Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Private Packagist VS Synaptic

Compare Private Packagist VS Synaptic and see what are their differences

Private Packagist logo Private Packagist

Composer package archive as a service for PHP

Synaptic logo Synaptic

Please take a minute to watch our video, it gives an overview of Synaptic's role in financial services.
  • Private Packagist Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-22
  • Synaptic Landing page
    Landing page //
    2018-10-03

Private Packagist features and specs

  • Centralized Package Management
    Private Packagist offers a centralized platform to manage PHP dependencies, making it easier for organizations to control the distribution and versioning of their internal libraries and third-party packages.
  • Security
    By using Private Packagist, organizations can ensure that their packages are coming from a secure and trusted source, reducing the risk of using malicious or compromised packages from public repositories.
  • Access Control
    It allows users to assign access rights and roles to team members, which helps maintain security and ensures that only authorized personnel can manage and access specific packages.
  • Custom Domains
    Organizations can use custom domains for their private packages, helping in maintaining brand identity and allowing for easier package management within the company's ecosystem.
  • Integrated with Composer
    Private Packagist is natively integrated with Composer, the PHP dependency manager, ensuring seamless adoption and easy integration into existing workflows.

Possible disadvantages of Private Packagist

  • Cost
    Private Packagist is a paid service, which might not be ideal for smaller organizations or individual developers who have tight budget constraints.
  • Dependency on External Service
    Relying on a third-party service for package management means that any downtime or service interruptions could potentially impact development workflows.
  • Complex Setup
    Compared to using the default Composer setup, configuring and managing an additional platform might incur some initial complexity and a learning curve for development teams.
  • Limited to PHP
    Being a PHP-focused service, it is not suitable for projects that require management of dependencies for multiple programming languages outside the PHP ecosystem.

Synaptic features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    Synaptic provides a graphical user interface that simplifies the process of managing software, making it accessible even to users who might not be comfortable with command-line tools.
  • Comprehensive Package Management
    It allows users to install, remove, upgrade, and configure software packages, offering a comprehensive solution for package management on Debian-based systems.
  • Dependency Management
    Synaptic automatically handles dependencies, ensuring that all necessary additional packages are installed or updated along with the desired software.
  • Advanced Search Capabilities
    The tool offers advanced search features, making it easier for users to find specific packages or groups of packages.
  • Preview Package Changes
    Users can preview package changes before they are applied, helping to avoid unintended modifications or removals.

Possible disadvantages of Synaptic

  • Linux Specific
    Synaptic is only available for Debian-based Linux distributions, limiting its use for those on other operating systems.
  • Outdated Interface
    While functional, the graphical user interface may appear outdated compared to more modern package management tools, potentially affecting user experience.
  • No Native Support for All Package Formats
    Synaptic primarily manages Debian packages (DEB) and might not be suitable for systems or environments that use other package formats like RPM without additional configuration.
  • Requires Graphical Environment
    As a GUI-based tool, Synaptic requires a graphical environment to run, making it less useful for servers or systems without a graphical desktop environment.
  • Potential Redundancy
    There may be redundancy in functionality for users who are comfortable with command-line tools like apt-get, making Synaptic unnecessary.

Analysis of Synaptic

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Synaptic is generally considered to be a reliable and effective tool for managing software packages on Linux systems.

Why this product is good

  • Synaptic is a powerful and user-friendly graphical package manager for APT-based distributions like Debian and Ubuntu. It offers a comprehensive range of features, including package installation, upgrade, removal, and detailed package information. Its GUI provides an intuitive interface for managing software, which can be especially beneficial for users who prefer not to use the command line.

Recommended for

  • Linux users who prefer a graphical user interface over command-line for software management.
  • Users of APT-based distributions such as Debian, Ubuntu, and their derivatives.
  • Individuals seeking a comprehensive and detailed package manager that offers extensive information and control over installed software.

Private Packagist videos

Interview - Private Packagist Nils Adermann, Mathias Schreiber

Synaptic videos

Is Synaptic Drive a Worthy Custom Robo Successor? | Synaptic Drive Review

More videos:

  • Review - A look at the Synaptic 2 0 Waist Pack
  • Demo - Synaptic Amps Demo/Review

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Private Packagist and Synaptic)
Package Manager
26 26%
74% 74
Front End Package Manager
Developer Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Windows Tools
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Private Packagist seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 7 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.

Private Packagist mentions (7)

  • Private Packagist - has anyone used and can tell me if it might fit in my scenario?
    I was told in another forum to look at Private Packagist... But how is that different? Instead of installing packages from packagist.org.. You pay to Packagist.com to do the same thing? You just download from packagist.com cloud instead of packagist.org? Source: about 3 years ago
  • Need a secured way to be able to use Composer
    We have a private Satis instance. Our ITSec team reviews all packages before we add them to Satis. Packagist.com is available for us but the CI-CD servers can reach only the private Satis. Source: about 3 years ago
  • Need a secured way to be able to use Composer
    Https://packagist.com maybe tell them about a local packagist install. Source: about 3 years ago
  • Need a secured way to be able to use Composer
    "[MANAGER] requested this to be done in PHP. You as IT will know that most modern programming and scripting languages work only with packaging software properly. Composer sends requests (majority of cases) to packagist.com and to github.com. It will add thousands of hours to do everything that composer does manually. Please sign here to authorize the usage of 4000 hours and the possible delay of 4000 hours.... Source: about 3 years ago
  • What do you think of SaaS Frameworks?
    Another downside that only really exists with non-PHP boilerplates is getting updates isn'T as easy. With PHP we're able to use packagist.com and make our code available via composer. Other languages don't have this so SaaS Pegasus provides zip downloads and Gravity provides access to a GitHub repo. This means you have to apply bug fixes yourself. With Parthenon, you do composer update and you'll get the latest... Source: over 3 years ago
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Synaptic mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Synaptic yet. Tracking of Synaptic recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Private Packagist and Synaptic, you can also consider the following products

Satis - Satis is a simple static Composer repository generator

Chocolatey - The sane way to manage software on Windows.

Sonatype Nexus Repository - The world's only repository manager with FREE support for popular formats.

Homebrew - The missing package manager for macOS

Packagist - The PHP Package Repository

GNOME Software - A application for installing apps and updates.