cnpm vs Yarn

cnpm is an npm client for the China mirror of npm. It supports npm commands for package installation and synchronization, and can open package documentation or a Git web URL. Global installation uses `npm install cnpm -g`, and the minimum Node.js version is 20, with LTS recommended. Users can configure a custom registry, registry web address, and user configuration file to create a private-registry npm CLI. cnpm uses npminstall by default, though the original npm installer can be selected at the stated cost of losing the fastest install speed. The mirror is read-only and aims to synchronize with the official service in real time, so write-related operations are excluded. npminstall accepts folders, tarballs, URLs, registry packages, and Git URLs. Its options include ignoring lifecycle scripts, omitting optional dependencies, enforcing registry-only installs, and forbidding specified licenses. It cannot install from shrinkwrap files, and failed installs are best retried after cleaning `node_modules`. The project is MIT licensed and recommends migrating to utoo, described as a modern npm package manager. cnpm runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, and self-hosted environments.

Yarn is a package manager and project manager for JavaScript projects, serving uses from simple projects to industry monorepos. It resolves dependencies, maintains lockfiles and provides workspaces that install and link packages within a project. Modern Yarn uses Plug'n'Play by default, generating a Node.js loader file instead of a typical node_modules folder; users can choose node_modules or pnpm-style symlink installs instead. Yarn caches installed packages and shares them among projects on the same machine. Its offline mirror and zero-installs workflow can keep cached packages in a repository and reduce reliance on the npm registry. Plugins can extend resolvers, fetchers, linkers, commands and lifecycle hooks. Generated editor SDKs and settings support VSCode, Vim, Emacs and Neovim. Yarn runs on Linux, macOS and Windows and is free, with no paid plans or usage limits stated. Its documentation notes that React Native and Expo require typical node_modules installs. Yarn does not run audits during installation by default; users can run yarn npm audit separately.