diff --git a/.github/workflows/example-performance.yml b/.github/workflows/example-performance.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f2fa51b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/example-performance.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+name: example-performance
+on: [pull_request]
+jobs:
+  # cache using npm-install
+  cache1:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      # look at fast this action installs a single dependency
+      - uses: bahmutov/npm-install@HEAD
+        with:
+          working-directory: examples/basic
+          install-command: 'npm install chalk'
+          cache-key-prefix: chalk8
+
+  # cache using https://github.com/actions/cache
+  cache2:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-20.04
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - name: Caching
+        uses: actions/cache@v4
+        with:
+          path: ~/.npm
+          key: chalk-v2
+      - name: Install just chalk
+        run: npm install chalk
diff --git a/.prettierignore b/.prettierignore
index 7bc86a5..490dc00 100644
--- a/.prettierignore
+++ b/.prettierignore
@@ -5,3 +5,4 @@ yarn.lock
 .gitignore
 .prettierignore
 .npmrc
+.nvmrc
diff --git a/dist/index.js b/dist/index.js
index 0fab339..a352ed9 100644
--- a/dist/index.js
+++ b/dist/index.js
@@ -64,8 +64,17 @@ const saveCachedNpm = npmCache => {
   console.log('saving NPM modules under key %s', npmCache.primaryKey)
   console.log('input paths: %o', npmCache.inputPaths)
 
+  const started = +new Date()
   return cache
     .saveCache(npmCache.inputPaths, npmCache.primaryKey)
+    .then(() => {
+      const finished = +new Date()
+      console.log(
+        'npm cache saved for key %s, took %dms',
+        npmCache.primaryKey,
+        finished - started
+      )
+    })
     .catch(err => {
       // don't throw an error if cache already exists, which may happen due to
       // race conditions
@@ -304,14 +313,34 @@ const npmInstallAction = async () => {
 
   const installCommand = core.getInput('install-command')
 
-  for (const workingDirectory of workingDirectories) {
-    await api.utils.installInOneFolder({
-      usePackageLock,
-      useRollingCache,
-      workingDirectory,
-      installCommand,
-      cachePrefix
-    })
+  try {
+    for (const workingDirectory of workingDirectories) {
+      const started = +new Date()
+      await api.utils.installInOneFolder({
+        usePackageLock,
+        useRollingCache,
+        workingDirectory,
+        installCommand,
+        cachePrefix
+      })
+
+      const finished = +new Date()
+      core.debug(
+        `installing in ${workingDirectory} took ${finished - started}ms`
+      )
+    }
+
+    // node will stay alive if any promises are not resolved,
+    // which is a possibility if HTTP requests are dangling
+    // due to retries or timeouts. We know that if we got here
+    // that all promises that we care about have successfully
+    // resolved, so simply exit with success.
+    // From: https://github.com/actions/cache/blob/a2ed59d39b352305bdd2f628719a53b2cc4f9613/src/saveImpl.ts#L96
+    process.exit(0)
+  } catch (err) {
+    console.error(err)
+    core.setFailed(err.message)
+    process.exit(1)
   }
 }
 
@@ -336,9 +365,12 @@ module.exports = api
 // @ts-ignore
 if (!module.parent) {
   console.log('running npm-install GitHub Action')
+  const started = +new Date()
   npmInstallAction()
     .then(() => {
       console.log('all done, exiting')
+      const finished = +new Date()
+      core.debug(`npm-install took ${finished - started}ms`)
     })
     .catch(error => {
       console.log(error)
diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index a69b6f9..ef369b2 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -57,8 +57,17 @@ const saveCachedNpm = npmCache => {
   console.log('saving NPM modules under key %s', npmCache.primaryKey)
   console.log('input paths: %o', npmCache.inputPaths)
 
+  const started = +new Date()
   return cache
     .saveCache(npmCache.inputPaths, npmCache.primaryKey)
+    .then(() => {
+      const finished = +new Date()
+      console.log(
+        'npm cache saved for key %s, took %dms',
+        npmCache.primaryKey,
+        finished - started
+      )
+    })
     .catch(err => {
       // don't throw an error if cache already exists, which may happen due to
       // race conditions
@@ -297,14 +306,34 @@ const npmInstallAction = async () => {
 
   const installCommand = core.getInput('install-command')
 
-  for (const workingDirectory of workingDirectories) {
-    await api.utils.installInOneFolder({
-      usePackageLock,
-      useRollingCache,
-      workingDirectory,
-      installCommand,
-      cachePrefix
-    })
+  try {
+    for (const workingDirectory of workingDirectories) {
+      const started = +new Date()
+      await api.utils.installInOneFolder({
+        usePackageLock,
+        useRollingCache,
+        workingDirectory,
+        installCommand,
+        cachePrefix
+      })
+
+      const finished = +new Date()
+      core.debug(
+        `installing in ${workingDirectory} took ${finished - started}ms`
+      )
+    }
+
+    // node will stay alive if any promises are not resolved,
+    // which is a possibility if HTTP requests are dangling
+    // due to retries or timeouts. We know that if we got here
+    // that all promises that we care about have successfully
+    // resolved, so simply exit with success.
+    // From: https://github.com/actions/cache/blob/a2ed59d39b352305bdd2f628719a53b2cc4f9613/src/saveImpl.ts#L96
+    process.exit(0)
+  } catch (err) {
+    console.error(err)
+    core.setFailed(err.message)
+    process.exit(1)
   }
 }
 
@@ -329,9 +358,12 @@ module.exports = api
 // @ts-ignore
 if (!module.parent) {
   console.log('running npm-install GitHub Action')
+  const started = +new Date()
   npmInstallAction()
     .then(() => {
       console.log('all done, exiting')
+      const finished = +new Date()
+      core.debug(`npm-install took ${finished - started}ms`)
     })
     .catch(error => {
       console.log(error)
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 99862f7..68ae0bc 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
       },
       "devDependencies": {
         "@types/node": "^12.0.4",
-        "@vercel/ncc": "0.36.1",
+        "@vercel/ncc": "0.38.1",
         "chai": "4.2.0",
         "husky": "3.0.9",
         "mocha": "7.0.1",
@@ -1223,9 +1223,9 @@
       }
     },
     "node_modules/@vercel/ncc": {
-      "version": "0.36.1",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/@vercel/ncc/-/ncc-0.36.1.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-S4cL7Taa9yb5qbv+6wLgiKVZ03Qfkc4jGRuiUQMQ8HGBD5pcNRnHeYM33zBvJE4/zJGjJJ8GScB+WmTsn9mORw==",
+      "version": "0.38.1",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/@vercel/ncc/-/ncc-0.38.1.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-IBBb+iI2NLu4VQn3Vwldyi2QwaXt5+hTyh58ggAMoCGE6DJmPvwL3KPBWcJl1m9LYPChBLE980Jw+CS4Wokqxw==",
       "dev": true,
       "bin": {
         "ncc": "dist/ncc/cli.js"
@@ -10697,9 +10697,9 @@
       }
     },
     "@vercel/ncc": {
-      "version": "0.36.1",
-      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/@vercel/ncc/-/ncc-0.36.1.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha512-S4cL7Taa9yb5qbv+6wLgiKVZ03Qfkc4jGRuiUQMQ8HGBD5pcNRnHeYM33zBvJE4/zJGjJJ8GScB+WmTsn9mORw==",
+      "version": "0.38.1",
+      "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/@vercel/ncc/-/ncc-0.38.1.tgz",
+      "integrity": "sha512-IBBb+iI2NLu4VQn3Vwldyi2QwaXt5+hTyh58ggAMoCGE6DJmPvwL3KPBWcJl1m9LYPChBLE980Jw+CS4Wokqxw==",
       "dev": true
     },
     "abort-controller": {
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index ecf57f8..b0e049e 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@
   },
   "devDependencies": {
     "@types/node": "^12.0.4",
-    "@vercel/ncc": "0.36.1",
+    "@vercel/ncc": "0.38.1",
     "chai": "4.2.0",
     "husky": "3.0.9",
     "mocha": "7.0.1",