Bun 1.4 vs Node.js 26 / 24 LTS Comparison

// Bun 1.4 — HTTP/2-enabled native server (Bun.serve) + built-in SQL client
// bun run server.ts runs TypeScript directly, no transpile step needed

import { SQL } from "bun";

// Bun's built-in SQL client: queries are written as tagged templates
const db = new SQL(process.env.DATABASE_URL!);

const server = Bun.serve({
  port: 3000,
  // Since Bun v1.4.1, Bun.serve supports native HTTP/2
  http2: true,
  async fetch(req: Request): Promise<Response> {
    const url = new URL(req.url);

    if (url.pathname === "/api/users" && req.method === "GET") {
      const users = await db`SELECT id, name FROM users LIMIT 20`;
      return Response.json(users);
    }

    if (url.pathname === "/api/upload" && req.method === "POST") {
      const body = await req.formData();
      const file = body.get("file") as File;
      // Bun.write streams to disk, no extra buffer copy needed
      await Bun.write(`./uploads/${file.name}`, file);
      return Response.json({ ok: true, size: file.size });
    }

    return new Response("Not Found", { status: 404 });
  },
});

console.log(`Bun server listening on port ${server.port} (HTTP/2 enabled)`);

// Install dependencies with bun install — produces npm-compatible node_modules
// $ bun install
// $ bun test
// $ bun build ./server.ts --outdir ./dist --target bun

// Node.js 24 LTS — direct TS via native http module + type-stripping
// Type stripping default since v23.6.0/v22.18.0, stable since v25.2.0/v24.12.0: only "erasable syntax" TS support
// node server.ts (runs flag-free on 24.12+ and 26.x; use --no-strip-types to disable)

import { createServer } from "node:http";
import { readFile, writeFile } from "node:fs/promises";
import { Pool } from "pg";

const pool = new Pool({ connectionString: process.env.DATABASE_URL });

const server = createServer(async (req, res) => {
  const url = new URL(req.url ?? "/", `http://${req.headers.host}`);

  if (url.pathname === "/api/users" && req.method === "GET") {
    const result = await pool.query("SELECT id, name FROM users LIMIT 20");
    res.writeHead(200, { "Content-Type": "application/json" });
    res.end(JSON.stringify(result.rows));
    return;
  }

  if (url.pathname === "/api/report" && req.method === "GET") {
    // Run CPU-intensive work with worker_threads without blocking the main thread
    const { Worker } = await import("node:worker_threads");
    const worker = new Worker("./report-worker.js");
    worker.once("message", (report) => {
      res.writeHead(200, { "Content-Type": "application/json" });
      res.end(JSON.stringify(report));
    });
    return;
  }

  res.writeHead(404);
  res.end("Not Found");
});

server.listen(3000, () => {
  console.log("Node.js server listening on port 3000");
});

// Install dependencies with npm install
// $ npm install
// $ node --test