express-rate-limitv8.7.0, 29 Aug 2026
Basic IP rate-limiting middleware for Express. Use to limit repeated requests to public APIs and/or endpoints such as password reset.
$ npm install express-rate-limitrate-limiter-flexiblev11.2.1, 17 Sept 2026
Node.js atomic and non-atomic counters, rate limiting tools, protection from DoS and brute-force attacks at scale
$ npm install rate-limiter-flexible| Metric | express-rate-limit | rate-limiter-flexible | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly downloads | 45,050,423 | 2,047,800 | express-rate-limit 22.0x higher |
| 12-month download growth | +514% | +95% | express-rate-limit +418 pts |
| Gzip size | - | - | - |
| Minified size | - | - | - |
| Dependencies | 2 | 0 | express-rate-limit 2 more |
| Unpacked size | 151 kB | 225 kB | express-rate-limit 49% smaller |
| Latest release | 8.7.0, 29 Aug 2026 | 11.2.1, 17 Sept 2026 | rate-limiter-flexible 20 days more recent |
| Releases, last 12 months | 17 | 19 | rate-limiter-flexible 2 more |
| First published | 11 Dec 2014 | 6 May 2018 | express-rate-limit 3.4 years earlier |
| GitHub stars | 3,306 | 3,589 | rate-limiter-flexible +9% |
| Open issues | 3 | 7 | rate-limiter-flexible 4 more |
| Open pull requests | 3 | 2 | express-rate-limit 1 more |
| Contributors | 82 | - | - |
| Commits, last 52 weeks | 126 | 124 | express-rate-limit +2% |
| TypeScript types | Bundled | Bundled | Same |
| Module format | ESM + CommonJS | CommonJS | Differs |
| Runtimes | - | - | - |
| License | MIT | ISC | Differs |
Green marks the smaller size or the more recent release. Bold marks the higher count, with no judgement implied. Sizes are for the whole package per Bundlephobia. Growth compares the average of the last 4 weeks with the first 4 weeks of the 52-week series.
express-rate-limit45.1m latest weekrate-limiter-flexible2m latest week
Week of 23 Sept 2025Week of 15 Sept 2026
express-rate-limit
Major versions
- 1.0.011 Dec 2014
- 2.0.029 Sept 2015
- 3.0.021 Aug 2018
- 4.0.021 May 2019
- 5.0.08 Jun 2019
- 6.0.024 Dec 2021
- 7.0.012 Sept 2023
- 8.0.015 Jul 2025
Last 5 releases
- 8.7.029 Aug 2026
- 8.6.24 Aug 2026
- 8.6.126 Jul 2026
- 8.6.016 Jul 2026
- 8.5.214 May 2026
124 releases in total, 17 in the last 12 months
rate-limiter-flexible
Major versions
- 0.0.16 May 2018
- 1.0.020 Apr 2019
- 2.0.09 Feb 2020
- 3.0.029 Aug 2023
- 4.0.016 Dec 2023
- 5.0.015 Feb 2024
- 6.0.012 Mar 2025
- 7.0.05 Apr 2025
- 8.0.025 Sept 2025
- 9.0.029 Nov 2025
- 10.0.014 Mar 2026
- 11.0.03 Apr 2026
Last 5 releases
- 11.2.117 Sept 2026
- 11.2.08 Jun 2026
- 11.1.15 Jun 2026
- 11.1.06 May 2026
- 11.0.22 May 2026
196 releases in total, 19 in the last 12 months
express-rate-limit
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rate-limiter-flexible
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express-rate-limit
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rate-limiter-flexible
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- Need no runtime dependenciesrate-limiter-flexible (express-rate-limit has 2, rate-limiter-flexible has 0)
- Need both ESM and CommonJS entry pointsexpress-rate-limit (express-rate-limit: ESM + CommonJS; rate-limiter-flexible: CommonJS)
- Need to load it with require()Both
- Need TypeScript types in the package itselfBoth
- Node.js version requirementexpress-rate-limit: >= 16; rate-limiter-flexible: none declared (engines field in package.json)
- Need the more recent releaserate-limiter-flexible (11.2.1 on 17 Sept 2026 vs 8.7.0 on 29 Aug 2026)
- Higher weekly npm downloadsexpress-rate-limit (45.1m vs 2m)
- Licenseexpress-rate-limit: MIT; rate-limiter-flexible: ISC
Each line is generated from the data above.
express-rate-limit: express-rate-limit npm registry, express-rate-limit npm downloads, express-rate-limit GitHub, express-rate-limit jsDelivr. Data fetched 25 Sept 2026.
rate-limiter-flexible: rate-limiter-flexible npm registry, rate-limiter-flexible npm downloads, rate-limiter-flexible GitHub. Data fetched 25 Sept 2026.
Indexability: Indexed.