I’ve been working with JavaScript for a while now and I’m trying to figure out which package manager works best. There are so many options these days and each one claims to be better than the others.
npm is what I started with since it comes built into Node.js. It’s pretty reliable and has tons of packages available. The downside is that it can be really slow sometimes and my node_modules folders get huge.
Yarn seems popular with bigger companies. I heard it installs packages faster by doing multiple downloads at once. It also has this workspace feature that looks useful for projects with multiple parts. The lock file it creates seems more dependable too.
pnpm caught my attention because it claims to save a lot of disk space. From what I understand, it stores packages in one central location and just creates links to them instead of copying everything. This sounds like it would make installs much faster and use way less storage.
Bun is the newest one and people say it’s incredibly fast. It’s not just a package manager but does other stuff too like running JavaScript code. Since it’s so new though, I’m worried about compatibility issues with some packages.
I’m curious about what other developers are using. Have you tried switching between different package managers? What made you choose one over the others? Any advice would be helpful.
The real issue with package managers? You’re still handling dependencies by hand. I wasted tons of time jumping between them before I figured out automation was the way to go.
Forget debating which one’s faster or takes up less space - just automate everything. My workflows now handle dependency updates, security patches, and even pick the right package manager for each project.
I’ve got pipelines that detect what package manager a project uses and run the right commands automatically. No more memorizing different CLI syntax or fighting lock file conflicts when teammates use different tools.
Best part? Automated dependency monitoring. Everything gets flagged and updated with proper testing - no manual checking for updates or security holes.
You can build these workflows without complex scripts or managing servers. The visual interface makes it easy to connect tools and create solid dependency management flows.
Stop arguing about package managers and automate them instead: https://latenode.com
Switched from npm to pnpm two years ago and it’s been worth it, even with the learning curve. The disk space savings are crazy when you’re juggling multiple projects - my coworkers couldn’t believe the storage difference on our dev machines. The trickiest part was adapting to stricter dependency resolution. npm lets you access packages you haven’t explicitly declared, but pnpm forces proper dependency management. Actually improved our code quality though. Tried Bun on some side projects recently. Speed’s genuinely impressive, but hit compatibility issues with native modules our production apps need. Great for personal or new projects, but I wouldn’t use it on existing codebases until the ecosystem catches up. pnpm’s workspace features work really well for monorepos, and the install speed boost gets more obvious as projects get complex.
Been using Yarn for three years and it’s my go-to. The deterministic installs are a game-changer for teamwork - no more “works on my machine” headaches with dependency versions. What hooked me was offline capability. Once you install a package, Yarn caches it locally so you can reinstall without internet. This saved my butt on a flight when I had to set up a project. The workspace feature crushes npm’s implementation for monorepos. Installation speed blows npm away, especially on bigger projects. Only issue is the rare package that assumes npm, but that barely happens anymore. Haven’t bothered switching to pnpm or Bun since Yarn handles everything I throw at it.
i usually just go with npm since its built-in and works fine for me. pnpm is cool too, but those symlinks were a bit tricky at first. still, if ur juggling a lot of projects, the space saving is a big plus for sure!
Honestly, it’s more about team size and project complexity than performance benchmarks. I stuck with npm for years until CI builds got painfully slow. Switched to pnpm 18 months ago and saw huge build time improvements - not just faster installs, but cleaner bundles thanks to strict dependency handling. The symlink approach is weird at first, especially debugging module resolution, but it forces better dependency management. What sold me was pnpm’s peer dependency handling - way more intuitive than npm’s constant warnings. I still use npm for solo stuff out of habit, but team projects get pnpm now. Workspace support rivals Yarn without the extra tooling mess.
Been using yarn but considering bun for new projects. The speed improvements look promising, though I’m worried about compatibility issues. Might test it on smaller projects first.