Django vs Spring Boot vs Express.js – Best Backend for Fintech | Tech | Business

The fintech industry is expanding and has become a unique part of the global financial sector. With over 30,000 fintech startups, the global funding reached over 118.2 billion U.S. dollars in 2023.

The success of fintech is hugely linked to the growing digitalisation. Several fintechs offer software products as their main or complementary services.

Therefore, it is vital to have a strong backend technology to provide the necessary infrastructure for fintech platform functionality.

The backend handles the server-side operations of web applications that are not visible to the user.

This is crucial for app functionality, encompassing server setup and maintenance, database management, API integration and strict data security.

Given the complexity of functions of the backend development, it is obvious that securely and competently handling and storing financial data should be core in any fintech company.

Some common backend frameworks include Express.js (Node.js), Django (Python), Flask (Python), Ruby on Rails (Ruby), Laravel (PHP), Spring Boot (Java), and ASP.NET Core (C).

While there are several backend frameworks, fintech needs to analyse the challenges and difficulties of their backend before choosing one that best suits them.

This article will guide you on which framework, between Django, Spring Boot, and Express.js, is best for setting up your fintech backend technologies.

Table of Content

Django, Spring Boot and Express.js Frameworks: A Closer Look
Factors to Consider When Choosing a Backend Framework
Final Note

Django, Spring Boot and Express.js Frameworks: A Closer Look

Django

Django is a high-level Python web framework released in 2005. It is the most popular backend framework and an open-source framework that is scalable and customisable. It contains everything that a developer may require. The framework excels in rapid development and clean and pragmatic design. This makes it a popular choice for building scalable, secure web applications.

Features:

Scalability: Django is designed to grow with your project. It allows you to scale up your app as required.
Ease of Use: Dajngo is designed to make developers’ lives easier through several built-in tools for common tasks such as creating admin panels, managing website layouts, and handling databases.
Performance: Django is quick to start with and can keep your app running fast, especially when it gets big.
Compatibility: Django works closely with Python tools and cloud services. It prefers SQL databases like PostgreSQL. Django is not suitable for languages like Javascript.

Advantages

Offers extensive ecosystem and community support
Django features strong security that helps prevent web vulnerabilities and handle sensitive data.
It offers a built-in, user-friendly admin interface for easy content management.
It is versatile and can be used to build various types of applications.

Disadvantages

The monolithic design structure makes it unsuitable for microservices-based projects.

Spring Boot

Spring Boot is an open-source and lightweight Java-based framework released in 2014. It contains a spring core container, which is a module providing containers., It is used for creating stand-alone applications.

Spring Boot offers extensions for creating web applications and renders configurable security methods. Its useful functionalities include transaction management, monitoring, caching and security. Unlike Django, Spring Boot offers microservices.

Features:

Scalability: Spring Boot is a great option for making apps that grow. It uses Java, which makes it easier to break apps into smaller parts that can be improved separately.
Ease of Use: Spring Boot sets up a lot of things, making starting a project a lot easier. It offers a lot of guides and help that makes it easier to use.
Performance: Spring Boot includes several features that make working with it better. With the right adjustment, it handles a lot of work efficiently.
Compatibility: Spring Boot needs Java 8 or newer to work with main servers and databases like MySQL and MongoDB. It is great for building apps that run on cloud platforms like AWS and Azure.

Advantages

Spring Boot allows developers to create applications quickly with fewer configurations.
Offers support for microservices architecture
It is ideal for enterprise-grade applications

Disadvantages

It requires knowledge of Java and the Spring ecosystem
It has a steeper learning curve
As an enterprise-level framework, it may add some overhead in the interim of file size.

Express.js

Express.js is a minimalistic and flexible Node.js framework. Released in 2010, Express is written in JavaScript, which supports REST API applications. It is known for its speed and simplicity and is used for building interactive mobile and web applications. Express.js allows for the creation of single-page, multi-page and hybrid pages. It integrates with NoSQL, MongoDB and Node.js.

Express j.s. - Best Backend for Fintech — Source: Express

Features:

Scalability: js can handle growing pretty well because it’s built on Node.js. Adding Redis, for instance, can enhance Express by taking the pressure off your database.
Ease of Use: Express is easy to use for developers familiar with Node.js. This makes setting up the basics, like routes and templates, really simple.
Performance: js handles tasks efficiently due to Node.js and can be used to keep things speedy due to its simple design. Quick and efficient apps can be built right from the start.
Compatibility: js works on Node.js, which makes it run on any database that Node.js works with, such as MongoDB and PostgreSQL. It works well with cloud platforms like AWS and Azure.

Advantages

It is fast and lightweight, making it ideal for building high-performance applications.
It offers an extensive ecosystem of middleware and Node.js packages for added functionality like handling HTTP requests and parsing data.

Disadvantages

The asynchronous programming with callbacks can lead to complex code structures.
Express is lightweight and requires additional packages for certain functionalities.

Factors to Consider When Choosing a Backend Framework

It is essential to know what tasks are attributed to backend technologies, the project requirements, the complexity of the application, the development expertise, programming language familiarity, and team skills. This understanding forms your decision-making processes.

The major areas of backend technologies in fintech include data management, security, API development, server-side logic, integration, deployment and CI/CO, monitoring and maintenance, error handling and logging, performance optimization, and compliance and regulations.

Therefore, to achieve the above efficiently, you must assess:

Project requirement and complexity: A robust and scalable backend framework is required for complex business logic, high traffic and intricate data manipulation. For small projects or minimum viable projects (MVPs), lightweight frameworks such as Express.js (Node.js) are ideal. At the same time, Django (Python) or Spring Boot (Java) are best for more extensive and large-scale applications.
Performance, Speed and Scalability: Frameworks that can scale to accommodate many users and offer real-time features without bogging down include Django. A framework like Express.js is known for high performance, and it is ideal for heavy use without slowing down.
Language Familiarity and Team Skills: Your team’s familiarity with a particular framework should be considered. If your team is familiar with Javascript, you should consider Express.js, which allows full-stack Javascript development. If Java is your team’s language, Spring Boot offers a robust framework. While Django is a go-to framework if your team prefers Python.
Security Features: Security remains a key part of fintech and backend development. For instance, Django is known for its robust security features, making it a top choice for security-focused projects.
Regulatory compliance: Choose a framework that is relevant to financial regulations.
Compatibility: Any chosen framework must work well with other tools and technology you are already using. Node.js framework (Express.js) works well with Lambda.

Final note…

Choosing a backend technology for fintech is a crucial part and should be made through careful consideration. The project requirements should form the decision-making process, including other significant factors. Any chosen framework must align with the business objectives and needs for both the short and long term.

About Olufemi Titlayo Samuel