FAIR Package Manager: A New Era of Plugin Management

When the FAIR Package Manager was officially announced at WordCamp Europe 2025, it was making waves in the WordPress community.

Backed by the Linux Foundation, FAIR (Free and Independent Repository) aims to become a community driven alternative to the WordPress.org repository. 

It’s like WordPress.org, but faster, free, and completely open. It eliminates the limitations and red tape of the current system. If it works, this move could actually reshape how developers publish and maintain their creations, sparking a new era of freedom, transparency, and collaboration in the World of WordPress.

So are you ready to see what all the buzz is about? 

Let’s know what the FAIR Package Manager is, why it was created, and how it could change WordPress forever.

What Is the FAIR Package Manager?

The FAIR Package Manager is a brand new open source WordPress package manager. It’s designed to modernize how developers install, update, and manage WordPress plugins and themes.

In simple words, think of FAIR as the npm or Composer for WordPress. Instead of relying fully on WordPress.org, developers can now host, share, and distribute packages freely using a decentralized and transparent system.

It’s built on the strong principles:

• Free: Open to everyone without gatekeeping.
• Accessible: Easy to use for both developers and WordPress site owners.
• Independent: Not controlled by any single entity.
• Reliable: Secure and community maintained.

Thus, FAIR is a completely new ecosystem for managing WordPress packages with full freedom and flexibility.

For example, right now, when you use WordPress. You usually have to get plugins and themes from WordPress.org, right? But with the FAIR Package Manager, you get a much smoother and easier way to get them from anywhere. 

Here’s why, we can say FAIR is a new, faster way to get WordPress plugins and themes from anywhere, not just from WordPress.org alone.

Why Was the FAIR Package Manager Created?

FAIR package manager was created because the WordPress ecosystem needed a change. It’s as simple as that. 

For years, developers have relied on the WordPress.org repository to distribute their plugins and themes. While it’s sure been the go-to platform for decades, it also comes with its own set of limitations, which are hard to turn a blind eye to now: 

• Long review times
• Strict rules
• Lack of flexibility for modern development workflows
• And many more

And that’s exactly where FAIR comes in – to change the game for developers.

It was created to give developers more control and freedom. Best of all, its open source and Linux backed model, so developers can easily:

• Publish packages without waiting days for manual approvals.
• Maintain full ownership and licensing rights over their work.
• Use modern dependency management tools for much smoother and easier development.

And that’s why FAIR exists to bridge the gap between traditional WordPress repository management and today’s open source standards.

How Does the FAIR Package Manager Work?

The FAIR is a WordPress package manager that allows you to discover, install, and manage WordPress plugins or themes from different places, not just from WordPress.org. 

Further, it operates much like modern software package managers (think npm, Composer, or Homebrew). However, it is especially made for the WordPress ecosystem.

At its core, FAIR relies on a decentralized registry system, unlike WordPress’s current single central repository. So it allows developers to host their own package repositories while still being indexed by FAIR. 

This way, you can use both community maintained registries and private repositories at once, which offers a perfect balance of openness and control.

Let’s take a look at how the FAIR Package Manager actually works: 

1. First, developers publish their plugins or themes to the FAIR registry.
2. Later, WordPress users can directly install them from FAIR using CLI commands (just like npm install).
3. Now, FAIR downloads the plugin or theme, checks it and adds it to the user’s WordPress site, just like the WordPress Plugin Installer does.
4. Also, users can update all their plugins and themes through FAIR with a single command, instead of doing it one by one.

Developers can also connect it with GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket. Plus, it can automate updates via CI/CD pipelines and even manage commercial packages through private FAIR registries.

In addition, FAIR supports version control, dependency management and metadata tracking. Thus, your projects can stay clean, lightweight and always consistent across environments. 

With FAIR, WordPress development takes a huge jump from manual uploads and review queues to an ecosystem that’s automated, transparent, and developer first. 

Benefits & Key Features of The FAIR Package Manager

Wondering what makes FAIR such a big deal in the World of WordPress? Let us show you the mind-blowing key features and benefits of using the FAIR package manager:

1. Decentralization

FAIR is the brand new package manager that allows developers and agencies to distribute WordPress plugins and themes from multiple sources instead of relying on a single default WordPress repository. 

So no more waiting days (or weeks) for plugin approvals. With FAIR, you can publish your work instantly and share it with the world.

2. Modern Package Management

With FAIR Package Manager, installing a plugin is as easy as typing a quick command. 

That’s why it feels super fast, clean, and efficient. Moreover, no manual uploads or tangled zip file uploads in the WordPress dashboard. 

3. Enhanced Security

FAIR actually improves the software supply chain with powerful security measures such as Cryptographic signature and Decentralized identifiers. 

Plus, it verifies the authenticity and integrity of packages before installing them. As WordPress users, you don’t have to worry either with FAIR. Every package is verified. FAIR ensures reliability through proper validation and metadata tracking make it 100% safe and secure. 

4. Privacy and Control

Did you know? The FAIR is actually designed to be perfectly compliant with GDPR.

This can actually help reduce automatic data transmission and telemetry sent to third party commercial entities. So users and website owners can have more control. 

5. Version Control Made Easy

As we all know, FAIR is an open source project. Thus, developers can manage updates and dependencies just like they would with npm or Compose. 

That means fewer conflicts and more smoother workflows.

6. Open & Community Driven

The FAIR project is not owned by a single company. But just backed by the Linux Foundation. So, it is fully maintained by the community, which keeps it more transparent and fairer for everyone.

In short, FAIR isn’t trying to replace WordPress.org. It’s here to give developers more options, think outside the box and bring WordPress plugin management into the modern era.

FAIR vs WordPress.org Repository: What’s the Difference?

As we already said, FAIR is not a replacement of WordPress.org but a new solution for modern needs. Here’s a quick comparison of the FAIR Package Manager and WordPress.org Repository:

The Key Takeaways: FAIR is like a plugin manager that works behind the scenes for finding, installing and updating WordPress tools for you in a faster and more open way.

Both have their place, but FAIR is clearly made for the next generation of WordPress development.

Final Thought: The Future of WordPress Package Management

In a nutshell, FAIR Package Manager is the future of the WordPress ecosystem that manages to overcome the current WordPress.org repository limitations. 

This WordPress package manager offers a fresh, open and developer friendly approach for managing plugins and themes. It even takes what’s great about the WordPress.org repository and upgrades it to the next level.

Yet it’s also an unignorable, the FAIR still has a long way to go. It’s new, evolving, and building its community from the ground. Thus, only adoption, compatibility, and real world testing will shape how big of an impact it truly makes.

But one thing’s clear: FAIR has started a conversation WordPress developers can’t ignore. So the future of the FAIR Package Manager? It’s looking pretty FAIR😉! 

You May Also Like:

• 10 Must Have Website Security Services for WordPress Sites
• How To Try WordPress Without Hosting Or Domain For Free
• How to Connect WordPress Website to FTP (Step-by-Step Guide)

FAQs about FAIR Package Manager