Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

npm VS Browserify

Compare npm VS Browserify and see what are their differences

npm logo npm

npm is a package manager for Node.

Browserify logo Browserify

Browserify lets you require('modules') in the browser by bundling up all of your dependencies.
  • npm Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-03
  • Browserify Landing page
    Landing page //
    2018-09-29

npm features and specs

  • Large Ecosystem
    npm boasts an extensive library of packages, making it easier for developers to find existing solutions for a wide array of tasks.
  • Active Community
    A vibrant and active community ensures continuous updates, support, and improvements for various packages.
  • Integration with Node.js
    Seamless integration with Node.js, which makes it the default package manager for Node.js projects.
  • Version Control
    Provides robust version control, enabling developers to specify and manage dependencies precisely.
  • Scripts
    Allows automation of tasks through custom scripts defined in the package.json file, enhancing development workflow.

Possible disadvantages of npm

  • Security Issues
    The open nature can potentially lead to dependency on unvetted or insecure packages, posing security risks.
  • Deprecation and Abandonment
    Packages may be deprecated or abandoned by their maintainers, which can disrupt projects that depend on them.
  • Complex Dependency Management
    Managing complex dependencies and resolving conflicts between them can sometimes be challenging and time-consuming.
  • Performance Overhead
    The sheer size of the node_modules directory can lead to performance overhead and large project sizes.
  • Quality Variability
    The quality of packages on npm can vary widely, with some lacking sufficient documentation or tests.

Browserify features and specs

  • Node.js module system support
    Browserify allows developers to use the Node.js-style require() function for module loading in the browser, enabling the use of NPM packages designed for Node.js.
  • Code organization
    By enabling modular code, Browserify helps developers organize their code better, making it more maintainable and scalable.
  • Ecosystem integration
    Browserify seamlessly integrates with the Node.js ecosystem and encourages code sharing between the server and client.
  • Customizability
    With Browserify's plugin system, developers can easily customize and extend its functionality to fit their needs.
  • Performance optimization
    Advanced features like code splitting and static analysis can improve performance by reducing the amount of code sent to the browser.

Possible disadvantages of Browserify

  • Build process complexity
    Integrating Browserify into your workflow can add complexity to your build process, especially for developers who are not familiar with build tools.
  • Plugins and transformations
    While Browserify is customizable, managing a large number of plugins and transformations can become cumbersome and difficult to understand.
  • Performance overhead
    The bundling process can introduce performance overhead during development due to the time taken to bundle the files.
  • Modern alternatives
    Modern alternatives like Webpack and Rollup offer more features and optimizations, making Browserify less attractive for some use cases.
  • Limited built-in features
    Compared to alternatives like Webpack, Browserify has fewer built-in features, which can necessitate additional tools or plugins for functionalities like hot module replacement.

npm videos

Artis bus NPM Mr marcha sopir ny ramah,Review detail bus baru yang berangkat dari Payakumbuh~Jakarta

More videos:

  • Review - Review bus baru NPM,, V15 Mr marcha ft kru kece,, berangkat Payakumbuh menuju Jakarta
  • Review - Analysis of an Exploited NPM Package || Jarrod Overson

Browserify videos

MacBook Pro Retina vs MacBook Air - Django collect static & browserify

More videos:

  • Review - Atlanta JavaScript Presents Mobile Development with Cordova and Browserify with Roman Shtylman HD

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to npm and Browserify)
Front End Package Manager
JS Build Tools
65 65%
35% 35
Web Application Bundler
51 51%
49% 49
Package Manager
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare npm and Browserify

npm Reviews

Repository Management Tools
There are three components to npm, they are the website, registry and the cli. The npm website is the place where developers discover packages, set up their profiles and also manage the other aspects of npm. The npm registry is the huge database that contains all the dependencies and stuff whereas the npm cli is the one that is used by most of the developers to interact with...
Source: mindmajix.com
What is Artifactory?
All packages are organized so that you can keep track of all of the dependencies and their various versions. The registry, website, and command-line interface, or CLI, are the three components of npm. The npm website is where developers can find packages, create profiles, and manage other elements of the npm project. The npm registry is an extensive database that holds all...

Browserify Reviews

First impressions with Parcel JS
Heard of Webpack, Rollup or Browserify? They are popular bundlers. If you’ve used one of them, you’ve used a bundler. A bundler does what it says on the tin, bundles your code 📦
Source: codeburst.io

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, npm should be more popular than Browserify. It has been mentiond 64 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

npm mentions (64)

  • A Gentle Introduction to WebAssembly in Rust (2025 Edition)
    If your WASM code is self contained in Rust, you can build it in production mode and publish it on npmjs.com right now. The wasm-pack tool creates all the TypeScript types, package.json skeleton and anything else needed for a complete package. It is recommended that you review and update your package.json file prior to publishing. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • Publishing To NPM For The First Time
    First, I signed up for an account on npmjs.com and authenticated my npm CLI with my account using a "publish" type access token generated from the website. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • How to Publish an npm Package
    Congratulations,now you package on npm you can check using go npmjs check your profile. - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
  • A step-by-step guide on how to create and publish and npm package
    To begin, you will need to choose a name for your package. Note: Your package name must be unique. Using the exact or similar name of an existing package will return an error when publishing the package to npm. To ensure the uniquenesses of your package name, head over to npmjs.com and search for any existing packages with a similar name. If there’s an exact match or a similar name, consider changing the name... - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Caching RESTful API requests with Heroku’s Redis Add-on
    By using Fastify, you can quickly get a Node.js application up and running to handle requests. Assuming you have Node.js installed, you’ll start by initializing a new project. We’ll use npm as our package manager. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
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Browserify mentions (22)

  • Node.js: A brief history of cjs, bundlers, and esm
    Npm packages dramatically sped up the productivity of developers by being able to leverage other developers' work. However, it had a major disadvantage: cjs was not compatible with web browsers. To solve this problem, the concept of bundlers was born. Browserify was the first bundler which essentially worked by traversing an entry point and "bundling" all the require()-ed code into a single .js file compatible... - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • How to Create a Real-time Public Transportation Schedule App
    Browserify to use node packages in the browser. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • 5 Different Tools to Bundle Node.js Apps
    Browserify is a widely used JavaScript bundler with over 2 million NPM weekly downloads. In addition to Node.js support, allowing developers to use require() statements in the browser is one of its highlighted features. - Source: dev.to / almost 2 years ago
  • JavaScript Module Bundlers and all that Jazz ✨
    This began to change when NPM came in and running npm install became a quick and easy way to install dependencies. Browserify became the first JavaScript bundler. As its documentation says -. - Source: dev.to / about 2 years ago
  • Hack to Run React Application inside Service Worker
    One problem was to run jsDOM as UMD module. But luckly I was able to use browserify to compile jsDOM into UMD. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing npm and Browserify, you can also consider the following products

Yarn - Yarn is a package manager for your code.

Webpack - Webpack is a module bundler. Its main purpose is to bundle JavaScript files for usage in a browser, yet it is also capable of transforming, bundling, or packaging just about any resource or asset.

Parcel - Blazing fast, zero configuration web application bundler

Brunch - Brunch builds, lints, compiles, concatenates and shrinks your HTML5 app in an ultra-simple way. No more Grunt / Gulp mess.

rollup.js - Rollup is a module bundler for JavaScript which compiles small pieces of code into a larger piece such as application.

GNU Make - GNU Make is a tool which controls the generation of executables and other non-source files of a program from the program's source files.