Best Package Managers in 2026
Updated
A package manager shapes how a software project resolves dependencies, records them, and installs packages. Compared on dependency resolution, lockfile support, workspace support, and package formats, the entries offer several ways to assess fit with your project setup. Offline installation and private registry authentication may matter for specific environments, while supported platforms help with compatibility. Free-plan availability and paid-from pricing are listed cost considerations. npm, uv, and Gradle are options to weigh, alongside Cargo and Hex. Use the stated criteria to consider how a tool may suit your dependencies, package sources, and development workflow.
93ranked
20free plans on this page
$7/molowest paid tier
12 Oct 2026last checked
Package Managers, ranked on how quickly a newcomer can get going.20 of 20 products with recorded free access can be tried for free.
- 1 npmPaid from $7/mo
- Free to practise on: yes
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: yes
- 2 uvFree plan
- Free to practise on: yes
- Free trial: no
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: yes
- 3 GradleFree plan
- Free to practise on: yes
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: yes
- 4 CargoFree plan
- Free to practise on: yes
- Free trial: no
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: yes
- 5 HexPaid from $7.50/mo
- Free to practise on: yes
- Free trial: yes
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: no
- 6 YarnFree plan
- Free to practise on: yes
- Free trial: no
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: yes
- 7 pipFree plan
- Free to practise on: yes
- Free trial: no
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: yes
- 8 Apache MavenFree plan
- Free to practise on: yes
- Free trial: no
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: yes
- 9 ComposerFree plan
- Free to practise on: yes
- Free trial: no
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: yes
- 10 PixiPaid from €42/mo
- Free to practise on: yes
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: yes
- 11 vcpkgFree plan
- Free to practise on: yes
- Free trial: no
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: yes
- 12 Conan
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: yes
- 13 Swift Package ManagerFree plan
- Free to practise on: yes
- Free trial: no
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: yes
- 14 BunFree plan
- Free to practise on: yes
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: yes
- 15 renvFree plan
- Free to practise on: yes
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: yes
- 16 Julia PkgFree plan
- Free to practise on: yes
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: yes
- 17 pnpm
- Free trial: no
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: yes
- 18 TankFree plan
- Free to practise on: yes
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: yes
- 19 Go Modules
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: yes
- 20 NixFree plan
- Free to practise on: yes
- Free trial: no
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: yes
- 21 CabalFree plan
- Free to practise on: yes
- Free trial: no
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: yes
- 22 HomebrewFree plan
- Free to practise on: yes
- Free trial: no
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: yes
- 23 NuGet
- Free trial: no
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: yes
- 24 Dart pub
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: yes
- 25 SpackFree plan
- Free to practise on: yes
- Free trial: no
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: yes
Compare all 25 in a table
| # | Platform | Score | Free plan | From | Free plan | Paid from | Package formats | Supported platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | npm | 8.8 | Free plan | $7/mo | Yes | $7/mo | package.json folders, gzipped tarballs, URLs, name@version, name@tag, Git URLs | macOS, Windows, Linux, and other operating systems via Node.js installers or version managers |
| 2 | uv | 8.6 | Free plan | Free | Yes | source distributions, wheels, requirements.txt, pylock.toml | macOS, Linux, Windows, CPython, PyPy, Pyodide, GraalPy | |
| 3 | Gradle | 8.6 | Free plan | Free | Yes | Maven, Ivy, flat directory | Windows, macOS, Linux | |
| 4 | Cargo | 8.5 | Free plan | Free | Yes | Rust crates; crates.io packages; alternate registry packages; Git dependencies; local path dependencies | Windows; macOS; Linux; other Unix-like systems | |
| 5 | Hex | 8.5 | Free plan | $7.50/mo | Yes | |||
| 6 | Yarn | 8.4 | Free plan | Free | Yes | npm packages; tarballs; local, Git, link, patch, portal, and workspace references | Linux, macOS, Windows | |
| 7 | pip | 8.4 | Free plan | Free | Yes | sdist, wheel | Linux, macOS, Windows, Python | |
| 8 | Apache Maven | 8.3 | Free plan | Free | Yes | pom, jar, maven-plugin, ejb, war, ear, rar | Windows, macOS, Linux | |
| 9 | Composer | 8.3 | Free plan | Free | Yes | PHP packages; ZIP; TAR; VCS repositories | PHP; Windows; Linux; macOS | |
| 10 | Pixi | 8.3 | Free plan | €42/mo | Yes | |||
| 11 | vcpkg | 8.3 | Free plan | Free | Yes | C/C++ libraries | Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS | |
| 12 | Conan | 8.2 | Yes | Conan recipes and binary packages | Linux, Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, embedded and bare-metal targets | |||
| 13 | Swift Package Manager | 8.2 | Free plan | Free | Yes | source packages, system libraries, binary targets, package registry archives | macOS, Linux, Windows; packages can target Apple platforms | |
| 14 | Bun | 8.2 | Free plan | Free | npm packages, Git repositories, GitHub repositories, tarballs, file dependencies, npm aliases | macOS, Linux, Windows | ||
| 15 | renv | 8.2 | Free plan | Free | Yes | R packages; Python packages | Windows, macOS, Linux | |
| 16 | Julia Pkg | 8.2 | Free plan | Free | Yes | registered Julia packages, Git repositories, local path packages, package artifacts | Linux, macOS, Windows, FreeBSD | |
| 17 | pnpm | 8.1 | Yes | npm packages, JSR packages, Cargo crates, PyPI packages, tarballs, Git repositories, local directories | Linux, macOS, Windows, Android | |||
| 18 | Tank | 8.1 | Free plan | Free | Yes | AI agent skills, instructions, hooks, tools, agents, rules, resources, prompts, bundles | Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Codex, Windsurf, OpenCode, Cline, Roo Code | |
| 19 | Go Modules | 8.0 | Yes | Go modules, module ZIP files | Linux, macOS, Windows | |||
| 20 | Nix | 8.0 | Free plan | Free | Yes | Nix expressions, derivations, flakes | Linux, macOS, Windows through WSL2 | |
| 21 | Cabal | 7.9 | Free plan | Free | Yes | .cabal files; .tar.gz source distributions; RPM; Debian packages; Windows installers | Linux; macOS; FreeBSD; Windows | |
| 22 | Homebrew | 7.9 | Free plan | Free | formulae, casks | macOS, Linux, Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) | ||
| 23 | NuGet | 7.8 | .nupkg, .snupkg | Windows, macOS, Linux, .NET | ||||
| 24 | Dart pub | 7.8 | Yes | Dart packages | Windows, Linux, macOS | |||
| 25 | Spack | 7.8 | Free plan | Free | Yes |
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