Monorepo in 2026: Turborepo vs Nx vs pnpm Workspaces

#javascript #typescript #programming #devops

Managing multiple related packages is painful. Monorepos solve it by putting everything in one repo with shared tooling.

Why Monorepos?

Atomic commits across multiple packages
Shared code without npm publishing dance
Consistent tooling (ESLint, TypeScript, tests) everywhere
Easy refactoring across package boundaries

pnpm Workspaces (The Foundation)

Most monorepo tools build on workspace protocols. pnpm's is the best:

# pnpm-workspace.yaml
packages:
  - 'apps/*'
  - 'packages/*'

// packages/ui/package.json
{ "name": "@myapp/ui", "version": "1.0.0" }

// apps/web/package.json
{
  "dependencies": {
    "@myapp/ui": "workspace:*"  // Always uses local version
  }
}

pnpm install           # Install all packages
pnpm -r build          # Build all packages
pnpm -F @myapp/ui dev  # Run dev in specific package

Turborepo: Speed First

Turborepo's killer feature is remote caching — build once, share across your team:

// turbo.json
{
  "pipeline": {
    "build": {
      "dependsOn": ["^build"],   // Build deps first
      "outputs": [".next/**", "dist/**"]
    },
    "test": {
      "dependsOn": ["build"],
      "outputs": []
    },
    "lint": {
      "outputs": []
    }
  }
}

turbo run build         # Builds in optimal order, caches results
turbo run build --dry   # Show what would run
turbo run build --graph # Visualize the dependency graph

Remote Caching

turbo login              # Connect to Vercel (free for personal use)
turbo link               # Link this repo

# Now: if CI built this exact code, turbo downloads the cache
# instead of rebuilding. Zero time builds on unchanged packages.

Nx: Full-Featured Monorepo Framework

Nx goes further with code generation, dependency graph visualization, and affected commands:

npx create-nx-workspace myapp --preset=next

# Generate components/apps
nx g @nx/react:component Button --project=ui
nx g @nx/next:app dashboard

# Only run tasks affected by changes
nx affected --target=build
nx affected --target=test --base=main

# Visualize the entire dependency graph
nx graph

Nx can also enforce module boundaries:

// .eslintrc.json
{
  "rules": {
    "@nx/enforce-module-boundaries": ["error", {
      "depConstraints": [
        { "sourceTag": "scope:app", "onlyDependOnLibsWithTags": ["scope:lib"] },
        { "sourceTag": "type:ui", "onlyDependOnLibsWithTags": ["type:ui", "type:util"] }
      ]
    }]
  }
}