Benchmarks of JavaScript Package Managers
Last benchmarked at: Apr 19, 2026, 3:49 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 | 31.3s | 7.6s | 7.9s | 8.4s | 3.5s | |||
| install | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | 1.2s | 677ms | 599ms | 6.2s | n/a |
| install | ✔ | ✔ | 7.5s | 2s | 2.4s | 6.1s | 1.4s | |
| install | ✔ | 12.1s | 5.4s | 4.1s | 8.4s | 2.9s | ||
| install | ✔ | 10.6s | 4.9s | 4.8s | 6.2s | 1.4s | ||
| install | ✔ | ✔ | 1.7s | 2.1s | 2.4s | 8.4s | n/a | |
| install | ✔ | ✔ | 1.3s | 652ms | 588ms | 6.2s | n/a | |
| install | ✔ | 1.7s | 5.1s | 6.9s | 8.4s | n/a | ||
| update | n/a | n/a | n/a | 6.5s | 3.1s | 3.3s | 6.8s | 3s |
