MEAN Stack vs MERN Stack: What is the Best for Developers?

We are in the era of a digital world, where everything changes rapidly. On a daily basis, we take help from multiple technologies to make our lives easy and simultaneously we also see demand for new technologies to cater to various purposes.

Our reliance on technology has sprung the need for multiple companies to cater to those demands and companies need websites to showcase themselves to the world. This goes on to show that having a website or an application is one of the crucial methods to expand your business and choosing the right tech stack for your website is equally important. 

Selecting the right tech for your website/application isn’t easy. Whether you are an IT expert in an organization or an entrepreneur, you need to plan your web and mobile application in detail before launching it. 

So let us begin by introducing to you the two in-demand tech stacks i.e. MEAN Stack and MERN Stack.

What is MEAN Stack?

MEAN is an open-source, Javascript-based tech stack. It is the only tech stack that provides plugins and tools, it is also helpful for developers to develop mobile apps & web apps faster.

Benefits of Choosing MEAN Stack

• MEAN Stack is an open-source tech stack and it is cost-effective too.
• It helps you to move one code to another framework which is written in a specific framework.
• MongoDB helps MEAN Stack in sending the coding function within the application by reducing the cost.
• It is easy to switch between server-side and client-side where MEAN stack is possible.

What is MERN Stack?

This is the second most in-demand tech stack that is also known as full-stack. MERN stands for Express.js, MongoDB, ReactJS, and Node.js. MERN stack helps in developing hybrid mobile apps and web apps with it. MERN stack is a group of JavaScript-based frameworks, databases and runtime environments. 

Benefits of Choosing MERN Stack

• MERN stack easily gets a customer support
• React library provides access to high-end tools for developing apps.
• MERN tech stack supports a model view controller (MVC)  for a simple development process.
• To employ a JavaScript stack, a developer should be an expert in JavaScript and JSON.

MEAN Vs. MERN a Tough Competition

AngularJS framework is popular among AngularJS developers for its Model View Controller (MVC) architecture. React JS is a library that meets the needs of MEAN/MERN. 

The difference between MEAN & MERN tech stack is in the usage of AngularJS framework & ReactJS library respectively.

It is complicated to choose between MEAN & MERN as both are dedicated frameworks for providing abstraction at the UI level. Both MEAN & MERN are leading players in the industry.

Which is High in Demand? MEAN OR MERN

It is tough to select the popular one out of the two! The right tech stack will lead you to the growth of your business. Currently Angular and React inspires MEAN vs. MERN tech stack popularity. Also, angular has been very famous, however, react is beating it in the competition currently.

The research report of HackerRank Developer shows that in 2020, 32.3% of developers wanted to learn React, which made it popular among developers.  

While the demand for Angular decreased to 27.6%, this is the reason React is gaining more popularity than Angular.

A Detailed Comparison: MEAN Stack vs. MERN Stack

Parameters	MEAN	MERN
Type	Javascript framework	JavaScript Library
Language	TypeScript	JavaScript, JSX
Scalability	Medium	High
Architecture	Component-based	Component-based
Data Binding	One-way & two-way	Only one-way
DOM	Regular DOM	Virtual DOM
Features	Moderate level	High level
Learning Curve	Medium	Low
Data Flow	Bidirectional	Unidirectional
Security	High	Medium
Performance	Slower performance	Faster performance

There is no major difference between MEAN & MERN tech stack. It is the use of Angular & React respectively. MEAN & MERN both the tech stack has positive and negative sides.

Apart from these, there are a few more advantages of both the tech stack. Let’s check those advantages

1. Growth in Profit

Since MongoDB, Node.js, and Express.js are common to MEAN Stack vs MERN Stack, the profitability comparison between these languages would reveal React and Angular.

Angular is a complete framework which provides better profitability.  When developers redesign the code, they will find that the Angular CLI makes it easier for them to perform tasks.

2. Data Flow

Angular data flow is bi-directional, which means, if you alter the UI, then it transforms the model automatically. In that case if you use React you can alter the UI only after transforming the model state.

If a full stack developer is working on a small project, then the bifacial data binding provided by Angular becomes an efficient method.

3. Mobile App Development

In mobile app development, Angular provides the ionic framework which helps you to develop hybrid mobile applications. And these applications keep the development process less expensive as you have only one codebase for both Android and iOS. In this service React native is different, as it provides an almost native user experience.

Once you develop a mobile app, it will be clear that MERN tech stack is the better option for mobile app development.

4. Privacy & Security

Both of the tech stack i.e. MEAN & MERN, provide excellent security. So you can choose either of them. In terms of security, MERN wins the race as it is more scalable than MEAN.

5. Testing

The testing of Angular apps is different from the React-based apps. This will impact your preferences between MEAN and MERN stack. For Angular you will only need one tool for testing however for React app you will require multiple tools to test it.

To test, developers will require tools like Jwat, JS code, for element testing and the Enzyme tool. There are numerous third-party libraries for coding your app like React.

6. UI/UX Requirements

Whether you go for MEAN or MERN stack, your UI/UX design should be sophisticated. It would be preferable to go with the MERN stack to accomplish it. UI/UX creates a frame and showcases it on the screen within a fraction of a second and makes it look like a seamless experience.

Wrapping Up:

Both tech stacks help to create remarkable applications. These two tech stacks have gained immense popularity and are also driven by framework structure. 

If you are looking for the perfect web tech stack then you need to figure out the needs of your project and the ideal budget. MEAN & MERN stack experts play a pivotal role in developing an application for the growth of your organization. 

As a leading custom software development company, we will advise you to choose the best MEAN stack developer or MERN stack developer to align your business growth strategy.