APT vs Composer
APT
wiki.debian.orgComposer
getcomposer.orgSide by side
| Figure | APT | Composer |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Package Managers | 8.0 (#37) | 8.9 (#5) |
| Dependency resolution | Yes | Composer determines which package versions need to be installed and can update all dependencies in one command. |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Offline installation | Yes | Yes |
| Package formats | Debian binary packages (.deb),Debian source packages | PHP packages; ZIP; TAR; VCS repositories |
| Package sources | APT uses configured package sources, which can include Debian archive mirrors accessed over HTTP or FTP. | Composer uses Packagist by default and supports custom Composer, VCS, and local path repositories. |
| Private registry auth | Yes | Yes |
| Purpose | APT is an advanced interface to the Debian packaging system that provides command-line tools for searching, managing, and querying packages. | Composer is a tool for managing PHP project dependencies, installing and updating the libraries a project declares. |
| Supported platforms | Linux | PHP; Windows; Linux; macOS |
Plans
In their own words
Composer
Composer manages dependencies for PHP projects, installing and updating the libraries each project declares. By default, it keeps those dependencies in a directory within the project, and it can also manage a global project. It resolves dependencies and supports lockfiles, workspaces, private registry authentication, and offline installation. Packagist is its default package source; custom Composer, version-control, and local-path repositories are also supported. Composer integrates with Fossil, Git, Mercurial, Perforce, and Subversion. It can be installed locally or as a system-wide executable on Windows, Linux, and macOS. The latest version requires PHP 7.2.5 or later; the 2.2.x LTS line supports PHP 5.3.2 and later. Its audit command checks installed packages for security advisories, abandoned packages, malware flags, and other dependency policies. Composer is free under the MIT license. Plugins and scripts can run with the user's permissions, so the project advises against running Composer as root with untrusted packages.