What is the difference between NPM and GitHub?

GitHub is a platform for hosting, versioning, and collaborating on code via Git. NPM is a package registry and package manager for JavaScript. Most open-source JavaScript packages live on both: code on GitHub, distributed package on NPM.

NPM was acquired by GitHub in 2020, which is itself owned by Microsoft. Despite common ownership, NPM and GitHub operate as separate services with different use cases.

Is there an alternative to NPM?

Yes. Yarn and pnpm are popular NPM alternatives with different performance and workspace characteristics. Deno uses URL-based imports rather than NPM packages. However, NPM's 2.5M package registry remains the standard reference.

Pulse

NPM

#96 Global

visits since you landed

GitHub

#21 Global

visits since you landed

NPM vs GitHub: Traffic Comparison (2026)

The two most critical platforms in the open-source JavaScript and web development ecosystem.

Traffic Statistics

NPM

Metric

GitHub

78M / mo✓

Monthly Visits

1.4B / mo

#96

Global Rank

✓#21

30/s

Requests / sec

✓532/s

dev

Verdict

GitHub dominates developer hosting with 100M developers and 420M monthly visits. NPM is the world's largest software registry with 2.5M packages and is deeply embedded in the JavaScript ecosystem. They serve complementary roles.

Frequently Asked Questions

Deep Dive

View NPM Full Stats →View GitHub Full Stats →

Pulse

Real Time Global Web Traffic Stream

Pulse

NPM

#96 Global

visits since you landed

GitHub

#21 Global

visits since you landed

NPM vs GitHub: Traffic Comparison (2026)

The two most critical platforms in the open-source JavaScript and web development ecosystem.

Traffic Statistics

NPM

Metric

GitHub

78M / mo✓

Monthly Visits

1.4B / mo

#96

Global Rank

✓#21

30/s

Requests / sec

✓532/s

dev

Verdict

Frequently Asked Questions

Deep Dive

View NPM Full Stats →View GitHub Full Stats →