I love threads like this, it's so stereotypical JS. OP asks if it's the de-facto choice which it objectively is, but everyone recommends their pet project or favourite library instead.
FWIW I was planning to respond “yes, it is the de facto solution, even if I wish it weren’t” and probably leave it at that. Granted I don’t have my pet project to recommend (I left it behind with previous employer), and maybe I would if I had it to recommend. But I’d still acknowledge first that express is the de facto solution.
Also FWIW, there are a bunch of other popular options… but nearly all of them have roughly the same interface and follow the same general principles as express. Again, I wish it weren’t so. But you’re right, that isn’t responsive to the question being asked.
To be fair for me the first 10 root comments almost all recommend Express or Fastly, no obscure pet projects or anything. So there does seem to be a pretty clear consensus.
Also FWIW, there are a bunch of other popular options… but nearly all of them have roughly the same interface and follow the same general principles as express. Again, I wish it weren’t so. But you’re right, that isn’t responsive to the question being asked.