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npm vs Yarn vs pnpm

Side-by-side comparison of the most popular Node.js package managers.

Action	npm	Yarn	pnpm

The default package manager bundled with Node.js. Mature ecosystem, largest registry. Uses a flat node_modules structure.

Lock file: package-lock.json

Developed by Facebook. Faster installs, offline mode, workspaces support. Yarn 2+ (Berry) uses Plug'n'Play.

Lock file: yarn.lock

Performant npm. Uses content-addressable storage and hard links. Saves disk space significantly. Strict by default.

Lock file: pnpm-lock.yaml