Hex vs Packagist

Hex is a package manager for the BEAM ecosystem, including Elixir and Erlang. Its services include an HTTP API, a website, a package and index repository, HexDocs, Mix integration, and other components. Packages work with Mix, Rebar, and erlang.mk, and the site provides usage guidance for Gleam. Developers can fetch dependencies without creating an account.

Organizations can publish and retrieve private packages and manage which users can access them. Free organizations can publish public dependency policies; paid organizations can make policies private and apply them to public and private packages. A private package can depend only on packages in its organization’s repository and the global hexpm repository. Documentation explains how to build and serve a repository on infrastructure an organization operates. Hex supports organization authentication keys for CI, and its source code is licensed under the Apache 2 License. The Open Source plan is free. Private Packages are listed at $9 / user / month, with an annual option at $90 / per user / per year. Enterprise pricing is by contacting sales. Hex lists API, self-hosted, and web platforms.

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.