Watt is Platformatic's flagship Node.js Application Server that transforms how you build, deploy, and scale Node.js applications. Instead of managing multiple applications, databases, and frameworks separately, Watt provides a unified platform where everything runs together seamlessly.
What is Watt?
Watt is a complete Node.js application server that handles the complex infrastructure so you can focus on building features. Think of it as the runtime that powers your entire backend - from APIs and databases to frontend frameworks and microservices.
Key Benefits:
- 🚀 Unified Development - Run databases, APIs, and frontend frameworks in a single application server
- ⚡ Built-in Observability - Automatic logging, metrics, and distributed tracing
- 🔧 Zero Configuration - Sensible defaults that work out of the box
- 📊 Auto-Generated APIs - REST and GraphQL endpoints from your database schema
- 🎨 Framework Agnostic - Ten framework integrations, plus any existing Express, Fastify or plain Node.js application
Why Choose Watt?
Modern Node.js development is fragmented. You need separate tools for databases, APIs, frontend frameworks, monitoring, and deployment. Watt unifies all of this into a single, coherent application server.
Before Watt:
- Multiple servers to manage (database, API, frontend)
- Complex deployment pipelines
- Fragmented monitoring and logging
- Inconsistent development environments
With Watt:
- Single application server runs everything
- One-command deployment
- Unified observability across all components
- Consistent development and production environments
What You Can Build with Watt
Watt provides a comprehensive set of capabilities:
- Database APIs - Auto-generated REST and GraphQL endpoints from SQL databases (Platformatic DB)
- HTTP Applications - Custom application logic and APIs built on Fastify
- API Gateways - Aggregate multiple applications into unified endpoints
- Framework Integration - Astro, Next.js, Nitro, Nuxt, React Router, Remix, TanStack Start, Vite and NestJS
- Microservice Orchestration - Multi-application deployments as single units
- Built-in Authorization - Role-based access control and JWT authentication
- Real-time Features - WebSocket and GraphQL subscriptions
- Production Monitoring - Prometheus metrics, OpenTelemetry tracing, structured logging
How Watt Works
Watt acts as the foundation that runs and orchestrates different types of applications within a single Node.js application. Each application type serves a specific purpose while benefiting from shared infrastructure like logging, metrics, and configuration.
🔍 Observability by Default
Every Watt application includes production-ready monitoring:
- Structured logging with configurable levels
- Prometheus metrics for monitoring
- OpenTelemetry tracing for distributed systems
- Health checks for Kubernetes deployments
Get Started with Watt
Ready to build your first Watt application? Choose your path:
🚀 Quick Start (2 minutes)
Get a running Watt application with database APIs in under 2 minutes.
📚 Step-by-Step Tutorial
Build a complete application with guided instructions.
🔧 Migration Guide
Migrate your existing Node.js application to Watt.
Go Deeper
This page is a summary. For the full picture, work through the Overview section:
- What is Watt? - Progressive explanation, from a 30-second summary to a 15-minute deep dive
- Architecture Overview - How the multithreaded application server is put together
- Use Cases & Examples - Real-world scenarios where Watt fits
- Comparison with Alternatives - Watt vs. Express, Fastify, Next.js, and others
Next Steps
- Not sure where to begin? Use the getting started path chooser
- New to Node.js? Start with our beginner tutorial
- Experienced developer? Jump into the quick start
- Need specific help? Browse our how-to guides
- Want technical details? Check the reference documentation
Community & Support
- GitHub - Report issues and contribute at platformatic/platformatic
- Blog - Read tutorials and updates at blog.platformatic.dev
- YouTube - Watch video tutorials on our channel