Benchmarks of JavaScript Package Managers
Last benchmarked at: Apr 26, 2026, 3:54 AM (daily updated).
This benchmark compares the performance of npm, pnpm, Yarn Classic, and Yarn PnP (check Yarn's benchmarks for any other Yarn modes that are not included here).
Here's a quick explanation of how these tests could apply to the real world:
clean install: How long it takes to run a totally fresh install: no lockfile present, no packages in the cache, nonode_modulesfolder.with cache,with lockfile,with node_modules: After the first install is done, the install command is run again.with cache,with lockfile: When a repo is fetched by a developer and installation is first run.with cache: Same as the one above, but the package manager doesn't have a lockfile to work from.with lockfile: When an installation runs on a CI server.with cache,with node_modules: The lockfile is deleted and the install command is run again.with node_modules,with lockfile: The package cache is deleted and the install command is run again.with node_modules: The package cache and the lockfile is deleted and the install command is run again.update: Updating your dependencies by changing the version in thepackage.jsonand running the install command again.
Lots of Files
The app's package.json here
| action | cache | lockfile | node_modules | npm | pnpm | pnpm v11 | Yarn | Yarn PnP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| install | 34s | 8.1s | 8.2s | 8.3s | 3.4s | |||
| install | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | 1.3s | 712ms | 590ms | 5.9s | n/a |
| install | ✔ | ✔ | 9.4s | 2.4s | 2.3s | 5.9s | 1.3s | |
| install | ✔ | 14s | 5.2s | 4s | 8.1s | 2.9s | ||
| install | ✔ | 12.6s | 5.1s | 4.7s | 6s | 1.3s | ||
| install | ✔ | ✔ | 1.8s | 2.1s | 2.3s | 8s | n/a | |
| install | ✔ | ✔ | 1.3s | 691ms | 594ms | 5.9s | n/a | |
| install | ✔ | 1.8s | 5.1s | 7s | 8s | n/a | ||
| update | n/a | n/a | n/a | 6.9s | 2.9s | 3.2s | 6.7s | 2.9s |
