Introduction

When web applications grow larger, so does the complexity in developing and maintaining the system. A common way to solve this issue is by using the microservice architecture, where developers break down systems into smaller well-managed components that can be individually managed and scaled.

To do this effectively, it’s often helpful to use a microservice framework. But choosing the right framework that natively supports microservices can be challenging. In this article, we are going to take a look at Encore.ts and Nest.js as the two relevant alternatives, since they both natively support microservices architectures and TypeScript.

Encore.ts is a newer open-source framework that stands out for its high performance, type-safety, and observability features. Nest.js on the other hand leads the TypeScript framework for building Microservices applications. Each of them has something strong to offer, so we will examine each framework in terms of architecture, performance, and scalability and explain how to determine which might work best for you.

Before we begin, let’s look at the benchmark data in the image below:

The benchmark data shows that Encore.ts can handle 121,005 requests per second without validation and 107,018 with schema validation. That’s significantly faster than traditional frameworks. For example, Express.js with Zod only hits about 15,707 requests per second without validation and 11,878 with it. So, Encore.ts is roughly 9 times quicker than Express, which Nestjs is built on.

Overview of Encore.ts and NestJS

When you’re starting a project, you want a framework that’s not only powerful but also easy for developers to use. Encore.ts and NestJS stands out when it comes to Microservice frameworks that has built-in support for Typescript, but they work in their own distinct ways.

Encore.ts is an open-source cloud-native framework designed for backend development with built-in infrastructure automation. It allows you to build modular distributed systems using declarative infrastructure libraries.

Encore.ts operates on a Rust runtime ****integrated with Node.js via napi for exceptional performance in handling I/O and multithreading while letting you write logic in TypeScript.

Here’s a simple example of how you can define a service in Encore.ts:

import { Service } from "encore.dev/service";

export default new Service("hello");

When this hello service is created, Encore.ts automatically treats the entire directory as part of the service—no extra configuration is needed.

On the other hand, NestJS has its own style. It’s a flexible TypeScript framework that lets you fully control how you build your app, giving you the freedom to structure things your way.

While it doesn’t handle infrastructure automation, NestJS makes it easy to integrate with nearly any third-party library, which opens up a lot of possibilities for different projects.

Here’s a look at how you could define a similar service in NestJS:

import { Controller, Get } from '@nestjs/common';

@Controller('hello')
export class HelloWorldController {
  @Get()
  sayHello(): string {
    return 'Hello, World!';
  }
}

NestJS offers you more flexibility but without the built-in automation found in Encore.ts.

Architecture and Design

The architecture of a framework dictates how your application is built and maintained over time. Both Encore.ts and NestJS are robust, but their core philosophies differ.

Encore.ts is opinionated and *cloud-first, making it ideal for large type-safe *distributed systems with many microservices. One of its standout features is native support for Pub/Sub, enabling event-driven architecture seamlessly.

Here's how you might define an event-driven service in Encore.ts using Pub/Sub:

import { Topic, Subscription } from "encore.dev/pubsub";

// Define the event type for order creation
export interface OrderCreatedEvent {
    orderId: string;
}

// Create a topic for order creation events
export const orders = new Topic("orders", {
    deliveryGuarantee: "at-least-once",
});

// Create a subscription to listen for the order creation event
export const _ = new Subscription(orders, "process-order", {
    handler: async (event: OrderCreatedEvent) => {
        console.log('Order created:', event.orderId);
    },
});

NestJS, while capable of supporting microservices and event-driven architectures, offers a more modular approach. Its core follows the MVC pattern, and it allows developers to build systems their way by providing greater control over configurations.

For example, here is how you can define a services and events in NestJS with a far more modularized approach:

// order.event.ts
export class OrderCreatedEvent {
  constructor(public readonly order: Order) {}
}

// order.repository.ts
@Injectable()
export class OrderRepository {
  async save(order: Order): Promise {
    // Persistence logic
  }
}

// order.service.ts
@Injectable()
export class OrderService {
  constructor(
    private readonly orderRepository: OrderRepository,
    private readonly eventEmitter: EventEmitter2
  ) {}

  async createOrder(orderDto: CreateOrderDto): Promise {
    const order = new Order(orderDto);

    const savedOrder = await this.orderRepository.save(order);

    this.eventEmitter.emit(
      'order.created',
      new OrderCreatedEvent(savedOrder)
    );

    return savedOrder;
  }
}

// order.listener.ts
@Injectable()
export class OrderEventListener {
  @OnEvent('order.created')
  async handleOrderCreatedEvent(event: OrderCreatedEvent) {
    // Handle event logic separately
  }
}

// order.module.ts
@Module({
  imports: [EventEmitterModule.forRoot()],
  providers: [
    OrderService,
    OrderRepository,
    OrderEventListener
  ],
  exports: [OrderService]
})
export class OrderModule {}

By design, NestJS grants a lot of control over how components will interact, but the downside is much more boilerplate and you will also have to manage the infrastructure configurations yourself.

Built-in Features and Extensibility

In the development of distributed systems, the features provided by the framework will often facilitate development at the risk of introducing over-complexity.

Encore.ts standout feature is that it provides ways of automating infrastructure provisioning, both in local development and in cloud environments. This includes databases, Pub/Sub, cron jobs, and more. Encore.ts also provides a local development dashboard that auto-generates API documentation, architecture diagrams, and distributed tracing. It also generates the frontend clients, including OpenAPI spec support for REST APIs, which can be a big time saver for developer.

Here is an example of defining a REST API in Encore.ts, which also automatically generates the OpenAPI documentation:

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

interface CreateOrderParams {
  productId: string;
  quantity: number;
}

interface OrderResponse {
  orderId: string;
  message: string;
}

export const createOrder = api(
  { method: "POST", path: "/orders", expose: true, auth: true },
  async (params: CreateOrderParams): Promise => {
    const orderId = "order123";
    return {
      orderId,
      message: `Order created for product ${params.productId} with quantity ${params.quantity}.`,
    };
  }
);

With Encore.ts, the moment you define your service, documentation and diagrams are automatically available without additional setup.

NestJS has been popular due to its flexibility. From day one, it supports REST, GraphQL, and WebSocket with ease, but the main thing behind its popularity is that it easily connects with third-party libraries.

For example, if you want to add GraphQL support, it’s a simple process.

import { Resolver, Query, Mutation, Args } from '@nestjs/graphql';

// Define a simple model for an order (this will be your GraphQL type)
class Order {
  id: string;
  product: string;
  quantity: number;
}

// Resolver to handle GraphQL queries and mutations
@Resolver(() => Order)
export class OrderResolver {
  // Array to store orders (simulating a database)
  private orders: Order[] = [];

  // Query to get all orders
  @Query(() => [Order], { name: 'getAllOrders' })
  getAllOrders(): Order[] {
    return this.orders;
  }

  // Mutation to create an order
  @Mutation(() => Order)
  createOrder(
    @Args('product') product: string,
    @Args('quantity') quantity: number,
  ): Order {
    const newOrder = { id: Date.now().toString(), product, quantity };
    this.orders.push(newOrder);
    return newOrder;
  }
}

NestJS makes it simple to build on its core features, but it doesn’t offer the same level of automated infrastructure and features as Encore.ts does.

Performance and Scalability

Performance is critical when building distributed systems, especially at scale.

Encore.ts is built for high performance with its Rust runtime, which handles I/O operations and multithreading efficiently. Rust’s speed and memory safety give Encore.ts a significant advantage over purely Node.js based frameworks. In terms of scalability, Encore.ts is cloud-native and can autoscale using serverless architecture or Kubernetes, depending on your deployment strategy.

NestJS, on the other hand, is more traditional in how it handles performance and scalability. Because NestJS is purely TypeScript and JavaScript-based, it relies on the performance optimizations you apply during setup. Scaling a NestJS app typically involves manually configuring Kubernetes, Docker, or serverless platforms like AWS Lambda.

While NestJS offers flexibility in how you scale, the configuration requires more manual effort than Encore.ts’s built-in automation.

Let’s understand the difference in performance between encore.ts and Nest.js from the benchmark data in the image below:

From the benchmark data, encore.ts stands out when it comes to performance, with a start time of just 8.3 milliseconds, while NestJS takes about 143.7 milliseconds, making it nearly nine times faster than traditional frameworks.

Deployment Strategies

How you deploy your application is a key consideration for any project, especially when thinking about cloud environments.

Encore.ts offers an easy path to deployment through its open-source tools or the Encore Cloud Platform. Using the open-source version, you can use encore build to build your project and create a Docker image, which can then be deployed anywhere Docker is supported:

encore build docker --services=service1,service2 --gateways=api-gateway MY-IMAGE:TAG

This creates a Docker image that can be deployed anywhere.

Alternatively, if you opt to use the Encore Cloud Platform, it automates the entire CI/CD pipeline, deploying directly to your own cloud on AWS or GCP with serverless or Kubernetes options.

In contrast, NestJS requires manual setup for deployment. Typically, developers use Docker to containerize NestJS applications and deploy them to a cloud provider of their choice. While this gives you control over your deployment strategy, it requires more configuration—even for a simple application you need to go through many steps:

1. Create a Dockerfile:

FROM node:18-alpine
WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm install
COPY . .
RUN npm run build
EXPOSE 3000
CMD ["npm", "run", "start:prod"]

1. Create a docker-compose.yml file:

version: '3.8'
services:
  api:
    build: .
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    environment:
      - NODE_ENV=production
      - DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:pass@db:5432/myapp
    depends_on:
      - db
  db:
    image: postgres:13
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_USER=user
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=pass
      - POSTGRES_DB=myapp

1. Create GitHub Actions workflow for NestJS

name: Deploy NestJS
on:
  push:
    branches: [ main ]
jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
      - name: Build and push Docker image
        run: |
          docker build -t myapp .
          docker push myregistry/myapp:latest
      - name: Deploy to cloud
        run: |
          # Add your cloud deployment commands here, e.g., kubectl apply, AWS ECS deploy, etc.

The larger your application becomes, and the more need you have for multiple staging and testing environments, the more burdensome this manual configuration approach becomes—continuously growing in terms of time spent on maintenance.

Use Case Considerations

When choosing between Encore.ts and NestJS, the decision should be based on the specific needs of your project.

Encore.ts is perfect for cloud-first applications and large distributed systems that benefit from built-in automation. It's Rust-powered runtime and infrastructure management makes it ideal for event-driven architectures, microservices, and high-performance applications. Encore’s fast growing community is a reliable source of support and finding ways of integrating third-party tools.

On the other hand, NestJS shines when flexibility and customization are needed. It’s well-suited for enterprise apps that require fine-grained control over every aspect, and where spending time on manual configuration is acceptable. NestJS’s relatively extensive ecosystem and community support make it easier to find resources and third-party tools.

Conclusion

Choosing between Encore.ts and NestJS comes down to your project’s specific needs.

If you’re looking for a simple, high-performance, cloud-native framework with built-in automation, Encore.ts is an excellent choice. It streamlines the development of distributed systems by managing infrastructure automatically, and its Rust-powered performance is hard to beat.

However, if you need a very flexible, modular framework that gives you control over every minute aspect, NestJS is probably the way to go. Its extensibility and large ecosystem make it a solid choice for custom enterprise solutions.

Both frameworks are powerful in their own right, and the best choice depends on whether you value performance and simplicity, or full flexibility and control.

Next steps

If performance and simplicity matters to your project, it might be a good idea to try out Encore.ts. And it's all Open Source, so you can check out the code and contribute on GitHub.