pnpm vs snpm
pnpm
pnpm.iosnpm
snpm.ioSide by side
| Figure | pnpm | snpm |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | — |
| Free plan | — | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 0 | 0 |
| Spec score · JavaScript Package Managers | 7.5 (#12) | 7.2 (#16) |
| Installation requirement | pnpm 12 is a native executable that does not require Node.js after installation; installing it through npm requires Node.js 22.13 or newer. | The npm install script requires Node.js 18 or newer. |
| License | The pnpm repository is MIT licensed except for the pnpr directory, which is source-available under the PolyForm Shield License 1.0.0. | The site states that snpm is open source and licensed under MIT or Apache-2.0. |
| Performance claim | The project README says pnpm is up to 2x faster than npm and Yarn Classic. | The homepage reports a 1.2-second warm-cache install and says snpm is 50% faster than pnpm in its benchmark. |
| Security defaults | Since pnpm v10, dependency postinstall scripts are disabled automatically unless explicitly allowed. | Dependency lifecycle scripts are blocked unless explicitly allowed, minimum package age can exclude recent publishes, and tarball authentication is scoped to the announcing registry. |
| Supported platforms | Linux,macOS,Windows,Android | The npm installer supports macOS, Linux, and Windows on x64 and arm64; Node.js 18 or later is required for its install script. |
In their own words
snpm
snpm is a free, open-source package manager for Node.js projects and JavaScript workspaces. It runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows, with native binaries for x64 and arm64. Its CLI provides npm-style install, add, run, exec, and dlx commands, plus auditing, dependency inspection, license listing, patching, packing, publishing, and store maintenance. Workspaces can be filtered by name, glob, path, dependency walk, or Git reference. snpm imports pnpm, Bun, Yarn, or npm lockfiles when snpm-lock.yaml is missing, then uses its own lockfile as the source of truth. Packages are downloaded once into a shared store and linked through a node_modules/.snpm virtual store. Lifecycle scripts are blocked unless allowed, package age can be restricted, and tarball authentication is registry-scoped. Publishing includes workspace fan-out, tags, OTP, and dry-run modes. An included Node manager handles version installation and discovery. The npm install script requires Node.js 18 or newer.