Hono is an ultralight framework that runs on edge runtimes like Cloudflare Workers, Deno, and Bun. Encore.ts takes a different approach, focusing on distributed systems with automatic infrastructure provisioning, type-safe service communication, and built-in observability.

Both frameworks are TypeScript-first. The choice depends on whether you're targeting edge deployments or building production backend systems with databases, services, and observability needs.

Quick Comparison

The Basics: Defining an API

Let's start with a simple REST endpoint.

Hono

import { Hono } from 'hono';

const app = new Hono();

app.get('/hello/:name', (c) => {
  const name = c.req.param('name');
  return c.json({ message: `Hello, ${name}!` });
});

export default app;

Hono's API is clean and familiar if you've used Express or similar frameworks. The context object (c) provides access to request data and response methods. The same code runs on Cloudflare Workers, Deno Deploy, or Node.js.

Encore.ts

import { api } from "encore.dev/api";

interface HelloResponse {
  message: string;
}

export const hello = api(
  { method: "GET", path: "/hello/:name", expose: true },
  async ({ name }: { name: string }): Promise<HelloResponse> => {
    return { message: `Hello, ${name}!` };
  }
);

Encore uses a declarative approach with explicit types for request and response. The framework handles server setup, routing, and validation.

Verdict: Both are straightforward for simple endpoints. Encore provides more structure with explicit typing and automatic validation.

Type Safety and Validation

Hono

Hono integrates with Zod for validation:

import { Hono } from 'hono';
import { zValidator } from '@hono/zod-validator';
import { z } from 'zod';

const app = new Hono();

const createUserSchema = z.object({
  email: z.string().email(),
  name: z.string().min(1),
});

app.post(
  '/users',
  zValidator('json', createUserSchema),
  async (c) => {
    const { email, name } = c.req.valid('json');
    return c.json({ id: 1, email, name });
  }
);

Hono also supports typed routes with the hc client:

import { Hono } from 'hono';
import { hc } from 'hono/client';

const app = new Hono()
  .get('/users/:id', (c) => {
    return c.json({ id: c.req.param('id'), name: 'John' });
  });

type AppType = typeof app;

// Type-safe client
const client = hc<AppType>('http://localhost:3000');
const res = await client.users[':id'].$get({ param: { id: '1' } });

Encore.ts

import { api } from "encore.dev/api";

interface CreateUserRequest {
  email: string;
  name: string;
}

interface User {
  id: number;
  email: string;
  name: string;
}

export const createUser = api(
  { method: "POST", path: "/users", expose: true },
  async (req: CreateUserRequest): Promise<User> => {
    return { id: 1, email: req.email, name: req.name };
  }
);

Encore validates requests based on TypeScript types. For additional constraints:

import { MinLen, IsEmail } from "encore.dev/validate";

interface CreateUserRequest {
  email: string & IsEmail;
  name: string & MinLen<1>;
}

Service-to-service calls are also type-safe:

import { users } from "~encore/clients";

// TypeScript error if types don't match
const user = await users.createUser({ email: "[email protected]", name: "John" });

Verdict: Encore uses native TypeScript types without requiring Zod. Encore also generates type-safe service clients automatically for microservices communication.

Runtime and Deployment

Hono

Hono's biggest strength is universal runtime support:

// Cloudflare Workers
export default app;

// Deno
Deno.serve(app.fetch);

// Bun
export default { fetch: app.fetch };

// Node.js
import { serve } from '@hono/node-server';
serve(app);

The same code runs at the edge (Cloudflare Workers, Deno Deploy), on serverless platforms (AWS Lambda, Vercel), or traditional servers.

Encore.ts

Encore targets Node.js with a Rust-based runtime:

# Local development
encore run

# Deploy to your AWS or GCP account
git push encore

Encore Cloud provisions infrastructure in your own cloud account (AWS or GCP). You can also self-host with Docker for deployment to any platform.

Verdict: Hono supports edge runtimes. Encore is focused on production backend systems with databases and services, deployed to your AWS or GCP account. For most backend use cases, Encore provides more complete infrastructure.

Infrastructure and Databases

This is where the frameworks diverge significantly.

Hono

Hono doesn't include infrastructure primitives. For databases, you bring your own:

import { Hono } from 'hono';
import { Pool } from 'pg';

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

const app = new Hono();

app.get('/users/:id', async (c) => {
  const id = c.req.param('id');
  const result = await pool.query(
    'SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = $1',
    [id]
  );
  return c.json(result.rows[0]);
});

For edge deployments, you'd use edge-compatible databases like Cloudflare D1, Turso, or PlanetScale:

import { Hono } from 'hono';

const app = new Hono<{ Bindings: { DB: D1Database } }>();

app.get('/users/:id', async (c) => {
  const id = c.req.param('id');
  const user = await c.env.DB
    .prepare('SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = ?')
    .bind(id)
    .first();
  return c.json(user);
});

Encore.ts

Encore provides infrastructure primitives:

import { api } from "encore.dev/api";
import { SQLDatabase } from "encore.dev/storage/sqldb";

const db = new SQLDatabase("users", { migrations: "./migrations" });

export const getUser = api(
  { method: "GET", path: "/users/:id", expose: true },
  async ({ id }: { id: string }) => {
    return await db.queryRow`SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = ${id}`;
  }
);

Running encore run provisions a local PostgreSQL database automatically. Deploying provisions RDS or Cloud SQL in your cloud account.

Encore also includes Pub/Sub, cron jobs, and object storage:

import { Topic, Subscription } from "encore.dev/pubsub";
import { CronJob } from "encore.dev/cron";
import { Bucket } from "encore.dev/storage/objects";

const userCreated = new Topic<{ userId: string }>("user-created", {
  deliveryGuarantee: "at-least-once",
});

const _ = new CronJob("cleanup", {
  title: "Daily cleanup",
  every: "24h",
  endpoint: cleanupEndpoint,
});

const uploads = new Bucket("uploads", { versioned: false });

Verdict: Hono is database-agnostic and works with edge databases. Encore provides integrated PostgreSQL with automatic provisioning plus additional infrastructure primitives. Choose Hono for edge-first architectures; choose Encore for traditional backend systems with databases.

Local Development

Hono

Local development uses standard Node.js tooling:

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Start development server
npm run dev

For databases, you set up your own:

# Start PostgreSQL with Docker
docker run -d -p 5432:5432 -e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=secret postgres

# Set environment variable
export DATABASE_URL=postgres://postgres:secret@localhost:5432/myapp

# Run your app
npm run dev

Encore.ts

encore run

Encore provisions local databases, runs migrations, and starts all services. The local development dashboard at localhost:9400 provides API testing and distributed tracing.

Verdict: Hono uses familiar tooling; Encore automates infrastructure setup. For projects with databases and multiple services, Encore saves significant setup time.

Middleware

Hono

Hono has a clean middleware system:

import { Hono } from 'hono';
import { logger } from 'hono/logger';
import { cors } from 'hono/cors';
import { jwt } from 'hono/jwt';

const app = new Hono();

// Built-in middleware
app.use('*', logger());
app.use('*', cors());

// JWT authentication
app.use('/api/*', jwt({ secret: process.env.JWT_SECRET }));

// Custom middleware
app.use('*', async (c, next) => {
  const start = Date.now();
  await next();
  console.log(`${c.req.method} ${c.req.url} - ${Date.now() - start}ms`);
});

app.get('/api/profile', (c) => {
  const payload = c.get('jwtPayload');
  return c.json({ userId: payload.sub });
});

Hono includes middleware for common needs: CORS, compression, caching, rate limiting, and authentication.

Encore.ts

Encore supports middleware and a specialized auth handler:

import { api, Gateway, middleware } from "encore.dev/api";
import { authHandler } from "encore.dev/auth";

// General middleware
const loggingMiddleware = middleware({}, async (req, next) => {
  const start = Date.now();
  const resp = await next(req);
  console.log(`Request took ${Date.now() - start}ms`);
  return resp;
});

// Auth handler
const auth = authHandler(async (params) => {
  const token = params.authorization.replace("Bearer ", "");
  const userId = await validateToken(token);
  return { userId };
});

export const gateway = new Gateway({ authHandler: auth });

// Protected endpoint
export const getProfile = api(
  { method: "GET", path: "/profile", auth: true, expose: true },
  async () => {
    const { userId } = getAuthData()!;
    return { userId };
  }
);

Verdict: Both have middleware systems. Encore provides structured authentication with type-safe auth data propagation across services.

Observability

Hono

Hono relies on external tooling for observability:

import { Hono } from 'hono';
import { logger } from 'hono/logger';

const app = new Hono();

// Basic request logging
app.use('*', logger());

// For tracing, integrate OpenTelemetry or platform-specific tools
// Cloudflare Workers have built-in analytics
// Other platforms require manual setup

Edge platforms like Cloudflare provide their own analytics. For comprehensive observability, you integrate external services.

Encore.ts

import { api } from "encore.dev/api";
import log from "encore.dev/log";

export const getUser = api(
  { method: "GET", path: "/users/:id", expose: true },
  async ({ id }: { id: string }) => {
    log.info("fetching user", { userId: id });
    // All database queries and service calls are traced automatically
    return { id, name: "John" };
  }
);

Every request is traced end-to-end. Database queries and service calls appear in traces automatically.

Verdict: Encore provides built-in observability. Hono relies on platform tools or external services. For comprehensive tracing without setup, Encore wins.

Microservices

Hono

Hono doesn't have built-in service communication. You handle it manually:

// users-service
const app = new Hono();
app.get('/users/:id', (c) => c.json({ id: c.req.param('id'), name: 'John' }));
export default app;

// orders-service
const app = new Hono();
app.post('/orders', async (c) => {
  const { userId } = await c.req.json();
  const response = await fetch(`${USERS_SERVICE_URL}/users/${userId}`);
  const user = await response.json();
  return c.json({ orderId: 1, user });
});

You manage URLs, error handling, and retries yourself.

Encore.ts

// users/api.ts
export const getUser = api(
  { method: "GET", path: "/users/:id", expose: true },
  async ({ id }: { id: string }) => {
    return { id, name: "John" };
  }
);

// orders/api.ts
import { users } from "~encore/clients";

export const createOrder = api(
  { method: "POST", path: "/orders", expose: true },
  async (req: CreateOrderRequest) => {
    const user = await users.getUser({ id: req.userId });
    return { orderId: 1, user };
  }
);

Service calls are type-safe function calls with automatic service discovery.

Verdict: Hono leaves service communication to you. Encore provides type-safe service calls with automatic discovery. For microservices, Encore significantly reduces complexity.

When to Choose Hono

Hono makes sense when:

• You're targeting edge deployments like Cloudflare Workers or Deno Deploy
• You need a lightweight framework with minimal overhead
• You want runtime flexibility to run the same code anywhere
• You're building serverless functions that don't need persistent infrastructure
• You prefer explicit control over everything

When to Choose Encore.ts

Encore.ts makes sense when:

• You're building backend systems with databases and services
• You want infrastructure automation for local development and production
• You need built-in observability without configuration
• You're building microservices and want type-safe service communication
• You want to deploy to your own AWS or GCP account
• You want infrastructure-aware code that AI agents can generate and deploy (with guardrails)

Getting Started

Try both with a small project:

• Hono Getting Started
• Encore.ts Quickstart
• Encore AI Integration for using Encore with AI coding agents

See also: Best TypeScript Backend Frameworks for a broader perspective on the TypeScript backend landscape.

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