Node.js HTTP Request Libraries: Six Methods, Code Samples, and Comparison

This article presents six ways to perform HTTP requests in Node.js, using the Juejin community category API as a demonstration. It first installs the chalk library to colorize console output.

Node.js HTTPS Module

The built‑in https module requires no external dependencies and can handle simple requests.

const chalk = require("chalk")
const https = require('https')

https.get('https://api.juejin.cn/tag_api/v1/query_category_briefs', res => {
    let list = [];
    res.on('data', chunk => { list.push(chunk); });
    res.on('end', () => {
        const { data } = JSON.parse(Buffer.concat(list).toString());
        data.forEach(item => {
            console.log(`${chalk.yellow.bold(item.rank)}.${chalk.green(item.category_name)}`);
        })
    });
}).on('error', err => {
    console.log('Error: ', err.message);
});

Axios

Axios is a popular Promise‑based HTTP client that works both in browsers and Node.js, offering interceptors and automatic JSON conversion.

npm i -S axios

const chalk = require("chalk")
const axios = require('axios');

axios.get('https://api.juejin.cn/tag_api/v1/query_category_briefs')
    .then(res => {
        const { data } = res.data;
        data.forEach(item => {
            console.log(`${chalk.yellow.bold(item.rank)}.${chalk.green(item.category_name)}`);
        })
    })
    .catch(err => {
        console.log('Error: ', err.message);
    });

Got

Got is a human‑friendly, feature‑rich HTTP request library that supports Promise API, HTTP/2, pagination, and caching.

npm i -S [email protected]

const chalk = require("chalk")
const got = require('got');

got.get('https://api.juejin.cn/tag_api/v1/query_category_briefs', { responseType: 'json' })
    .then(res => {
        const { data } = res.body;
        data.forEach(item => {
            console.log(`${chalk.yellow.bold(item.rank)}.${chalk.green(item.category_name)}`);
        })
    })
    .catch(err => {
        console.log('Error: ', err.message);
    });

Needle

Needle is a lightweight library offering both callback and Promise interfaces, with automatic XML/JSON conversion.

npm i -S needle

const chalk = require("chalk")
const needle = require('needle');

needle.get('https://api.juejin.cn/tag_api/v1/query_category_briefs', (err, res) => {
    if (err) return console.log('Error: ', err.message);
    const { data } = res.body;
    data.forEach(item => {
        console.log(`${chalk.yellow.bold(item.rank)}.${chalk.green(item.category_name)}`);
    })
})

Superagent

Superagent is an early, progressive HTTP client with a chainable API similar to Axios, but requires manual JSON parsing.

npm i -S superagent

const chalk = require("chalk")
const superagent = require('superagent');

superagent.get('https://api.juejin.cn/tag_api/v1/query_category_briefs')
    .then(res => {
        const { data } = JSON.parse(res.text);
        data.forEach(item => {
            console.log(`${chalk.yellow.bold(item.rank)}.${chalk.green(item.category_name)}`);
        })
    })
    .catch(err => {
        console.log('Error: ', err.message);
    });

node‑fetch

node‑fetch mirrors the browser fetch API, providing a familiar Promise‑based interface; version 2.6.7 is used for compatibility.

npm i -S [email protected]

const chalk = require("chalk")
const fetch = require('node-fetch');

fetch('https://api.juejin.cn/tag_api/v1/query_category_briefs', { method: 'GET' })
    .then(async res => {
        let { data } = await res.json();
        data.forEach(item => {
            console.log(`${chalk.yellow.bold(item.rank)}.${chalk.green(item.category_name)}`);
        })
    })
    .catch(err => {
        console.log('Error: ', err.message);
    });

Comparison

The article shows a download‑trend chart for the past year, indicating that node-fetch has the highest downloads while needle is the least popular. It also lists stars, versions, unpacked sizes, and creation years for each library, highlighting Axios’s dominant star count.

Conclusion

All libraries can perform HTTP requests, but the author prefers Axios for its convenience and familiarity, while noting the growing interest in node-fetch due to its small size and familiar API.