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PRIVATE REGISTRY COMPARISON
npm's own registry supports private packages alongside public packages. PrivateNPM is a separate hosted registry for npm, PyPI and Files. Compare the built-in npm collaboration model with the recipient and registry controls your team needs.
Reviewed by the PrivateNPM team. This is a vendor comparison; official sources and assumptions are linked below.
THE DECISION
npm private packages are a natural starting point for a JavaScript team already using npm accounts and organization teams. PrivateNPM is worth evaluating when customers need separate download credentials or your delivery includes Python packages and files.
You want to distribute private SDKs to customers through independent read-only keys and exact package grants, or use a verified custom registry hostname. Your packages must fit PrivateNPM's supported formats and plan limits.
You primarily share scoped JavaScript packages with collaborators who already have npm accounts. Existing organization teams and package permissions can be simpler than introducing another service.
CAPABILITIES AND TRADEOFFS
| Requirement | PrivateNPM | npm private packages |
|---|---|---|
| Private package names | A reserved scope on the shared npm registry, or a private registry namespace. | Private packages always have a scope. |
| Access model | Publisher membership and separate recipient package grants. | User-scoped collaborators or organization teams granted package access. |
| Other formats | PyPI and Files registries as well as npm. | The linked documentation covers npm packages. |
| Client setup | Route your scope to the PrivateNPM registry and authenticate on that host. | Use the npm registry with npm account credentials and package permissions. |
PrivateNPM features Plan limits and pricing Competitor documentation
ESTIMATE YOUR MONTH
Enter decimal GB (1 TB = 1,000 GB), human publisher seats and hosted packages across formats. Amounts are USD per month before tax. Customers using download keys are not publisher seats.
PrivateNPM estimates use the published monthly billing catalog, whole GB of excess transfer and the default overage cap of one monthly plan price. The first overage month is waived; these are ongoing-month examples. Annual billing, trial rules and a changed spend cap affect the bill. Registry count, download-key count and other feature requirements are not modeled: check all plan limits.
WORKED EXAMPLES
Distinguish five employees collaborating on source packages from 100 customers installing a private SDK. Map who must hold an account, how access is granted and who rotates credentials. Test offboarding for each group before deciding which model is easier to operate.
These are illustrative monthly workloads, not customer results or vendor benchmarks. Each PrivateNPM estimate selects the lowest-priced plan eligible for the shown storage, seat and package counts. Other plan limits still apply.
10 GB stored · 100 GB downloaded · 5 seats · 20 packages.
PrivateNPM: $29/month. Growth · monthly billing, default overage cap
npm private packages: evaluate this workload using the provider's pricing model and your additional requirements. No competitor bill is estimated.
100 GB stored · 1500 GB downloaded · 15 seats · 150 packages.
PrivateNPM: $198/month. Scale · monthly billing, default overage cap
npm private packages: evaluate this workload using the provider's pricing model and your additional requirements. No competitor bill is estimated.
500 GB stored · 5000 GB downloaded · 30 seats · 500 packages.
PrivateNPM: $499/month. Platform · monthly billing, default overage cap
npm private packages: evaluate this workload using the provider's pricing model and your additional requirements. No competitor bill is estimated.
MIGRATION CHECKLIST
Start with one package and one consumer. Keep the existing service available until you have verified publishing, allowed installs, denied access and rollback. Package bytes can be copied; identities, permissions and audit history require separate planning.
Use a publisher key to publish, then a read-only download key in a clean consumer project. Confirm that an allowed package installs, an ungranted package is denied and revocation blocks new downloads after the authorization cache expires. Already downloaded content cannot be revoked from a customer's disk.
Follow the publish-and-install quickstart, then configure the registry route and host-specific credential. For CI, use the trusted publishing guide. These are PrivateNPM walkthroughs; the checklist above is a migration plan, not a claim that every provider has been tested end to end.
Preserve an inventory of required versions, integrity values and dist-tags. Use package-manager commands to update lockfiles and inspect resolved URLs. Do not delete the source packages or revoke the old credentials until consumers have switched and you can restore the previous configuration.
No. PrivateNPM.com is a separate registry service. Its accounts, scopes, publisher credentials and download keys are independent of npmjs.org.
Check the destination first. The shared PrivateNPM registry requires an available reserved scope. A private registry has its own namespace; verify its package rules and client routing before moving versions.
Reviewed 30 October 2026 by the PrivateNPM team using the official pages below. Pricing can change; confirm current terms before buying. This is a documentation-based comparison, not an independent performance benchmark or a hands-on test of every vendor.
READY WHEN YOU ARE
