Lighter alternative, ESM native, enterprise patterns
Coming from NestJS/LoopBack
✓ Yes
Familiar patterns, better performance
Need database + auth + OpenAPI
✓ Yes
All built-in, ready to use
Performance is important
✓ Yes
Hono's speed with structure
Bun-first development
✓ Yes
Native Bun support, single file executable build
Growing from Hono project
✓ Yes
Easy migration, same foundation
3-5 endpoints, solo dev
? Maybe
Start with Hono, migrate later if needed
Quick prototype / MVP
✗ No
Use plain Hono for speed
Simple proxy / webhook
✗ No
Too much structure for simple tasks
Perfect For
Production APIs
10-100+ endpoints with enterprise patterns. Controllers, services, repositories — all built-in and ready.
Teams of Any Size
Solo developers to large teams. Consistent patterns, DI for testing, scales with your needs.
Performance-Critical Apps
Hono's speed with enterprise structure. ~140k req/s with full DI, validation, and OpenAPI.
Modern Bun Projects
ESM native, Bun optimized. Build to single executable file for easy deployment.
Choose the Right Tool
Use Hono/Fastify/Express When:
- Simple webhook handler — No structure overhead needed
- Edge/serverless functions — Minimal cold start, tiny bundle
- Rapid prototyping — Get something running in minutes
- 1-5 endpoint microservices — Structure adds complexity
- Maximum control needed — No conventions to follow
- Learning web development — Simpler mental model
Use NestJS/LoopBack When:
- Large team (10+ developers) — Strong conventions prevent chaos
- Enterprise with strict standards — Mature, battle-tested, auditable
- Extensive ecosystem needed — Many official and community modules
- Complex microservices — Built-in support for messaging, CQRS
- Hiring is a priority — Large talent pool familiar with it
- Long-term support critical — Corporate backing, LTS versions
Use Ignis When:
- Any size API (10-100+ endpoints) — Structure without heavy overhead
- Any team size — Scales from solo dev to enterprise teams
- Performance matters — Hono's speed with enterprise patterns
- Modern stack preferred — ESM native, Bun optimized, TypeScript-first
- Coming from NestJS/LoopBack — Familiar patterns, better performance
- Need built-in features — DI, validation, OpenAPI, auth ready to use
Why Choose Ignis
What You Get
- ~5x faster than NestJS/LoopBack
- Built-in DI, validation, OpenAPI, auth
- Structured codebase from day one
- Easier testing with dependency injection
- Single file build — compile to one executable with Bun
- Scales from solo dev to enterprise teams
What's Growing
- Community — expanding every day
- Documentation — continuously improving
- Ecosystem — core features ready, plugins coming
- LTS — planning for long-term support
Summary
Performance: Near Hono speed with enterprise features
Architecture: Clean DI, layered structure, patterns
Features: Validation, OpenAPI, auth built-in
Modern: ESM native, single file build, TypeScript-first
Scalable: Solo dev to enterprise teams
Growing: Active development, expanding ecosystem
IGNIS is ideal for developers who want enterprise patterns with modern performance. Start building today with structure that scales.