Deno

Deno is a modern JavaScript and TypeScript runtime from the original creator of Node.js. Native TypeScript support (no build step), built-in security permissions (scripts can't access your filesystem unless you say so), and a standard library that actually works.

MIT, established. Deno Deploy is their edge hosting platform. Think Vercel/Cloudflare Workers but tightly integrated with the runtime.

The compatibility story has gotten much better. Deno now runs most npm packages, so the 'ecosystem gap' argument is mostly dead. You can migrate incrementally.

The catch: despite being technically superior in many ways, Node.js has overwhelming market share. Your team knows Node. Your CI knows Node. Your hosting knows Node. Switching runtimes is a big decision, and 'better defaults' doesn't always win against 'everyone uses it.' Deno Deploy's free tier is limited: 100K requests/day, 1ms CPU time per request.