What Is a Monorepo? Explained Simply

What a monorepo is

A monorepo, short for 'monolithic repository,' is a single version-control repository that holds the code for many projects or components together, rather than splitting them across many separate repositories. In a monorepo, different applications, libraries, and services all live side by side in one place. This approach is used by some large organizations to manage their code, and it offers a different way of organizing projects compared to the more common practice of giving each project its own repository.

Monorepo vs. many repos

The alternative to a monorepo is the 'polyrepo' or multi-repo approach, where each project or component has its own separate repository. With many separate repos, each project is isolated and managed independently. With a monorepo, everything lives together in one shared repository. The choice between these approaches affects how teams share code, coordinate changes, and manage dependencies, and each has its own advantages and trade-offs depending on the situation.

The benefits

Monorepos offer several benefits. Because all the code is in one place, it is easier to share code between projects and to make a change that spans multiple projects at once. It is simpler to see the whole picture and keep everything consistent, such as using the same versions of shared components everywhere. Coordinating related changes across projects can be done in a single, unified way. For organizations with many interdependent projects, these advantages can be significant.

The challenges

Monorepos also bring challenges, especially at large scale. As the single repository grows huge, it can strain tools that were not designed for such size, making operations slow without specialized tooling. Managing a vast amount of code in one place requires good organization and often custom tools to keep things efficient. Access control and build systems can also become more complex. These challenges are why monorepos at scale often rely on dedicated tooling built to handle them.

When to use one

Whether a monorepo is a good fit depends on the situation. Organizations with many closely related projects that share code and need to coordinate changes often benefit from the unified approach. Smaller teams or projects that are largely independent may find separate repositories simpler. There is no universally correct answer; it is a trade-off. The key is understanding the benefits and challenges so you can choose the approach that best fits your projects and team.

Why it matters

The monorepo is a notable approach to organizing code, used by some of the largest software organizations, that offers a different set of trade-offs from the usual many-repositories approach. Understanding what a monorepo is, and its benefits and challenges, clarifies an important decision in how software projects are structured and managed. For anyone interested in software development and how large codebases are organized, the monorepo is a worthwhile concept to understand.

Related on Skillo

See also: What is Git? Version control explained, What is continuous integration (CI/CD)?.

Sources

• Monorepo - Wikipedia

Published date reflects the original event date (2023-07-18). This article is original Skillo editorial written from the sources above; facts were verified in September 2026.