Deployment: Node.js, Bun, Deno, Cloudflare Workers

Deployment means running the app on a server where users can reach it. Hono route code is the same on every platform; only the entry point and the commands differ. Not every package is compatible, though: better-sqlite3 and process.env do not exist everywhere.

Node.js

On your own server or VPS, the app is built and started with plain Node.js:

npm ci
npm run build
npm start

npm ci installs packages exactly as listed in package-lock.json, npm run build compiles TypeScript into dist/, and npm start runs dist/index.js. The .env file with real secrets is created right on the server. To restart the app after a crash or a reboot, run it under a process manager such as systemd or pm2, and put nginx with HTTPS in front of it.

Bun

Bun runs TypeScript itself and has a built-in server. Instead of serve() from @hono/node-server, the entry point exports the app:

// src/index.ts
import { Hono } from 'hono'
 
const app = new Hono()
 
app.get('/', (c) => c.text('Hello from Bun'))
 
export default app

bun run src/index.ts

Bun sees an object with a fetch method and starts a server on port 3000. Instead of better-sqlite3, Bun projects usually use the built-in bun:sqlite module with similar methods.

Deno

In Deno, Hono is imported from the JSR registry, and the server is started by a built-in function:

// main.ts
import { Hono } from 'jsr:@hono/hono'
 
const app = new Hono()
 
app.get('/', (c) => c.text('Hello from Deno'))
 
Deno.serve(app.fetch)

deno run --allow-net main.ts

The --allow-net flag lets the program use the network: without explicit permissions Deno gives no access to the network or files.

Cloudflare Workers

Workers is a platform where code runs on Cloudflare servers around the world. The project is created from the separate cloudflare-workers template, and the entry point also exports the app (export default app). Commands:

npm run dev
npm run deploy

The first runs a local copy through the Wrangler tool, the second publishes the worker. Workers have no file system, so a file-based SQLite database will not work: the database is replaced with D1, and variables and secrets arrive in c.env.

What changes when moving

The env(c) function from hono/adapter works everywhere, so routes that use it move without changes.

Common mistake

Running npm run dev on the server. That command is for development: it watches files and compiles TypeScript on the fly, wasting memory and time. In production, build the project with npm run build and run npm start.