NuGet
NuGet Private Package Manager Comparison Guide
This article is part of our series on NuGet at Scale, also available as a chapter in our free, downloadable eBook.
So, you set up a local, private NuGet repository on a network file share for your small team, and it worked great… At first. But as an organization scales and more packages (and more developers) join the mix, things start to slow down. And let’s be honest: using network share feels clunky when everything is web-based, especially over a VPN.
Local private NuGet repositories are simple—it’s just a file share! But at some point, you’ll need to upgrade to a real NuGet package manager. The tricky part? There’s a lot of options out there, and not every team needs an enterprise-level solution. Sometimes, you just want something “a little better” that won’t overcomplicate your setup, and while the simplest choice is to go with ProGet, it’s not the only option.
In this article, we’ll explore the five different types of NuGet package managers out there, the differences between them, and how to use this info to decide which server is best for you and your team.
What can a Private NuGet Package Manager do?
Before diving into the five different types of NuGet package managers, take a moment to think about the features your team actually needs. Even the most basic NuGet manager can do a lot more than a simple local feed—so it’s worth knowing what tools are out there:
✅ Restricted feeds allow administrators to control who can view, publish, or promote packages.
✅ Proxy / Mirror NuGet.org: Sits between your team and NuGet.org (and other sources) to act as a sort of proxy or mirror for packages.
✅ Open-source Package Verification automatically scans and blocks packages that have vulnerabilities or unwanted licenses.
✅ Host Non-NuGet Packages: As your team expands beyond .NET, you may have a need for packages like npm / Node.js.
✅ Package promotion: Integrated workflows that help standardize the package review/approval process, and your software development lifecycle.
Keep these features in mind as you look around for a private NuGet package manager, and think about which ones you’re willing to compromise on (and which ones you’re definitely not) before committing to a new server.
Type 1: NuGet.Server-based Package Managers
A lot of teams lean towards NuGet.Server as a replacement for their local feed. It is a lightweight NuGet package you can use to build a web app that hosts a private NuGet feed. It’s a small step up from a local feed.
Microsoft has clear docs for building a NuGet package manager, and there’s tons of community posts to help if you get stuck. Pre-built servers can be bought from NuGetServer.net for a few bucks to save you the hassle of making it yourself. But…
⚠ NuGet.Server Isn’t Recommended! ⚠
With so many free alternatives available, I can’t recommend NuGet.Server anymore. It comes with too many limitations, and none of the features other NuGet package managers have.
The limitation that sticks out is the lack of restricted feeds. At best, you can set up a feed to be read-only. A restricted feed is important since it lets admin choose who can view, publish, and more to your feeds, a basic feature that keeps package quality consistent in growing teams.
Type 2: Community/Hobby Projects
Community or hobby project servers are open-source NuGet feeds that are all still actively being developed—and they’re open to anyone. The big plus here is the community part. You can check out the project’s GitHub, pitch in with contributions, scan posts for troubleshooting tips, or see how other devs optimized the NuGet package manager’s functions.
That said, these projects are usually side gigs for someone (or a small group), so there’s no commercial support, but they’re a great fit for individuals or small teams.
| ✔ Sleet | A simple static NuGet package feed generator, Sleet is serverless, which means you can create feeds directly on AWS for example… But, it’s static, so it’s read-only, and you can’t publish packages to it. |
| ✔ BaGetter | Pronounced just like the bread but better, BaGetter is a lightweight NuGet and Symbol Server forked from BaGet, still actively maintained with continued features and improvements, with its latest update in Feb 2025. |
| ⚠ SlimGet (Inactive) | A lightweight implementation of a NuGet and Symbol Server, powered by ASP.NET Core 2.2, designed to be ran in Docker. Currently seems like it’s no longer updated, with the last commit made back in 2020. |
While none of the community projects support restricted feeds, BaGetter does support NuGet.org proxying and mirroring, allowing you handy access to one hundred percent of the packages you need with no direct contact with the site.
That being said, these projects are really just meant for hosting your internal packages. Once you start using more open-source packages from NuGet.org, you’ll start to feel the limitations—especially when it comes to integrated license and vulnerability scanning, critical features when using third-party packages.
Skipping these license checks can land you in hot water—and I mean serious legal trouble. Likewise, shipping a package with security vulnerabilities is only a matter of time without an automated scanning solution.
Type 3: Package Hosting Services
Just like the name suggests, these are options that host packages—basically “Packages as a Service.” Unlike local or community options, these are fully managed by the hosting service, so setup is quick and easy. Right now, there’s only three major players offering hosted NuGet feeds:
| MyGet | A hosted universal package registry that integrates with your existing source code ecosystem and enables end-to-end package management. They also offer Build Services, which is continuous integration for your packages. |
| Cloudsmith | A cloud-native, hosted package management service that helps you manage, trace, and control the software used within your development and deployment pipelines, or when you distribute it to your customers. |
| Feedz.io | A Package Hosting and Distribution that lets you store and distribute your private NuGet and npm packages, with no user limit, and transparent pricing. |
| Bytesafe | A relatively new contender offering a security-focused NuGet registry with support for SBOMs, license and vulnerability scanning, and dependency firewalling. It can act as both a private feed and a proxy to NuGet.org, and supports integration with GitHub repos. |
MyGet, Bytesafe, and Cloudsmith support NuGet.org proxying and mirroring, allowing your team to pull NuGet packages with no direct contact with the NuGet site itself. Even better, they both support automated vulnerability and license scanning for those external packages, which is super useful for when you’re working with open-source libraries and need to cover your legal and security bases.
They also come with some other handy features: restricted feeds and the ability to host non-NuGet packages.
But while these package hosting services are the easiest to get up and running, they’re not always the ideal choice for scaling teams or larger enterprises. Everything is stored in the cloud, which might not be the best environment for the code you’re working with, and this also means the pricing gets confusing fast, depending on how much space or what features you use.
Type 4: Built-in Package Registries
A Built-in Package Registry is a feed built into another tool—usually a monolithic platform—and tightly integrated with the projects you build there. Monolithic platforms are all-in-one services that handle everything from project management, issue tracking, build automation, and deployment.
A built-in feed is kind of like the scissors on a Swiss Army Knife—super convenient, but not always the best tool for the job. And unlike a real Swiss Army Knife, the package registry feature often feels like an afterthought (along with most of the other features in the platform). There are currently five built-in package NuGet package registries out there:
These tools might be powerful, but they’re not really built for packages. They’re complex, expensive, and unless you’re planning on using them for other stuff, they’re just not worth it. Even organizations that do use them often find the built-in feed to be too complex and limited, especially since monoliths focus on building your software, not pulling open-source NuGet packages. Proxying and package validation usually aren’t included.
Type 5: Enterprise-Grade Repositories
Designed to be the central hub for all your software assets, packages, and Docker containers, this type of NuGet package manager crams in a ton of package-focused features, like high availability and replication across servers.
There are a few big names on the market—Artifactory, Nexus, and ProGet—all with free and paid versions available. But when it comes to hosting private NuGet feeds, ProGet is hands down the best option. And I’m not just saying that because I work for Inedo.
✩ ProGet Is Recommended! ✩
ProGet was always designed around NuGet, supporting Source and Symbol Serving, a must-have feature for package development, from day one, right out of the box. Compare this to Artifactory, which only incorporated Symbol Servers after after eight years of it being a requested feature, and doesn’t support legacy formats like .symbols.nuget, and Microsoft PDBs, unlike ProGet.
Not to mention, ProGet’s features built around developing NuGet packages using CI/CD pipelines, tracking which applications use which packages, and creating a package review process.
So why not just drive straight into ProGet? It’s free and easy to install, but it has a lot more features than most teams are looking for right now. That can feel overwhelming—but if you’re like me, it’s hard not to use a feature if I see it, even if building processes around these new features takes time.
And then there’s the matter of system requirements. Enterprise-grade repositories like ProGet need a bit more server resources than a basic NuGet.Server feed, but in return, they’ll scale way better when your team and usage grows.
The Right NuGet Package Manager for You
No matter where you’re at—a couple of devs starting with a local feed, or managing packages across large teams—there’s a NuGet private package manager that will work for you. The trick is picking the one that works for your current needs but won’t hold you back later.
Hopefully, this breakdown painted a clearer picture of what’s out there and what to look for, whether that’s a small-scale package manager for starting out or something with the functionality to keep package licensing and security risks in check. Now it’s just a case of deciding what matters most to your team.
We covered a lot of info today, so I really recommend bookmarking this page to reference later. Or, explore even more by downloading our free eBook “NuGet at Scale”. Including everything covered here, it contains even more insights on the risks of using direct packages from NuGet, debugging with Visual Studio, and much more! Get your free copy today!
