express-enforces-ssl vs @fastify/helmet: Side-by-Side Comparison (2026)
Features, pricing, ratings, and pros & cons — compared head-to-head.
express-enforces-ssl is a free api security tool. @fastify/helmet is a free api security tool. Compare features, ratings, integrations, and community reviews side by side to find the best api security fit for your security stack.
CST VerdictBased on our analysis of available product data, here is our conclusion:
Node.js developers building REST APIs or microservices on Express need express-enforces-ssl because it removes the decision-making around HTTPS enforcement entirely, defaulting every request to encrypted transport without custom logic. The 194 GitHub stars and free pricing make adoption frictionless for teams that don't want to reinvent this wheel. Skip this if you're already enforcing TLS at the load balancer or reverse proxy layer; the real value is for applications where middleware-level enforcement closes the gap between development and production environments.
Fastify teams building APIs that need HTTP header security without operational overhead should start with @fastify/helmet; it's a thin wrapper around the battle-tested helmet library, meaning you get OWASP Top 10 mitigations (CSP, HSTS, X-Frame-Options) with minimal configuration beyond `fastify.register()`. The 453 GitHub stars and zero-friction npm install make adoption frictionless for small-to-mid teams. Skip this if you need dynamic policy management, request-level header mutation, or centralized policy enforcement across multiple services; @fastify/helmet is intentionally static and Fastify-bound, not a gateway or orchestration tool.
