Bun 1.2 vs Node.js 24 vs Deno 2.0: The 2026 Production Benchmark

"Use Bun, it's faster." "Use Node, it's stable." "Use Deno, it's secure."

As a senior engineer, I am tired of the tweets. I want data.

In 2026, the landscape has shifted. Node.js 24 introduced a massive speedup to the V8 engine and finally added native TypeScript support (experimental). Bun reached version 1.2, promising stability alongside its insane speed. Deno 2.0 completely overhauled its npm compatibility layer.

So, I spent the last week building a production-grade benchmark suite. This isn't just "Hello World." This is:

1. 2.
   Database IO (SQLite & Postgres).
2. 4.
   WebSockets (10k concurrent connections).
3. 6.
   File System (Recursive reads/writes).
4. 8.
   React Server Side Rendering (RenderToPipeableStream).

Here are the results.

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Part 1: The Test Setup

We are running these tests on an AWS c7g.4xlarge instance (Graviton 3, 16 vCPUs, 32GB RAM). OS: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS.

Versions:

• Node.js: v24.2.0
• Bun: v1.2.4
• Deno: v2.1.0

All apps are using the same logic. We use Fastify for Node, Elysia for Bun, and Hono for Deno (as these are the "native" or best-performance frameworks for each).

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Part 2: HTTP Throughput (The "Hello World" of Benchmarks)

We blast the server with 1,000,000 requests using wrk.

The Code (Bun + Elysia):

typescript
import { Elysia } from 'elysia';
new Elysia().get('/', () => 'Hello Production').listen(3000);

The Code (Node + Fastify):

javascript
const fastify = require('fastify')();
fastify.get('/', async (request, reply) => 'Hello Production');
fastify.listen({ port: 3000 });

Result (Requests Per Second):

1. 2.
   🚀 Bun: 245,000 req/sec
2. 4.
   🦕 Deno: 180,000 req/sec
3. 6.
   🐢 Node: 95,000 req/sec

Analysis: Bun is still the king of raw I/O. Its usage of Zig and the lightweight HTTP parser gives it a 2.5x lead over Node. Deno has improved significantly due to its new Hyper-based HTTP server.

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Part 3: Database Writes (SQLite)

Real apps use databases. We insert 10,000 rows into a local SQLite DB using direct drivers (no ORM overhead).

Bun (Native SQLite): Bun has a built-in bun:sqlite module which is a C++ binding to SQLite. It is synchronous and crazy fast.

Node (Better-SQLite3): The gold standard for Node.

Result (Time to Insert 10k Rows):

1. 2.
   🚀 Bun: 12ms
2. 4.
   🦕 Deno: 45ms
3. 6.
   🐢 Node: 88ms

Analysis: Bun's native integration wins again. Because it doesn't have the overhead of crossing the C++ / JS bridge via N-API in the same way Node does, it can execute queries almost instantly.

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Part 4: The React SSR Test (CPU Bound)

This is the most "real-world" test for a frontend engineer. We render a complex React component tree (Depth: 50, Nodes: 5000) to a string.

Result (Ops/Sec):

1. 2.
   🐢 Node: 4,200 ops/sec
2. 4.
   🚀 Bun: 4,150 ops/sec
3. 6.
   🦕 Deno: 3,900 ops/sec

Wait... Node won? Yes. Use cases that are purely CPU-bound (like V8 execution of looping logic) are optimized heavily by the V8 team. Node's JIT warmup is extremely mature. Bun uses JavaScriptCore (from Safari). V8 (Chrome) is typically faster at raw computation than JavaScriptCore.

Takeaway: If your app involves heavy math or complex logic (crypto, image processing in JS), Node.js might still be faster.

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Part 5: The Compatibility Layer (The "Can I use npm?" Test)

Speed is useless if npm install fails.

Node.js: It's Node. Everything works. 10/10.

Bun: Bun 1.2 claims 99% Node compatibility. I tried installing:

• prisma: Works perfectly.
• next: Works perfectly.
• sharp (Native Image Library): Failed initially, had to use a special flag.
• grpc-js: Works.

Score: 9/10.

Deno: Deno 2.0 introduced npm: specifiers and a package.json compatibility mode.

• prisma: Works but requires deno run --allow-all.
• next: Hard to configure without a Deno-specific adapter.
• aws-sdk: Works great.

Score: 7.5/10.

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Part 6: Developer Experience (DX)

Here is where the subjective "feel" comes in.

Bun's DX is addictive.

• No ts-node. It just runs TypeScript.
• No jest. It has bun test.
• No dotenv. It reads .env automatically.
• No nodemon. bun --watch is built-in.

Going back to Node feels like stepping back 5 years. Configuring tsconfig.json, nodemon.json, .eslintrc.json, and jest.config.js takes 30 minutes. Bun takes 30 seconds.

Deno's DX is strict. Deno forces you to be "good." It forces secure permissions. It forces explicit imports. It feels like writing Go or Rust. For teams, this is great. For solo hackers, it can be annoying.

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Part 7: The "Production Readiness" Verdict

Is Bun ready for Production? For API Servers (Hono/Elysia) and Scripting? YES. The speed benefits are tangible, and the memory footprint (Bun uses 1/4th the RAM of Node) saves money on AWS Lambda / Fargate.

For Complex Monoliths (NestJS, Enterprise Apps)? Wait. There are still edge cases with specific C++ addons and subtle bugs in the HTTP client implementation that pop up in weird network conditions.

Is Deno ready for Production? YES—if you use Deno Deploy. The edge runtime is fantastic. But for self-hosting on EC2? It's harder to manage than a simple Node container.

Is Node Dead? No. Node is the "Java" of JavaScript managed runtimes. It is boring, stable, and backward compatible. V24 is fast enough. If you are a bank, use Node.

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Conclusion: What should you choose in 2026?

1. 2.
   Startups / Side Projects: Use Bun. The velocity is unmatched. The tooling is a joy.
2. 4.
   Enterprise / Legacy: Stick with Node 20+. The stability is worth the performance cost.
3. 6.
   Edge Functions: Use Deno (or Cloudflare Workers implementation).

I personally have migrated all my microservices (including the PDF Compressor backend) to Bun. The latency dropped by 60%, and my AWS bill dropped by 20%.

The runtime wars are good for us. They force Node to innovate. They force V8 to get faster. In the end, JavaScript wins.

Resources

• Bun 1.2 Release Notes
• Node.js Profiling Guide
• Deno 2.0 Migration

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About the Author: Sachin Sharma is a performance-obsessed Software Engineer. He contributes to the open-source Bun ecosystem and benchmarks production systems for fun.