Nexspence
Nexspence is a self-hosted artifact repository manager for teams storing and distributing software packages.
What Nexspence is
Nexspence is a self-hosted artifact repository manager for teams storing and distributing software packages. It supports 15 artifact formats, including Maven, Docker, npm, PyPI, Go Modules, NuGet, Helm, Cargo, Apt, Yum, Conan, Raw, Conda, and Terraform. Hosted, Proxy, and Group repositories are available across formats, with some format-specific exceptions. A one-command migration can stream repositories, users, and artifacts from a live Nexus instance; the migration can be paused and is described as conflict-safe. Storage options include MinIO, AWS S3, Wasabi, and a local filesystem, with blob stores assigned per repository. Identity integrations include Keycloak, Google, Azure Entra, and Okta through OIDC/SSO, plus just-in-time provisioning and group-to-role mapping. Security features include LDAP, API tokens, JWT, fine-grained access rules, and SSRF-protected outbound fetches. Scanning uses OSV.dev for Maven, npm, PyPI, and Cargo; Docker and OCI image scanning needs an operator-supplied Trivy installation. Nexspence is free under the GNU AGPL v3 or later. Deployment options include Docker Compose, Helm/Kubernetes, and native packages or archives; native installation requires external PostgreSQL 13 or later.
Good
- Supports 15 artifact formats.
- Migration streams data from a live Nexus instance.
- Supports MinIO, AWS S3, Wasabi, and local storage.
- Fine-grained access controls and audit logs with 90-day retention.
- Free plan with no license fees.
Watch out
- Docker and OCI scanning requires operator-supplied Trivy.
- Native install requires external PostgreSQL 13 or later.
- Audit logs are retained for 90 days.
Who it suits
Nexspence suits teams that want to host package repositories themselves and need multiple artifact formats, storage choices, or a path to migrate from Nexus. Native installs also suit teams able to provide PostgreSQL 13 or later.
Verdict
Nexspence brings broad format support, configurable storage, and migration capabilities to a self-hosted repository manager. Check the format-specific repository exceptions and the external Trivy and PostgreSQL requirements against your deployment needs.
Plans and prices
From Nexspence's own pricing page, checked 15 Oct 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Free forever | Free | All product features · No license fees · Self-hosted deployment |
| Nexspence | Free | No license fees · Free forever |
| Supporter | $5 a month | GitHub sponsor badge · Name in SPONSORS.md · Release newsletter · monthly |
| Backer | $25 a month | Supporter benefits · Name and link in README · Roadmap-poll input · Release-notes thanks · monthly |
| Sponsor | $100 a month | Backer benefits · Logo and link on README and website · Priority issue triage · Maintainer deployment contact · monthly |
The facts
Each one read from Nexspence's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- Architecture
- An independent Habr article describes a Go/Gin backend, React/TypeScript frontend, PostgreSQL metadata storage and a single static binary.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Artifact formats
- The website lists 15 supported formats, including Maven, npm, Docker, PyPI, Go, NuGet, Helm, Cargo, Apt, Yum/RPM, Conan, Raw, Conda and Terraform.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Audit logging
- The product keeps a 90-day audit trail with date and user filters and NDJSON streaming export.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Audit logs
- Audit logs have 90-day retention and support NDJSON streaming export.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Authorization
- RBAC uses roles, privileges and CEL content selectors for path-level repository permissions.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Cleanup policies
- Automated cleanup can use maximum age, last-download thresholds or retain-N-versions rules scheduled by cron.checked 15 Oct 2026
- CLI
- The project publishes a separate Go command-line tool named nxs for Nexspence administration.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Deployment
- Deployment options include Docker Compose, Helm/Kubernetes, and native packages or archives for Linux, macOS, and Windows.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Documentation
- The documentation covers installation, high availability, SSO, repositories, format guides, RBAC, webhooks, migration, monitoring, promotion, replication and REST APIs.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Funding model
- GitHub Sponsors states that sponsorship funds infrastructure, CI and development while the software remains AGPLv3 and free.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Identity integrations
- Built-in OIDC/OAuth2 SSO supports Keycloak, Google, Microsoft Entra ID and Okta, with JIT provisioning and group-to-role mapping.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Infrastructure as code
- The official Terraform provider manages repositories, blob stores, users, roles, privileges, cleanup policies, webhooks, and promotion rules.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Install options
- Deployment options include Docker Compose, Helm/Kubernetes, Linux deb or rpm packages, macOS archives with launchd and Windows service packages.checked 15 Oct 2026
- LDAP
- LDAP and Active Directory authentication include just-in-time user creation and group-to-role mapping.checked 15 Oct 2026
- License
- The site states Nexspence is licensed under GNU AGPL v3 or later.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Limit: database dependency
- The native single-binary installation still requires an external PostgreSQL database.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: disclosed security issues
- The v2.9.2 release documented five security fixes, including a critical exposure of Apt signing credentials and several high-severity authorization issues.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: Trivy dependency
- Docker and OCI image scanning is unavailable until the operator supplies and configures a separate Trivy binary.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: webhook delivery
- Webhook delivery is fire-and-forget and failed deliveries are not retried, so critical consumers need their own durable queue.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Migration
- A one-command migration streams repositories, users, and artifacts from a live Nexus instance and is described as pausable and conflict-safe.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Nexus compatibility
- Nexspence exposes a Nexus-compatible v1 REST API under /service/rest/v1/.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Nexus migration
- A live migration tool streams repositories, users and artifacts from Nexus with pause and resume support.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Praise: migration and compatibility
- The Habr review praises changing only the host URL because existing CI/CD tools continue working through Nexus REST API compatibility.checked 15 Oct 2026
- Praise: resource usage
- The Habr review reports roughly 60–80 MB RAM for Nexspence in its described setup, versus 1.5–2 GB for Nexus in the author's comparison.checked 15 Oct 2026
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