Bun

Bun is a JavaScript runtime that's genuinely fast — startup time, package installation, and test execution all outperform Node.js significantly. The built-in bundler, test runner, and package manager mean fewer tools to configure.

The ecosystem compatibility is nearly there. Most Node.js packages work, but edge cases still surface. For new projects where you control the dependency stack, Bun is worth evaluating. For existing Node.js applications with complex dependency trees, the risk of compatibility issues makes migration premature.