fnm

Judgement

What it is

Developer tool

What it does

A Node.js version manager in a single Rust binary that installs and switches Node versions per directory from .node-version or .nvmrc files, on macOS, Windows and Linux.

Adopt it when

You switch between Node.js versions across projects and want something faster than nvm that also works on Windows.

Watch out

It manages only Node.js; if you need several language runtimes, mise or Volta cover more.

Ready for

Production-ready

Runs as

Command line

Built with

Rust

How established

Established: started 7 years ago, latest release v1.39.0.

What the license allows

Use inside your business is unrestricted, but anything you distribute that includes it must be released under the same license.

Judged on 2026-11-06 from the project's README and GitHub data. The license and age lines are worked out directly.

Built from

Follow it down: fnm → Rust → runs on a microchip

How compilers were built, back to punched paper tape

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