Bun vs Deno vs Node.js: which JavaScript runtime actually wins in 2026? - Botmonster Tech

Bun vs Deno vs Node.js: which JavaScript runtime actually wins in 2026?<br>2026-07-08 16 minutes

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Subscribe<br>Short answer: Node.js<br>is still the safe default for production work that needs maximum ecosystem compatibility. Bun<br>has the fastest startup, installs, and test runner , and is the best fit for new projects that prioritize developer experience. Deno<br>is the most secure by default and the best TypeScript-first experience. Since the 2.9 release, it&rsquo;s also the fastest at raw HTTP throughput on my test bench. All three are production-ready in 2026, so the decision should come down to your constraints rather than benchmark headlines.<br>Single-core HTTP throughput on my test bench. The bars match the measurements below.<br>If you want the longer version, read on. One thing before you do: I didn&rsquo;t copy the benchmark numbers below from other posts. I ran all three runtimes on the same machine and caught my own load generator lying to me halfway through. Several numbers you&rsquo;ve probably seen elsewhere didn&rsquo;t survive the re-measurement.<br>Performance Benchmarks: I Ran Them Instead of Quoting Them<br>Benchmarks are where the runtime debates get loud. The numbers that circulate, including the table I almost published here, are usually stitched together from different people&rsquo;s tests, on different hardware, from different years. The ratios between the rows were never measured on the same machine, so comparing them is meaningless. Instead of recycling them, I benchmarked all three runtimes myself on one box : a 12-core Linux desktop (kernel 6.17) running Node.js 24.18.0 (the newest LTS), Bun 1.3.14, and Deno 2.9.1, all current as I write this. The HTTP test is a minimal JSON endpoint with per-request JSON.stringify and no framework. The server is pinned to a single core and loaded over 200 keep-alive connections for 15 seconds after a warmup pass. Every number was measured twice and the passes agreed within 2%. Every script, server file, and raw result lives in a companion benchmarks repo<br>, so you can check my work or rerun it on your own hardware.<br>What I measuredBun 1.3.14Deno 2.9.1Node.js 24.18.0HTTP throughput (JSON endpoint, single core)122,170 req/s133,093 req/s47,734 req/sProcess cold start (median of 15 runs)11 ms14 ms21 msCold-cache install, 585 packages5.8 s6.0 s*11.8 s (npm)Warm-cache install, same project0.17 s0.12 s*2.0 s (npm)200 trivial tests across 20 files, native runner0.02 s1.04 s0.14 sJSON.parse on a 3.3 MB payload11.9 ms12.1 ms14.3 msJSON.stringify on the same payload5.5 ms6.5 ms13.6 msIdle memory, plain HTTP server36 MB51 MB49 MBGreen marks the best result in each row, red the worst. * Deno links packages from a global cache instead of materializing the full node_modules tree, so its install does less disk work than npm or bun.<br>The mistake I made first<br>My first throughput run put Bun at 65,600 requests per second and Deno at 65,500 . Two runtimes, two different engines, two completely different HTTP stacks, separated by 0.15%. Numbers that identical are not a result. They are a symptom.<br>The load generator I reached for first was autocannon, which is itself a Node.js program . It tops out around 65,000 requests per second on my machine, so every server faster than that got clamped to the same ceiling. I was benchmarking my benchmark tool. The tell came when I pointed two autocannon processes at the same single-core Bun server. Together they pulled 115,000 req/s out of a server that had just &ldquo;measured&rdquo; 65,000. After switching to oha<br>, a load generator written in Rust, both fast runtimes nearly doubled. Node barely moved, because Node really was the bottleneck in its own test. The run.sh in the companion repo<br>now performs this as an automatic sanity check: after measuring, it points two parallel clients at the same server and warns you if their combined total beats a single client by more than 15%.<br>I mention this because plenty of published runtime benchmarks are built exactly this way: a JavaScript load tester, client and server sharing a machine, no sanity check. Four smells worth checking before you trust anyone&rsquo;s chart, including mine:<br>Two very different systems landing on nearly identical numbers. The harness is probably the ceiling.<br>A load generator written in the same language as the thing being benchmarked.<br>No runtime versions listed. Deno 1.x and Node 18 numbers still circulate as if they were current.<br>A table whose rows come from different sources and different hardware.<br>What holds up and what doesn&rsquo;t<br>The ranking you see everywhere, Bun first, Deno second, Node third, did not even survive the measurement. On current versions, Deno took the throughput lead: 133,000 requests per second to Bun&rsquo;s 122,000 . I can put a number on how fast...