LongHorn vs AdonisJS
AdonisJS is a convention-driven, full-featured MVC framework for Node.js with its own ORM, while LongHorn is a modular TypeScript framework on Hono with no ORM that also runs on Bun, Deno and Cloudflare Workers. AdonisJS is established; LongHorn is an early alpha.
How they differ
| LongHorn | AdonisJS | |
|---|---|---|
| Runtimes | Node, Bun, Deno, Cloudflare Workers | Node.js |
| Database | SQL, transactions and checksummed migrations, with no ORM | Includes an ORM |
| Structure | Explicit: you import and wire each module | Convention-driven MVC with a shared project layout |
| Built in | Auth, queues, schedules, cache, rate limits, outbox, observability, as optional modules | Routing, validation, ORM, auth, uploads, caching, rate limiting |
| Maturity | Early alpha, first release on npm | Established |
Choose AdonisJS if
- You want a complete, conventional framework working today.
- You want an ORM and an MVC structure out of the box.
Choose LongHorn if
- You want to run outside Node, including on Workers.
- You want durable delivery as a tested module, and can accept alpha status.