Is npm Enough? Why Startups are Coming after this ...

RedMonk has been following package management forever, but what has only become more true in 2025 is that building modern applications requires pulling down and managing a boatload of dependencies. Running the command npm install in the CLI for a React Native project, for instance, can add close to 1,500 dependencies to the package.json file. … Meanwhile, developer forums on Reddit and Hacker News are awash with stories about malicious and spam npm packages. In addition to the lottie-player library exploit, which Jakub Pavlík, co-founder & head of engineering at Exaforce, explains: “highlighted the fragility of the NPM ecosystem’s security,” Phylum Research’s “The Great npm Garbage Patch” discusses: “the proliferation of spam packages in npm associated with the Tea protocol, a decentralized initiative that promises to compensate software developers in cryptocurrency for their open-source contributions.” … The Node community is particularly concerned about the state of npm. According to Robin Bender Ginn, Executive Director of the OpenJS Foundation: > JavaScript developer communities are telling us that they see real or perceived security and performance gaps with npm/GitHub. Consequently, the JavaScript ecosystem risks fragmentation, with new package registries emerging. This outcome is less than ideal due to the significant burden of maintaining registries, potential interoperability challenges, and evolving security compliance requirements.