Comparing
Promise based HTTP client for the browser and node.js
Tiny and elegant HTTP client based on the Fetch API
| Metric | axios | ky |
|---|---|---|
| Ecosystem | npm | npm |
| Difficulty | Advanced | Beginner ✓ |
| Weekly downloads | 101.0M↑ | 5.6M |
| Latest version | v1.14.0 | v1.14.3 |
| Recipes | 7↑ | 1 |
axios only
Shared
ky only
Use axios when you need request/response interceptors (auth headers, logging, retry logic), want automatic JSON serialisation/deserialisation, need to cancel in-flight requests, or want consistent behaviour between browser and Node.js environments.
Use Ky in browser-only or Deno applications where bundle size matters and you don't need Node.js compatibility. It's a direct replacement for axios in these contexts with a fraction of the footprint.
For simple requests in modern apps, fetch is built-in and perfectly adequate. For lightweight browser-only code, ky is a smaller alternative. React Query or SWR abstract data fetching further — prefer those when you also need caching and state management.
Ky doesn't support Node.js's older http module (though it works in Node 18+ with native fetch). For isomorphic code (same HTTP client in browser and Node), use axios or got. For React apps that need caching and state, React Query provides the better abstraction.
axios
+3 more
ky