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Benchmarks of JavaScript Package Managers

Last benchmarked at: Oct 22, 2023, 2:46 AM (daily updated).

This benchmark compares the performance of npm, pnpm, Yarn Classic, and Yarn PnP (check Yarn's benchmarks for any other Yarn modes that are not included here).

Here's a quick explanation of how these tests could apply to the real world:

  • clean install: How long it takes to run a totally fresh install: no lockfile present, no packages in the cache, no node_modules folder.
  • with cache, with lockfile, with node_modules: After the first install is done, the install command is run again.
  • with cache, with lockfile: When a repo is fetched by a developer and installation is first run.
  • with cache: Same as the one above, but the package manager doesn't have a lockfile to work from.
  • with lockfile: When an installation runs on a CI server.
  • with cache, with node_modules: The lockfile is deleted and the install command is run again.
  • with node_modules, with lockfile: The package cache is deleted and the install command is run again.
  • with node_modules: The package cache and the lockfile is deleted and the install command is run again.
  • update: Updating your dependencies by changing the version in the package.json and running the install command again.

Lots of Files

The app's package.json here

actioncachelockfilenode_modulesnpmpnpmYarnYarn PnP
install56.8s17.1s22.1s20.2s
install3.3s1.9s695msn/a
install12.9s5.9s8.8s668ms
install21.1s11.4s22.8s15.2s
install26.1s12s8.9s670ms
install3.6s4.3s16sn/a
install3.2s2.1s681msn/a
install3.6s11.1s16.6sn/a
updaten/an/an/a14.8s7.5s8.7s16.9s
Graph of the alotta-files results