Hono: Pricing, Features & Alternatives
Hono is a small, ultrafast web framework that runs anywhere JavaScript does: Cloudflare Workers, Bun, Deno, Node, and more. Built on web standards with great TypeScript support, it's a top pick for edge-first APIs and saw strong growth in 2026.
Who it’s for: TypeScript developers building APIs for Cloudflare Workers, Bun, Deno or Node who want one small framework that runs on all of them.
Category
Backend Framework
Pricing
Free tier available
Free tier
Yes
Best for
Backend Framework: edge, Web Standards, TypeScript
Hono at a Glance
- What it is
- Web framework for JavaScript runtimes
- Language
- TypeScript
- Current version
- Not shown on the vendor page
- Licence
- MIT
- Maintained by
- Yusuke Wada and contributors
Checked November 2026 against Hono docs, Hono on GitHub.
Hono Pricing Plans (2026)
| Plan | Price |
|---|---|
| Open SourcePopular | $0 (open source) |
Pricing summary: Free. Always confirm current pricing on the official site.
Key Hono Features
- Built on Web Standards with zero dependencies; the hono/tiny preset is under 14 kB minified
- Runs on Cloudflare Workers, Fastly Compute, Deno, Bun, Vercel, Netlify, AWS Lambda and Node.js
- RPC mode: share route types with the client through the hc helper
- Built-in middleware for JWT, Basic and Bearer auth, CORS, compression, ETag and secure headers, plus JSX
- Open source under MIT, created by Yusuke Wada
Pros
- +Tiny bundle (hono/tiny is under 14 kB)
- +Runs on edge runtimes
- +Great TypeScript DX
- +Standards-based
Cons
- −Younger than Express
- −Smaller (but growing) ecosystem
Best Hono Alternatives
Compare all
Hono Compared
Hono FAQ
What is Hono used for?⌄
Hono is a backend framework tool. Small, edge-first web framework for any JS runtime (Cloudflare, Bun, Deno, Node), built on Web Standards.
Is Hono free?⌄
Yes. Hono has a free tier you can start with, and paid plans for more usage and features.
How much does Hono cost?⌄
Hono is free to use.
What are the best Hono alternatives?⌄
Popular Hono alternatives include Go (Golang), Java / Spring Boot, Python / FastAPI, Django, NestJS. Compare pricing and features on our Hono alternatives page.
Not sure if Hono fits your stack?
Get a free, AI-powered tech stack tailored to your budget, app type, and team size, including the best backend framework pick for you.
Build my stack free