Composer vs pnpm
Composer
getcomposer.orgpnpm
pnpm.ioSide by side
| Figure | Composer | pnpm |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 0 |
| Spec score · Package Managers | 8.9 (#5) | 8.0 (#35) |
| Dependency resolution | Composer determines which package versions need to be installed and can update all dependencies in one command. | Yes |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| License | Composer and the content on its site are released under the MIT license. | The pnpm repository is MIT licensed except for the pnpr directory, which is source-available under the PolyForm Shield License 1.0.0. |
| Lockfile support | Yes | Yes |
| Offline installation | Yes | Yes |
| Package formats | PHP packages; ZIP; TAR; VCS repositories | npm packages,JSR packages,Cargo crates,PyPI packages,tarballs,Git repositories,local directories |
| Platform support | Composer says it is designed to run on Windows, Linux, and macOS. | pnpm 12 provides prebuilt binaries for Linux, macOS, Windows, FreeBSD, and Android, with a JavaScript pnpm 11 fallback for targets without a binary. |
| Private registry auth | Yes | Yes |
| Purpose | Composer is a tool for managing PHP project dependencies, installing and updating the libraries a project declares. | pnpm is a drop-in replacement for npm that manages project dependencies. |
| Supported platforms | PHP; Windows; Linux; macOS | Linux,macOS,Windows,Android |
| Workspace support | Yes | Yes |
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.