got vs superagent
got is downloaded 1.8× more often than superagent (143,651,475 vs 81,006,257 per month), so it has the larger community and more answered questions online. superagent ships 59% less gzipped JavaScript (18.3 kB vs 44.2 kB), which matters if bundle size is a priority. got has been updated more recently, a sign of more active maintenance.
| Metric | got | superagent |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly downloads | 33,119,616✓ | 18,853,906 |
| Monthly downloads | 143,651,475✓ | 81,006,257 |
| GitHub stars | 14,909 | 16,650✓ |
| Minified size | 144.7 kB | 57.9 kB✓ |
| Minified + gzipped | 44.2 kB | 18.3 kB✓ |
| Dependencies | 12 | 9✓ |
| Open issues | 0✓ | 183 |
| Last commit | 2026-05-07✓ | 2026-01-06 |
| Latest version | 15.0.5 | 10.3.0 |
| 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
superagent
A long-standing chainable HTTP client.
Choose it when: Existing projects already using it, or if you like its chainable request API. Newer wrappers are lighter.
- + Chainable API
- + Plugins
- + Browser + Node
- - Older style
- - Slower-moving maintenance
Feature comparison
| Feature | got | superagent |
|---|---|---|
| Runtime | Node only | Browser + Node |
| Built on | http | XHR / http |
| Interceptors / hooks | ✓ Yes | Plugins |
| Automatic JSON | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Built-in retries | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
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[](https://devcompare.dev/compare/got-vs-superagent)Data from npm, Bundlephobia and GitHub. Last updated 2026-06-02.