This is what bugs me about the Node.js cult - it's often compared with Rails, Django and Laravel which is just nonsense. Even Express isn't the same as plain Node. Plain Node.js is only comparable to something like Golang's net/http, Ruby's rack or raw imperative PHP with no classes. Once you add the kind of scaffolding included in Rails and Django Node.js slows down rapidly with significant memory bloat. Try Redwood - the latest Rails-in-Node and observe the memory footprint.