Composer vs NuGet
Composer
getcomposer.org
NuGet
nuget.orgSide by side
| Figure | Composer | NuGet |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 0 |
| Spec score · Package Managers | 8.9 (#5) | 8.1 (#31) |
| Dependency resolution | Composer determines which package versions need to be installed and can update all dependencies in one command. | Yes |
| Lockfile support | Yes | Yes |
| Offline installation | Yes | Yes |
| Package formats | PHP packages; ZIP; TAR; VCS repositories | .nupkg,.snupkg |
| Private registry auth | Yes | Yes |
| Purpose | Composer is a tool for managing PHP project dependencies, installing and updating the libraries a project declares. | NuGet is the package manager for .NET, providing tools to create, share, and consume packages. |
| Security auditing | The composer audit command checks installed packages for security advisories, abandoned packages, malware flags, and other dependency policies. | NuGet restore can check project dependencies against known vulnerabilities from configured audit sources and report warnings. |
| Support | The project says commercial support and consulting are available through its sponsorship page. | The NuGet Gallery directs users with questions to its contact page and provides a service-status page for NuGet.org and related services. |
| Supported platforms | PHP; Windows; Linux; macOS | Windows,macOS,Linux,.NET |
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.
NuGet
NuGet is a package manager for .NET projects, with tools to create and consume packages and the NuGet Gallery as a central repository. Packages use the .nupkg format and can include compiled code, related files and a descriptive manifest; .snupkg is also supported. NuGet resolves dependency graphs and records package identifiers and versions so projects can restore dependencies across machines and build servers. PackageReference and packages.config are supported, with PackageReference required for .NET SDK-style projects. Developers can manage packages in Visual Studio or use the dotnet CLI and nuget.exe. Packages may be hosted in private cloud locations, private networks or local file systems. Restore can check dependencies against configured vulnerability sources and report warnings. NuGet also supports lockfiles, offline installation, private registry authentication and package signatures. The service is free, and the Gallery code is open source under Apache 2.0. The dotnet CLI works on Windows, macOS and Linux; nuget.exe runs on Windows and can run on macOS and Linux with Mono, with limitations.