Composer vs npm

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.

npm is a JavaScript package registry and command-line tool for sharing code and managing packages. The Registry and CLI are free for public package use, and the Free plan lets public package authors publish unlimited public packages. npm accepts package.json folders, gzipped tarballs, URLs, name-and-version or name-and-tag references, and Git URLs. Its tools support dependency resolution, lockfiles, workspaces, private registry authentication, and offline installation. It runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, and other operating systems through Node.js installers or version managers. For private packages, the Paid user account plan is $7 a month; Pro is also $7 a month for individual creators, while Teams is $7 per user per month for teams and organizations. Pro includes unlimited private packages and package-based permissions; Teams adds team-based permissions. Organizations can manage members, teams, roles, permissions, and package access. All plans include basic support and automatic security warnings. Paid billing starts when card details are submitted, with the first month charged immediately.