Compare npm Packages (NPMS.io)

Compare multiple npm packages side-by-side using NPMS.io quality scores.

Usage

npx tsx scripts/compare.ts <package1> <package2> [package3...] [options]

Arguments

Argument	Required	Description
package1	Yes	First package to compare
package2	Yes	Second package to compare
package3...	No	Additional packages to compare

Options

Option	Description
--no-cache	Bypass cache and fetch fresh data from API

Output

Package Comparison: react vs vue vs angular
-------------------------------------------

┌──────────────┬──────────┬──────────┬──────────┐
│ Metric       │ react    │ vue      │ angular  │
├──────────────┼──────────┼──────────┼──────────┤
│ Overall      │ 98/100   │ 95/100   │ 92/100   │
│ Quality      │ 95/100   │ 93/100   │ 90/100   │
│ Popularity   │ 100/100  │ 97/100   │ 95/100   │
│ Maintenance  │ 99/100   │ 96/100   │ 91/100   │
├──────────────┼──────────┼──────────┼──────────┤
│ Version      │ 18.2.0   │ 3.3.4    │ 16.2.0   │
│ Stars        │ 213K     │ 204K     │ 92K      │
│ Forks        │ 45K      │ 34K      │ 25K      │
│ Issues       │ 1.2K     │ 890      │ 1.5K     │
│ Downloads/Mo │ 9.8M     │ 3.2M     │ 2.1M     │
└──────────────┴──────────┴──────────┴──────────┘

Script Execution (Preferred)

npx tsx scripts/compare.ts <package1> <package2> [package3...] [options]

Options:

• --no-cache - Bypass cache and fetch fresh data from API

Run from the npms-io plugin directory: ~/.claude/plugins/cache/npms-io/

Package Comparison API

POST https://api.npms.io/v2/package/mget
Content-Type: application/json

["package1", "package2", "package3"]

Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
packages	Yes	Array of package names (JSON array in POST body)

Examples

Compare packages:

curl -X POST https://api.npms.io/v2/package/mget \\
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \\
  -d '["react", "vue", "angular"]'

Response Format

The response contains analysis data for each requested package:

{
  "react": { /* NpmsPackage */ },
  "vue": { /* NpmsPackage */ },
  "angular": { /* NpmsPackage */ }
}

Packages that don't exist or haven't been analyzed will have null values.

Comparison Metrics

The comparison includes:

Scores (0-100)

• Overall, Quality, Popularity, Maintenance

Package Info

• Version, Description, Published date

GitHub Stats

• Stars, Forks, Open Issues, Contributors

npm Stats

• Monthly downloads

Project Health

• Contributing guide, License, Security policy

Caching

Comparison results are cached for 6 hours. Package metrics change slowly, so cached data remains accurate for extended periods.

Use the --no-cache flag to bypass the cache.

Related

• Use npms-analyze for detailed analysis of a single package
• Use npms-suggest to find packages by name pattern
• Use npm-search to find packages by keyword

Error Handling

Some packages not found: The comparison will show available data for found packages and note which ones were missing.

All packages not found: Verify package names are correct. New packages may take time to be analyzed.

Rate limiting: NPMS.io may rate limit excessive requests. Cache results to reduce API calls.

Interpreting Comparisons

Overall Score

Choose the package with the highest overall score if all other factors are equal.

Quality vs Popularity

• Higher quality: Better code, documentation, maintenance
• Higher popularity: More community adoption, support

Maintenance Score

Higher scores indicate active development and recent updates.

Download Counts

Higher downloads indicate wider adoption but not necessarily better quality.

Use Cases

Framework Selection

Compare JavaScript frameworks:

npx tsx scripts/compare.ts react vue angular

Library Alternatives

Compare similar libraries:

npx tsx scripts/compare.ts axios got node-fetch

State Management

Compare state management solutions:

npx tsx scripts/compare.ts redux zustand pinia

CSS Solutions

Compare CSS-in-JS libraries:

npx tsx scripts/compare.ts styled-components emotion linaria

Tips for Comparison

1. Consider use case: The best package depends on your specific requirements
2. Check maintenance: Prefer packages with higher maintenance scores
3. Look at ecosystem: Consider available plugins and community support
4. Review dependencies: Check if the package has healthy dependencies
5. Verify licensing: Ensure licenses are compatible with your project

Notes

• NPMS.io provides independent, third-party analysis
• Scores are algorithmically calculated from multiple sources
• Comparison is most useful for packages serving similar purposes
• GitHub and npm data may be incomplete for some packages
• New packages may not have completed initial analysis