What Greenkeeper does

Greenkeeper was an automated dependency management service for JavaScript projects, operated as a product of Neighbourhoodie Software GmbH from its 2015 launch until its June 3, 2020 shutdown. The company was founded in Berlin by Stephan Bönnemann and Christoph Witzko (who premiered the tool at JSConf EU 2015) and was later led by Managing Directors Jan Lehnardt and Simone Haas, with a small team of roughly six to eight people in the Kreuzberg district. Its core product was a GitHub App that monitored npm's changes feed for updates to dependencies listed in package.json files, automatically created branches with version bumps, ran the repository's CI suite (CircleCI, Travis CI, CodeShip), and either deleted the branch, opened an issue, or opened a pull request depending on whether the update was in-range and passing tests, in-range and failing, or out-of-range. The service also supported monorepos, lockfile management for both npm and yarn, and private packages.

The business model was freemium: free for public open-source repositories with priority processing for paid accounts, and tiered subscriptions for private repositories. Pricing ranged from $1.5/month per private repo (Personal) to $25/month for 10 repos (Organisation) on the direct site, and $39/month for 15 repos (Team) to $99/month unlimited (Business) via GitHub Marketplace, with annual billing options and Stripe or GitHub-billed payments. Distribution was entirely self-serve through GitHub Marketplace, direct install from greenkeeper.io, and the GitHub App directory — no sales team, no channel partners, no disclosed institutional funding.

Strategically, the company concluded that competing at scale against GitHub Dependabot and Snyk was not viable as an independent product. In 2020 Greenkeeper partnered with Snyk to co-build next-generation dependency update functionality inside Snyk's open-source security platform, and on June 3, 2020 the standalone service ceased operation, with users migrated to Snyk and the Neighbourhoodie team absorbed into that effort.

Name

Greenkeeper

Legal name

Neighbourhoodie Software GmbH

Website

https://greenkeeper.io

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Closed

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Greenkeeper was a Berlin-based GitHub App (operated by Neighbourhoodie Software GmbH) that automated npm dependency monitoring and CI-tested updates for JavaScript developers, free for open-source repos and paid for private ones. The standalone service shut down in June 2020 after its team partnered with Snyk.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Berlin

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Subscription - Open Source: Free tier for public open source repositories. Users can sign up with GitHub accounts and use the service at no cost. Paid accounts receive priority processing.
2. Subscription - Private Repositories: Paid plans for private repository dependency management. Personal plan charges per private repository. Organization and Team plans bundle multiple repositories at fixed monthly or annual rates.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Greenkeeper was a SaaS developer tool that automated npm dependency management for JavaScript projects. It operated as a GitHub App that monitored package.json files for new npm releases, automatically opened branches and ran the repository's CI tests to validate updates, then created pull requests or filed issues based on results. It was free for public open-source repositories and offered paid subscription plans for private repositories via its website and the GitHub Marketplace.

Product overview

Greenkeeper was a single-purpose SaaS tool for automated npm dependency management. The core product monitored npm package updates and automated the testing workflow by creating branches, running CI tests, and opening pull requests or issues based on results. Free for open-source projects, with paid tiers (Personal at $1.5/month, Organisation starting at $25/month, Team at $39/month via GitHub Marketplace, Business at $99/month) for private repositories. Key features included GitHub App integration, lockfile support for npm and yarn, and monorepo support for multi-package repositories. The service operated from 2015 until June 2020, when it was sunset and the technology was integrated into Snyk.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Greenkeeper Automated npm dependency management SaaS that monitors package.json dependencies, opens branches and runs CI tests when updates are detected, and creates pull requests or issues based on test results. Free for public open-source repositories; paid plans for private repositories. Targeted at JavaScript developers and development teams using GitHub.
• greenkeeper-lockfile Standalone open-source npm package that adds npm-shrinkwrap.json handling support to Greenkeeper. Available on npm and as source code on GitHub under an open-source license.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• SnykcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 3 June 2020Greenkeeper's team joined forces with Snyk to build next-generation dependency update functionality as part of Snyk's open-source security product. Greenkeeper users were invited to migrate to Snyk before the June 3, 2020 shutdown date. Snyk offers similar free dependency upgrade features along with security-focused functionality. The partnership represents Greenkeeper's complete transition, with the standalone service shut down and functionality integrated into Snyk.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• GitHub: GitHub is the host platform whose native Dependabot and security features progressively absorbed use cases Greenkeeper served, making standalone services like Greenkeeper redundant for many users.
• Mend (formerly WhiteSource): Mend is a broader software composition analysis (SCA) and security platform that, like Snyk, bundles dependency update and vulnerability scanning across many ecosystems, competing against Greenkeeper's narrower npm-only scope.
• JFrog Xray: JFrog Xray is part of the broader JFrog DevOps platform, providing software composition analysis and dependency vulnerability scanning across ecosystems, overlapping with Greenkeeper's dependency health monitoring from a much larger vendor.
• FOSSA: FOSSA provides license compliance, security, and dependency management for open-source components at enterprise scale, overlapping Greenkeeper's developer-facing dependency update value proposition with a broader governance focus.
• Sonatype: Sonatype operates Nexus and related SCA/lifecycle products for open-source dependency management, security, and governance. It is a much larger incumbent offering overlapping dependency insight and update workflows across language ecosystems.

Direct peers

• Snyk: Snyk acquired Greenkeeper's dependency update functionality and team in 2020, integrating it into its open-source security platform. It is both the acquirer of Greenkeeper's IP and the broader platform competitor whose expansion squeezed the standalone value proposition.
• Dependabot: Dependabot (now owned by GitHub) is the closest direct competitor to Greenkeeper — both automate dependency update pull requests across ecosystems, with Dependabot's free, native integration into GitHub ultimately displacing standalone services like Greenkeeper.
• Renovate: Renovate is an open-source dependency update tool that competes head-to-head with Greenkeeper on multi-ecosystem update automation, scheduled updates, and PR/issue workflows, and is one of the leading alternatives developers migrated to.

Others

• npm (GitHub): npm is the package registry whose changes feed Greenkeeper monitored. Built-in `npm audit` provides adjacent dependency vulnerability signals, making npm itself an enabling/ecosystem participant in the same dependency-management workflow.

Emerging players

• Socket: Socket is an emerging developer-security startup focused on supply-chain risk in npm and other ecosystems, addressing a similar pain point (keeping dependencies healthy and safe) with a more modern, security-led approach.

Market position

Strengths3 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• GitHubgithub.com/greenkeeperio
• Xx.com/greenkeeperio

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Greenkeeper