CPAN vs Packagist

CPAN is a free archive of Perl software and documentation, with ways to find, download, and install modules. Its homepage lists 33,464,960 modules in 47,830 distributions from 14,750 authors; the archive has been online since October 1995. Visitors can search through MetaCPAN or browse modules, authors, and recent uploads. Modules can be installed with CPAN.pm, and manual installation instructions are available. Dependencies can require other modules, a particular version, or a C compiler. The site also provides Perl source archives and instructions for compiling and installing Perl. Authors submit uploads through PAUSE, which inspects, validates, and indexes them before they propagate to CPAN and its mirrors. For existing package namespaces, PAUSE indexes uploads only from the owner or an authorized maintainer. Its documentation says uploaded modules are tested across dozens of architectures by CPAN Testers. The Ports page lists Perl support for over 100 platforms, including Windows, macOS, and Linux. CPAN is backed by a CDN. The FAQ says CPAN handles questions about its own operation, not debugging users’ code.

Packagist is the default Composer package repository for PHP developers. It helps them discover public packages and tells Composer where to retrieve the code. To publish, a user submits a public repository URL, which Packagist checks periodically. New versions are gathered from repository tags, while branches are shown as development versions. Hooks or webhooks from GitHub, Bitbucket, GitLab, and Gitea can trigger automatic package updates. The API supports searching and listing packages, retrieving package data, and viewing download statistics, among other operations. Many endpoints can be used anonymously; authenticated ones accept bearer tokens or a username and API token. Packagist.org is free to publish open-source PHP packages. The maker says stable versions cannot be silently replaced with different code. The service is for public packages, and users seeking to share private code are directed to Private Packagist. Packagist Conductors GmbH, registered in Berlin, says it has operated Packagist.org since its creation in 2012. Separate sponsorship plans are available at 2500.00 EUR, 5000.00 EUR, and €8,000 a month, each with an annual commitment.