ActiveState Platform vs nvm
ActiveState Platform
docs.activestate.comnvm
github.comSide by side
| Figure | ActiveState Platform | nvm |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 2 |
| Spec score · Development Environment Managers | 9.1 (#1) | 8.4 (#10) |
| Integrations | The maker lists JFrog Artifactory, Sonatype Nexus, Kubernetes, Cloudera, CI/CD pipelines, IDEs, Trivy, and Wiz as integrations. | Documented integrations include Docker, Ansible, zsh plugins, bash completion and optional nvshim shims. |
| Purpose | The Platform hosts custom runtimes whose projects define runtime components, track project history, and provide deployment instructions. | nvm lets users install and use different Node.js versions from the command line. |
| Security | The deployment documentation says packages are built and tested by ActiveState and downloads are cryptographically verified. | The GitHub repository links to a security policy, but the README does not state a security certification or compliance standard. |
| Support | The State Tool troubleshooting documentation directs users with errors to [email protected]. | The project states that only the latest nvm version is supported. |
| What it does | The Platform hosts custom runtimes whose projects define components, track project history, and provide deployment instructions. | nvm is a per-user, per-shell command-line manager for installing and using multiple Node.js versions. |
Plans
ActiveState Platform
- Free organizationFree
- Paid organizationPriced on request
In their own words
ActiveState Platform
ActiveState Platform hosts custom runtimes assembled from source. Projects specify runtime components, preserve project history and provide deployment instructions; their artifacts may include packages, dependencies, patches and bundles, but not contributors’ first-party code. Create projects in the web interface or with the State Tool CLI, then deploy and activate them locally. Projects can remain personal, be shared with an organization or be public. The platform supports Windows, macOS and Linux deployments, and its GraphQL API can build open-source software for different operating systems and languages without requiring users to manage build infrastructure. It provides immutable SBOMs in SPDX formats and describes build safeguards including reproducible builds, checksum checks and isolated containers. A free organization plan costs nothing and is limited to public projects. Curated Catalog annual pricing is $25,000 for fewer than 100 employees, $50,000 for 100–999 employees and $150,000 for 1,000 or more; those prices do not apply to legacy Platform subscriptions.
nvm
nvm is a free, MIT-licensed command-line tool for installing and managing Node.js versions. It is designed for installation per user and invocation per shell, and works in POSIX-compliant shells including sh, dash, ksh, zsh, and bash. Users can install specific versions, switch between them, set aliases such as a default, and use LTS aliases and commands to select long-term support versions. A project can specify its Node.js version in an.nvmrc file; documented shell snippets can support automatic switching. During installation, nvm can reinstall global npm packages from another installed Node.js version. With the --offline flag, it can install a version that was previously downloaded or cached without network access. The project documents use in Docker, including an example for CI/CD jobs. On Windows, nvm can work through WSL and may work with Git Bash or Cygwin depending on the environment. Fish shell is not supported, and the project points users to community alternatives. The project states that only the latest nvm version is supported.