diff --git a/packages/plugin-js-packages/package.json b/packages/plugin-js-packages/package.json
index 46aabad6b..d26bcc29d 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-js-packages/package.json
+++ b/packages/plugin-js-packages/package.json
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@
   "dependencies": {
     "@code-pushup/models": "0.97.0",
     "@code-pushup/utils": "0.97.0",
+    "ansis": "^3.3.2",
     "build-md": "^0.4.1",
     "semver": "^7.6.0",
     "zod": "^4.0.5"
diff --git a/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/constants.ts b/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/constants.ts
index 8f51db12d..4f555f0ed 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/constants.ts
+++ b/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/constants.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@ import type { IssueSeverity } from '@code-pushup/models';
 import type { DependencyGroup, PackageAuditLevel } from './config.js';
 import type { DependencyGroupLong } from './runner/outdated/types.js';
 
+export const JS_PACKAGES_PLUGIN_SLUG = 'js-packages';
+export const JS_PACKAGES_PLUGIN_TITLE = 'JS packages';
+
 export const defaultAuditLevelMapping: Record<
   PackageAuditLevel,
   IssueSeverity
diff --git a/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/format.ts b/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/format.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..35f161e3d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/format.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+import { pluginMetaLogFormatter } from '@code-pushup/utils';
+import { JS_PACKAGES_PLUGIN_TITLE } from './constants.js';
+
+export const formatMetaLog = pluginMetaLogFormatter(JS_PACKAGES_PLUGIN_TITLE);
diff --git a/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/js-packages-plugin.ts b/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/js-packages-plugin.ts
index a66216617..666408317 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/js-packages-plugin.ts
+++ b/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/js-packages-plugin.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
+import ansis from 'ansis';
 import { createRequire } from 'node:module';
 import type { Audit, Group, PluginConfig } from '@code-pushup/models';
+import { logger, pluralizeToken } from '@code-pushup/utils';
 import {
   type DependencyGroup,
   type JSPackagesPluginConfig,
@@ -7,7 +9,13 @@ import {
   type PackageManagerId,
   dependencyGroups,
 } from './config.js';
-import { dependencyDocs, dependencyGroupWeights } from './constants.js';
+import {
+  JS_PACKAGES_PLUGIN_SLUG,
+  JS_PACKAGES_PLUGIN_TITLE,
+  dependencyDocs,
+  dependencyGroupWeights,
+} from './constants.js';
+import { formatMetaLog } from './format.js';
 import { packageManagers } from './package-managers/package-managers.js';
 import { createRunnerFunction } from './runner/runner.js';
 import { normalizeConfig } from './utils.js';
@@ -44,17 +52,26 @@ export async function jsPackagesPlugin(
     '../../package.json',
   ) as typeof import('../../package.json');
 
+  const audits = createAudits(packageManager.slug, checks, depGroups);
+  const groups = createGroups(packageManager.slug, checks, depGroups);
+
+  logger.info(
+    formatMetaLog(
+      `Created ${pluralizeToken('audit', audits.length)} and ${pluralizeToken('group', groups.length)} for ${ansis.bold(packageManager.name)} package manager`,
+    ),
+  );
+
   return {
-    slug: 'js-packages',
-    title: 'JS Packages',
+    slug: JS_PACKAGES_PLUGIN_SLUG,
+    title: JS_PACKAGES_PLUGIN_TITLE,
     icon: packageManager.icon,
     description:
       'This plugin runs audit to uncover vulnerabilities and lists outdated dependencies. It supports npm, yarn classic, yarn modern, and pnpm package managers.',
     docsUrl: packageManager.docs.homepage,
     packageName: packageJson.name,
     version: packageJson.version,
-    audits: createAudits(packageManager.slug, checks, depGroups),
-    groups: createGroups(packageManager.slug, checks, depGroups),
+    audits,
+    groups,
     runner: createRunnerFunction({
       ...jsPackagesPluginConfigRest,
       checks,
diff --git a/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/js-packages-plugin.unit.test.ts b/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/js-packages-plugin.unit.test.ts
index 66a4551ec..21afeb02c 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/js-packages-plugin.unit.test.ts
+++ b/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/js-packages-plugin.unit.test.ts
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ describe('jsPackagesPlugin', () => {
     await expect(jsPackagesPlugin()).resolves.toStrictEqual(
       expect.objectContaining({
         slug: 'js-packages',
-        title: 'JS Packages',
+        title: 'JS packages',
         audits: expect.arrayContaining([
           expect.objectContaining({ slug: 'npm-audit-prod' }),
           expect.objectContaining({ slug: 'npm-audit-dev' }),
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ describe('jsPackagesPlugin', () => {
     ).resolves.toStrictEqual(
       expect.objectContaining({
         slug: 'js-packages',
-        title: 'JS Packages',
+        title: 'JS packages',
         audits: expect.any(Array),
         groups: expect.any(Array),
         runner: expect.any(Function),
diff --git a/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/package-managers/derive-package-manager.ts b/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/package-managers/derive-package-manager.ts
index e527603e5..2906d6b21 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/package-managers/derive-package-manager.ts
+++ b/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/package-managers/derive-package-manager.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
 import { readFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
 import path from 'node:path';
-import { fileExists } from '@code-pushup/utils';
+import { fileExists, logger } from '@code-pushup/utils';
 import type { PackageManagerId } from '../config.js';
+import { formatMetaLog } from '../format.js';
 import { deriveYarnVersion } from './derive-yarn.js';
+import { packageManagers } from './package-managers.js';
 
 export async function derivePackageManagerInPackageJson(
   currentDir = process.cwd(),
@@ -35,17 +37,27 @@ export async function derivePackageManager(
   const pkgManagerFromPackageJson =
     await derivePackageManagerInPackageJson(currentDir);
   if (pkgManagerFromPackageJson) {
+    logDerivedPackageManager(
+      pkgManagerFromPackageJson,
+      'packageManager field in package.json',
+    );
     return pkgManagerFromPackageJson;
   }
 
   // Check for lock files
   if (await fileExists(path.join(currentDir, 'package-lock.json'))) {
+    logDerivedPackageManager('npm', 'existence of package-lock.json file');
     return 'npm';
   } else if (await fileExists(path.join(currentDir, 'pnpm-lock.yaml'))) {
+    logDerivedPackageManager('pnpm', 'existence of pnpm-lock.yaml file');
     return 'pnpm';
   } else if (await fileExists(path.join(currentDir, 'yarn.lock'))) {
     const yarnVersion = await deriveYarnVersion();
     if (yarnVersion) {
+      logDerivedPackageManager(
+        yarnVersion,
+        'existence of yarn.lock file and yarn -v command',
+      );
       return yarnVersion;
     }
   }
@@ -54,3 +66,15 @@ export async function derivePackageManager(
     'Could not detect package manager. Please provide it in the js-packages plugin config.',
   );
 }
+
+function logDerivedPackageManager(
+  id: PackageManagerId,
+  sourceDescription: string,
+): void {
+  const pm = packageManagers[id];
+  logger.info(
+    formatMetaLog(
+      `Inferred ${pm.name} package manager from ${sourceDescription}`,
+    ),
+  );
+}
diff --git a/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/package-managers/npm/npm.ts b/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/package-managers/npm/npm.ts
index c4d382397..02703e3cd 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/package-managers/npm/npm.ts
+++ b/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/package-managers/npm/npm.ts
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ const npmDependencyOptions: Record<DependencyGroup, string[]> = {
 
 export const npmPackageManager: PackageManager = {
   slug: 'npm',
-  name: 'NPM',
+  name: 'npm',
   command: 'npm',
   icon: 'npm',
   docs: {
diff --git a/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/package-managers/yarn-modern/yarn-modern.ts b/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/package-managers/yarn-modern/yarn-modern.ts
index a01ccc0b2..26410d82f 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/package-managers/yarn-modern/yarn-modern.ts
+++ b/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/package-managers/yarn-modern/yarn-modern.ts
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ const yarnModernEnvironmentOptions: Record<DependencyGroup, string> = {
 
 export const yarnModernPackageManager: PackageManager = {
   slug: 'yarn-modern',
-  name: 'yarn-modern',
+  name: 'Yarn v2+',
   command: 'yarn',
   icon: 'yarn',
   docs: {
diff --git a/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/runner/runner.ts b/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/runner/runner.ts
index 04b9338dd..4a530bb75 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/runner/runner.ts
+++ b/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/runner/runner.ts
@@ -1,17 +1,28 @@
 import path from 'node:path';
-import type { RunnerFunction } from '@code-pushup/models';
+import type {
+  RunnerFunction,
+  TableColumnObject,
+  TableRowObject,
+} from '@code-pushup/models';
 import {
   asyncSequential,
+  capitalize,
   executeProcess,
+  formatAsciiTable,
+  logger,
   objectFromEntries,
+  objectToEntries,
+  pluralizeToken,
 } from '@code-pushup/utils';
 import {
   type AuditSeverity,
   type DependencyGroup,
   type FinalJSPackagesPluginConfig,
+  type PackageAuditLevel,
   type PackageJsonPath,
   type PackageManagerId,
   dependencyGroups,
+  packageAuditLevels,
 } from '../config.js';
 import { dependencyGroupToLong } from '../constants.js';
 import { packageManagers } from '../package-managers/package-managers.js';
@@ -54,6 +65,8 @@ async function processOutdated(
   depGroups: DependencyGroup[],
   packageJsonPath: PackageJsonPath,
 ) {
+  logger.info('Looking for outdated packages ...');
+
   const pm = packageManagers[id];
   const { stdout } = await executeProcess({
     command: pm.command,
@@ -62,9 +75,13 @@ async function processOutdated(
     ignoreExitCode: true, // outdated returns exit code 1 when outdated dependencies are found
   });
 
+  const normalizedResult = pm.outdated.unifyResult(stdout);
+  logger.info(
+    `Detected ${pluralizeToken('outdated package', normalizedResult.length)} in total`,
+  );
+
   const depTotals = await getTotalDependencies(packageJsonPath);
 
-  const normalizedResult = pm.outdated.unifyResult(stdout);
   return depGroups.map(depGroup =>
     outdatedResultToAuditOutput(
       normalizedResult,
@@ -88,6 +105,10 @@ async function processAudit(
     supportedAuditDepGroups.includes(group),
   );
 
+  logger.info(
+    `Auditing packages for ${pluralizeToken('dependency group', compatibleAuditDepGroups.length)} (${compatibleAuditDepGroups.join(', ')}) ...`,
+  );
+
   const auditResults = await asyncSequential(
     compatibleAuditDepGroups,
     async (depGroup): Promise<[DependencyGroup, AuditResult]> => {
@@ -104,6 +125,8 @@ async function processAudit(
   const resultsMap = objectFromEntries(auditResults);
   const uniqueResults = pm.audit.postProcessResult?.(resultsMap) ?? resultsMap;
 
+  logAuditSummary(uniqueResults);
+
   return compatibleAuditDepGroups.map(depGroup =>
     auditResultToAuditOutput(
       // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-non-null-assertion
@@ -114,3 +137,66 @@ async function processAudit(
     ),
   );
 }
+
+function logAuditSummary(
+  results: Partial<Record<DependencyGroup, AuditResult>>,
+): void {
+  const { totalCount, countsPerLevel } = aggregateAuditResults(results);
+  const formattedLevels = objectToEntries(countsPerLevel)
+    .filter(([, count]) => count > 0)
+    .map(([level, count]) => `${count} ${level}`)
+    .join(', ');
+
+  logger.info(
+    [
+      `Found ${pluralizeToken('vulnerability', totalCount)} in total`,
+      formattedLevels && `(${formattedLevels})`,
+    ]
+      .filter(Boolean)
+      .join(' '),
+  );
+
+  if (!logger.isVerbose()) {
+    return;
+  }
+  logger.debug(
+    formatAsciiTable({
+      columns: [
+        { key: 'depGroup', label: 'Dep. group' },
+        ...[...packageAuditLevels, 'total'].map(
+          (level): TableColumnObject => ({
+            key: level,
+            label: capitalize(level),
+            align: 'right',
+          }),
+        ),
+      ],
+      rows: objectToEntries(results).map(
+        ([depGroup, result]): TableRowObject => ({
+          depGroup,
+          ...result?.summary,
+        }),
+      ),
+    }),
+  );
+}
+
+function aggregateAuditResults(
+  results: Partial<Record<DependencyGroup, AuditResult>>,
+) {
+  const totalCount = Object.values(results).reduce(
+    (acc, { vulnerabilities }) => acc + vulnerabilities.length,
+    0,
+  );
+  const countsPerLevel = Object.values(results).reduce<
+    Record<PackageAuditLevel, number>
+  >(
+    (acc, { summary }) =>
+      objectFromEntries(
+        packageAuditLevels.map(level => [level, acc[level] + summary[level]]),
+      ),
+    objectFromEntries(packageAuditLevels.map(level => [level, 0])),
+  );
+
+  return { totalCount, countsPerLevel };
+}
diff --git a/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/runner/utils.ts b/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/runner/utils.ts
index 2d615f171..cf4cfb19f 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/runner/utils.ts
+++ b/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/runner/utils.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
+import path from 'node:path';
 import {
+  logger,
   objectFromEntries,
+  objectToEntries,
   objectToKeys,
+  pluralizeToken,
   readJsonFile,
 } from '@code-pushup/utils';
 import type { AuditResult, Vulnerability } from './audit/types.js';
@@ -54,19 +58,38 @@ export function filterAuditResult(
 export async function getTotalDependencies(
   packageJsonPath: string,
 ): Promise<DependencyTotals> {
-  const parsedDeps = await readJsonFile<PackageJson>(packageJsonPath);
+  const formattedPath = path.relative(process.cwd(), packageJsonPath);
 
-  const mergedDeps = objectFromEntries(
-    dependencyGroupLong.map(group => {
-      const deps = parsedDeps[group];
-      return [group, deps == null ? [] : objectToKeys(deps)];
-    }),
-  );
+  return logger.task(
+    `Counting direct dependencies in ${formattedPath}`,
+    async () => {
+      const parsedDeps = await readJsonFile<PackageJson>(packageJsonPath);
+
+      const mergedDeps = objectFromEntries(
+        dependencyGroupLong.map(group => {
+          const deps = parsedDeps[group];
+          return [group, deps == null ? [] : objectToKeys(deps)];
+        }),
+      );
+
+      const depTotals = objectFromEntries(
+        objectToKeys(mergedDeps).map(deps => [
+          deps,
+          new Set(mergedDeps[deps]).size,
+        ]),
+      );
 
-  return objectFromEntries(
-    objectToKeys(mergedDeps).map(deps => [
-      deps,
-      new Set(mergedDeps[deps]).size,
-    ]),
+      const depTotal = Object.values(depTotals).reduce(
+        (acc, count) => acc + count,
+        0,
+      );
+      const groupsSummary = objectToEntries(depTotals)
+        .filter(([, count]) => count > 0)
+        .map(([group, count]) => `${count} ${group}`)
+        .join(', ');
+      const message = `Found ${pluralizeToken('direct dependency', depTotal)} in ${formattedPath} (${groupsSummary})`;
+
+      return { message, result: depTotals };
+    },
   );
 }
diff --git a/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/utils.unit.test.ts b/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/utils.unit.test.ts
index 0f2b87f81..6e47568df 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/utils.unit.test.ts
+++ b/packages/plugin-js-packages/src/lib/utils.unit.test.ts
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ describe('normalizeConfig', () => {
   });
 
   it('should throw if no package manager is detected', async () => {
-    await expect(normalizeConfig()).rejects.toThrow(
+    await expect(normalizeConfig(undefined)).rejects.toThrow(
       'Could not detect package manager. Please provide it in the js-packages plugin config.',
     );
   });
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ describe('normalizeConfig', () => {
         packageManager: expect.objectContaining({
           slug: 'npm',
           command: 'npm',
-          name: 'NPM',
+          name: 'npm',
         }),
       }),
     );
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ describe('normalizeConfig', () => {
         packageManager: expect.objectContaining({
           slug: 'yarn-modern',
           command: 'yarn',
-          name: 'yarn-modern',
+          name: 'Yarn v2+',
         }),
       }),
     );