ProGet vs. GitHub Packages

GitHub is great for source control, but it’s no package server. Learn how ProGet is better and a more secure developer experience.

Dedicated package server to procure, inspect, and distribute open-source packages, as well as packages you create with any tool.

Basic “add on” to GitHub repositories, designed only to store packages that you create with GitHub Actions.

Can ProGet replace GitHub Package Repositories?

Definitely! ProGet has all of the features of GitHub Packages plus lots more. You can easily integrate GitHub Actions with ProGet, and then publish and consume within your organization, or with the entire world.

ProGet will also proxy packages from public repositories like NuGet.org or npmjs.org, so you can restrict usage to what’s been approved for your organization.

Migrating from GitHub Packages to ProGet is relatively easy, but you can work with our professional services team to help with the migration.

Can ProGet work with GitHub Packages?

Yes. You can use connectors to aggregate GitHub Packages repositories from different projects and organizations to create a centralized feed in ProGet. You can then easily consume packages on GitHub Actions, Visual Studio, npm, BuildMaster, and other tools to easily consume this single source.

Capabilities Comparison

GitHub Packages are designed just to store the packages you create with your GitHub Actions. For small, hobby projects this is typically enough. But for teams, here’s why an enterprise-grade package repository like ProGet is a must-have.

ProGet Centralizes “Approved Packages”

Instead of directly connecting to public repositories, ProGet helps curate open-source packages by aggregating sources and promoting them to approved feeds after vetting them.

Since GitHub Packages has only one feed per project, this is not possible to accomplish.

ProGet automatically scans packages for licenses and vulnerabilities

ProGet automatically discovers vulnerabilities and unwanted license agreements in packages. You can then block package usage by automatically assessing vulnerabilities based on the CVE Score or your team’s manual assessment as well as packages with unwanted licenses (such as GPL-3) so that developers don’t accidentally incorporate them into a new project.

GitHub Package Repositories doesn’t have those capabilities, and Dependabot creates more work for developers.

Analyze active releases for new vulnerabilities or unwanted licenses

Projects and Releases in ProGet let you track the open-source and third-party components (packages) that your organization uses, and help you identify issues like vulnerabilities, license violations, and missing packages.