Swift Package Manager vs CocoaPods: The State of iOS Deps

For a long time, CocoaPods was the king of iOS dependency management. But Apple’s official Swift Package Manager (SPM) has taken the throne.

CocoaPods

The tool that saved iOS development. It uses a Podfile and a central specs repo.

• Pros: Mature, huge library of compatible packages, supports complex build configurations.
• Cons: Modifies your .xcodeproj (can lead to corruption), slower, requires Ruby.

Swift Package Manager (SPM)

Apple’s first-party solution, integrated directly into Xcode.

• Pros: Built into Xcode (no external tools), no Ruby dependency, package definition in Swift (Package.swift), clean and fast.
• Cons: Some very old libraries still don’t support it (rare now).

Why Switch to SPM?

1. Xcode Integration: Add packages via File > Add Packages.
2. Performance: Resolving dependencies is much faster.
3. Simplicity: No more workspace files or breaking constraints.

Conclusion

If you are starting a new project today, use SPM. CocoaPods is in maintenance mode and the future is native.