shouldiuse.io

VERDICT

Should I use Bun?

Bundle, install, and run JavaScript & TypeScript — all in Bun. Fast runtime & toolkit with bundler, test runner, and npm-compatible package manager built in. - bun.sh

Depends. Try Bun for new JS/TS projects, scripts, and tooling — it is free, fast, and npm-compatible. Keep Node.js for production-critical services until the Rust rewrite and post-acquisition support picture settle.

Confidence

Medium. Based on 16 usable public sources; many search results were unrelated (food products) and excluded. Funding figures conflicted across sources; most recent figure used.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support quality
  • Security posture

Pricing

$0

Open source

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes

Best for

  • New JS/TS projects wanting one fast toolchain
  • Solo devs replacing multi-tool setups
  • Scripts and data-processing workloads
  • npm users seeking faster installs

Not for

  • Production-critical apps that cannot absorb runtime churn
  • Teams needing committed long-term vendor support
  • Regulated shops wary of fresh toolchain CVEs
  • Guess: heavy users of Node-native addons and edge cases

Gotchas - check before you buy

high

Acquired December 2025 with zero revenue; priorities may shift toward Anthropic's goals.

medium

`bun audit` cannot surgically patch specific CVEs; your workarounds are limited.

medium

returned 'no security page found' in this crawl.

medium

Zig-to-Rust rewrite churns internals; expect behavior changes between versions.

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Runtime, bundler, test runner, and npm-compatible package manager, all free and open-source.
  • Users report noticeably faster development speed and better resource efficiency.
  • Team says it is extremely fast at data-processing tasks.
  • npm compatibility makes switching from Node tooling straightforward.
  • Lots of production software already depends on it.

Cons

  • Early reaction to the 1.4 Rust rewrite is turning negative.
  • Support reportedly 'limited and deprecated' after the Anthropic acquisition.
  • Two CVEs since 2025, including OS command injection.
  • A favored tool of npm malware campaigns, hurting trust.
  • Zero revenue at acquisition; roadmap now Anthropic's call.

Sources & method

Analyzed 9/20/2026 - 16 sources - Two recent CVEs (command injection, trusted-dependencies spoofing) plus active malware campaigns abusing the runtime.

official x3review x4security x5news x4
  • CVE-2026-24910 — Trusted Dependencies Spoofing, Affects Bun before 1.3.5; default trusted dependencies list flaw per NIST.
  • CVE-2025-8022 — OS Command Injection, Bun versions after 0.0.12 reported vulnerable to improper command handling.

Key stats

  • Value for money: 5/5

    Rating

  • $0

    Starting price

  • 16

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 5/5. Free, open-source, replaces several tools
  • Ease of use: 4/5. All-in-one; one install does everything
  • Feature depth: 4/5. Runtime, bundler, tests, package manager included
  • Support quality: 2/5. Post-acquisition support called limited and deprecated
  • Security posture: 2/5. Recent CVEs; malware campaigns abuse runtime
  • $0 Price Free tool, open source
  • Yes Free tier Entire toolkit is free
  • $26M Total funding Zero revenue at Anthropic acquisition
  • 2022 Founded By Oven, announced Aug 24, 2022

Pricing

Open source

$0

  • Runtime, bundler, test runner
  • npm-compatible package manager

Security

Two recent CVEs (command injection, trusted-dependencies spoofing) plus active malware campaigns abusing the runtime.

  • CVE-2026-24910 — Trusted Dependencies SpoofingAffects Bun before 1.3.5; default trusted dependencies list flaw per NIST.
  • CVE-2025-8022 — OS Command InjectionBun versions after 0.0.12 reported vulnerable to improper command handling.11

Alternatives

Compare Bun with each alternative.

  • Node.js

    Battle-tested default runtime; mature ecosystem and support.

  • Deno

    All-in-one JS/TS runtime with security-first defaults.

    Bun vs Deno

  • pnpm

    Faster npm-compatible installs without changing runtime.

    Bun vs pnpm
Full analysis

Based on 16 usable public sources; many search results were unrelated (food products) and excluded. Funding figures conflicted across sources; most recent figure used.

Free, fast all-in-one JS toolkit — great for new projects; hold critical production until the Rust rewrite settles.

Methodology

Based on 16 usable public sources; many search results were unrelated (food products) and excluded. Funding figures conflicted across sources; most recent figure used.

Sources

  1. Reddit r/bun — real-world Bun.js experiencesreddit.com
    review
  2. Hacker News — Bun team AMAnews.ycombinator.com
    review
  3. Hacker News — Bun 1.4 Rust rewrite is not looking good?news.ycombinator.com
    review
  4. Hacker News — Bun support is now limited and deprecatednews.ycombinator.com
    news
  5. The Pragmatic Engineer — Bun's Rust rewriteblog.pragmaticengineer.com
    news
  6. Bun Blog — Bun is joining Anthropicbun.com
    official
  7. dev.to — Anthropic just acquired Bun.jsdev.to
    news
  8. Wikipedia — Bun (software)en.wikipedia.org
    news
  9. GitHub — oven-sh/bungithub.com
    official
  10. SentinelOne — CVE-2026-24910sentinelone.com
    security
  11. GitHub Advisory — CVE-2025-8022github.com
    security
  12. charpeni — The Bun CVE Gapcharpeni.com
    security
  13. Endor Labs — Why npm malware keeps reaching for Bunendorlabs.com
    security
  14. Snyk — Bun-based stealer hits SAP packagessnyk.io
    security
  15. bun.sh/securitybun.sh
    official
  16. Toolradar — Bun pricingtoolradar.com
    review

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