comparison2 min read

npm vs Yarn vs pnpm

Compare JavaScript package managers: speed, disk usage, and features.

npm: comes with Node.js, largest ecosystem, slowest installs. Yarn: faster parallel installs, offline cache, workspaces. pnpm: fastest installs, uses hard links to save disk space (up to 70% less), strictest dependency resolution. For solo projects: npm is fine. For monorepos: Yarn or pnpm workspaces. For disk-constrained environments: pnpm. All three use the same package.json format and npmjs.com registry.