Primary job
Artifact manager
Host, mirror, and distribute packages — internal artifacts and public-registry mirrors.
Chainsaw
Host your internal artifacts and evaluate policy on every install request to any registry, public or private.
Artifact managers host. Chainsaw decides.
A mirror serves a malicious package as faithfully as a good one. Chainsaw refuses it at install.
Cloudsmith, JFrog, Nexus, Verdaccio host packages and stop there.
Chainsaw hosts your internal artifacts and enforces install-time policy on every npm, PyPI, Maven, Docker, and CI install routed through it. CI, endpoint, and network enforcement keep an install from quietly routing around that policy. Run alongside your existing registry, or replace it.
Where it sits
Artifact manager
Developers pull from the manager's private registry URLs.
Chainsaw
Developers keep pulling from npm, PyPI, Maven, Docker — Chainsaw proxies those requests, and serves your internal artifacts on the same URL.
Rollout cost
Artifact manager
Change every package-manager config, migrate internal artifacts, maintain mirrors in perpetuity.
Chainsaw
One-line registry URL swap per package manager. Adopt incrementally — keep your existing registry, or replace it.
Response to a newly disclosed CVE
Artifact manager
Scanner flags the affected version in hosted artifacts; you file tickets and chase upgrades.
Chainsaw
Policy update refuses the affected version on the next install, org-wide, with no code changes.
Where security lives
Artifact manager
An add-on scanning tier on top of hosting.
Chainsaw
The product. Policy enforcement is the primary surface, not a bolt-on.
On-prem / air-gapped
Artifact manager
Typically available on enterprise-tier contracts with bespoke deployment work.
Chainsaw
Included on the Enterprise plan — same binary as the managed service.
Feature matrix
What each layer actually does
| Capability | Artifact manager Cloudsmith · JFrog · Nexus · Verdaccio | Chainsaw Install-time policy proxy |
|---|---|---|
| Hosts internal artifacts Authenticated publish across npm, PyPI, Maven, Docker, Cargo, RubyGems, NuGet, Go, Swift, APT/Yum/DNF + 5 more. | Yes | Yes |
| Mirrors / caches public packages Hosted publish + pass-through cache on the same URL — both on every plan. | Yes | Yes |
| Install-time policy enforcement Refuse or allow a package before it enters a build. | No | Yes |
| Monitoring-first rollout See what would be refused before you enforce. | No | Yes |
| Zero-migration deploy Adopt without moving artifacts into a new registry. | No | Yes |
| Works with npm, PyPI, Maven, Docker | Yes | Yes |
| Refuse the version the moment a CVE lands Org-wide, no code changes, no upgrade PRs. | Partial | Yes |
| Pass/fail policy decision on every install, not just hosting A registry serves whatever is published, good or bad. Chainsaw renders a pass/fail decision on each install, then CI, endpoint, and network enforcement keeps installs from routing around that decision. | No | Yes |
| Runs alongside your existing registry Or replace it entirely — Chainsaw is a full registry, not just a checkpoint. | — | Yes |
| On-prem / air-gapped | Partial | Yes |
Already running an artifact manager?
Keep your registry. Put Chainsaw in front of the public-registry traffic.
Chainsaw renders a pass/fail policy decision on every install routed through it — the install-path firewall in front of your registry. CI, endpoint, and network enforcement mean an install can't skip that decision. When you're ready, migrate your internal artifacts to Chainsaw too: same URL, no separate publish workflow.