The difference is that the Django ecosystem really focuses on developer productivity and has strong best practices. Look at 5 different Express apps and you'll find 5 different ways of structuring models, controllers, and routes.

Plus the fact that Django has some suggested defaults allows you to be very productive with them. For example, I really haven't found any equivalent to DRF for Express.

I want to make it clear I'm not some Node hater. Probably half my projects are still in Node, but I do know I'm much high productivity in Django.

So really all we're seeking here is a standard for application layout. I really really dislike being forced into some heavy handed framework, not that Django is that, but it's on the topic of discussion.