Comparison

npm-stat: download statistics for NPM packages vs Npmjs

npm-stat: download statistics for NPM packages and Npmjs both land on Worth it.

npm-stat: download statistics for NPM packages

Worth it

Confidence: Medium

Free, no-signup npm download charts . a fine utility for quick popularity checks.

Worth it

Confidence: Medium

If you write JavaScript, npm is effectively mandatory . it's the default package registry and free for public packages.

npm-stat: download statistics for NPM packages versus Npmjs
Compare	npm-stat: download statistics for NPM packages	Npmjs
Verdict	Worth it	Worth it
Best for	Open-source maintainers tracking package adoption	JavaScript/Node.js developers
Who it's not for	Anyone making build-vs-buy calls from raw download counts	Non-JavaScript stacks . use PyPI, NuGet, or Maven instead
Privacy	No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.^³	High-risk: repeated supply-chain compromises, including a Sept 2025 worm affecting 19 popular packages; 19 CVEs tracked.¹⁵
Support quality	No evidence in sources	Reddit users call the site abandoned
Public sentiment	Practitioners warn that npm download counts are unreliable popularity signals because mirrors and bots inflate them.^⁴	Review volume is tiny; G2 users find package management easy, while Reddit threads criticize site neglect, publishing friction, package quality, and security.¹⁰
Biggest gotcha	Mirror sites cache packages automatically, inflating download numbers for unused packages^⁴	One compromised maintainer account can push malicious updates to hundreds of millions of weekly installs.