got vs node-fetch

node-fetch is downloaded 4.2× more often than got (596,360,386 vs 143,651,475 per month), so it has the larger community and more answered questions online. Both projects are actively maintained.

Metric	got	node-fetch
Weekly downloads	33,119,616	141,594,834✓
Monthly downloads	143,651,475	596,360,386✓
GitHub stars	14,909✓	8,857
Minified size	144.7 kB	—
Minified + gzipped	44.2 kB	—
Dependencies	12	—
Open issues	0✓	247
Last commit	2026-05-07	2026-05-12✓
Latest version	15.0.5	3.3.2
License	MIT	MIT

When to choose which

got

Powerful HTTP client for Node.js.

Choose it when: Server-side Node where you need retries, streams, pagination and hooks. Not for the browser.

+ Retries, streams, hooks
+ Great for backend
- Node only
- Heavier

node-fetch

A fetch() polyfill for older Node.js.

Choose it when: Legacy Node before v18. On Node 18+ fetch is global, so you usually no longer need this.

+ Familiar fetch API
+ Lightweight
- Redundant on Node 18+
- Manual JSON parsing
- No interceptors

Feature comparison

Feature	got	node-fetch
Runtime	Node only	Node only
Built on	http	fetch polyfill
Interceptors / hooks	✓ Yes	✗ No
Automatic JSON	✓ Yes	✗ No
Built-in retries	✓ Yes	✗ No

got

Human-friendly and powerful HTTP request library for Node.js

Details GitHub npm

node-fetch

A light-weight module that brings Fetch API to node.js

Details GitHub npm

Related comparisons

axios vs got axios vs node-fetch got vs ky ky vs node-fetch got vs superagent got vs wretch got vs redaxios got vs undici

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Data from npm, Bundlephobia and GitHub. Last updated 2026-06-02.