diff --git a/packages/@vue/cli-ui/apollo-server/connectors/dependencies.js b/packages/@vue/cli-ui/apollo-server/connectors/dependencies.js
index c31b35fde3..40b8b6126d 100644
--- a/packages/@vue/cli-ui/apollo-server/connectors/dependencies.js
+++ b/packages/@vue/cli-ui/apollo-server/connectors/dependencies.js
@@ -188,7 +188,10 @@ function install ({ id, type, range }, context) {
     }
 
     const pm = new PackageManager({ context: cwd.get() })
-    await pm.add(arg, type === 'devDependencies')
+    await pm.add(arg, {
+      tilde: !range && isPlugin(id),
+      dev: type === 'devDependencies'
+    })
 
     logs.add({
       message: `Dependency ${id} installed`,
diff --git a/packages/@vue/cli/lib/Creator.js b/packages/@vue/cli/lib/Creator.js
index 4c7d199e55..6a2eca2947 100644
--- a/packages/@vue/cli/lib/Creator.js
+++ b/packages/@vue/cli/lib/Creator.js
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@ const {
 const {
   chalk,
   execa,
-  semver,
 
   log,
   warn,
@@ -129,19 +128,9 @@ module.exports = class Creator extends EventEmitter {
     logWithSpinner(`✨`, `Creating project in ${chalk.yellow(context)}.`)
     this.emit('creation', { event: 'creating' })
 
-    // get latest CLI version
-    const { current, latest } = await getVersions()
-    let latestMinor = `${semver.major(latest)}.${semver.minor(latest)}.0`
-
-    if (
-      // if the latest version contains breaking changes
-      /major/.test(semver.diff(current, latest)) ||
-      // or if using `next` branch of cli
-      (semver.gte(current, latest) && semver.prerelease(current))
-    ) {
-      // fallback to the current cli version number
-      latestMinor = current
-    }
+    // get latest CLI plugin version
+    const { latestMinor } = await getVersions()
+
     // generate package.json with plugin dependencies
     const pkg = {
       name,
@@ -161,7 +150,7 @@ module.exports = class Creator extends EventEmitter {
       // Other `@vue/*` packages' version may not be in sync with the cli itself.
       pkg.devDependencies[dep] = (
         preset.plugins[dep].version ||
-        ((/^@vue/.test(dep)) ? `^${latestMinor}` : `latest`)
+        ((/^@vue/.test(dep)) ? `~${latestMinor}` : `latest`)
       )
     })
 
diff --git a/packages/@vue/cli/lib/Upgrader.js b/packages/@vue/cli/lib/Upgrader.js
index d5985df596..154027d9c4 100644
--- a/packages/@vue/cli/lib/Upgrader.js
+++ b/packages/@vue/cli/lib/Upgrader.js
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ module.exports = class Upgrader {
     if (targetVersion === installed) {
       log(`Already installed ${packageName}@${targetVersion}`)
 
-      const newRange = tryGetNewerRange(`^${targetVersion}`, required)
+      const newRange = tryGetNewerRange(`~${targetVersion}`, required)
       if (newRange !== required) {
         this.pkg[depEntry][packageName] = newRange
         fs.writeFileSync(path.resolve(this.context, 'package.json'), JSON.stringify(this.pkg, null, 2))
@@ -103,10 +103,10 @@ module.exports = class Upgrader {
     }
 
     log(`Upgrading ${packageName} from ${installed} to ${targetVersion}`)
-    await this.pm.upgrade(`${packageName}@^${targetVersion}`)
+    await this.pm.upgrade(`${packageName}@~${targetVersion}`)
 
     // the cached `pkg` field won't automatically update after running `this.pm.upgrade`
-    this.pkg[depEntry][packageName] = `^${targetVersion}`
+    this.pkg[depEntry][packageName] = `~${targetVersion}`
     const pluginMigrator = loadModule(`${packageName}/migrator`, this.context)
 
     if (pluginMigrator) {
diff --git a/packages/@vue/cli/lib/add.js b/packages/@vue/cli/lib/add.js
index ca2a70a8f8..6001baf81e 100644
--- a/packages/@vue/cli/lib/add.js
+++ b/packages/@vue/cli/lib/add.js
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ const {
   loadModule
 } = require('@vue/cli-shared-utils')
 
+const getVersions = require('./util/getVersions')
 const PackageManager = require('./util/ProjectPackageManager')
 const {
   log,
@@ -40,12 +41,12 @@ async function add (pluginName, options = {}, context = process.cwd()) {
   log()
 
   const pm = new PackageManager({ context })
+  const { latestMinor } = await getVersions()
 
-  const cliVersion = require('../package.json').version
-  if (isOfficialPlugin(packageName) && semver.prerelease(cliVersion)) {
-    await pm.add(`${packageName}@^${cliVersion}`)
+  if (isOfficialPlugin(packageName)) {
+    await pm.add(`${packageName}@~${latestMinor}`)
   } else {
-    await pm.add(packageName)
+    await pm.add(packageName, { tilde: true })
   }
 
   log(`${chalk.green('✔')}  Successfully installed plugin: ${chalk.cyan(packageName)}`)
diff --git a/packages/@vue/cli/lib/util/ProjectPackageManager.js b/packages/@vue/cli/lib/util/ProjectPackageManager.js
index 1a6a65d06b..afa7b25cb2 100644
--- a/packages/@vue/cli/lib/util/ProjectPackageManager.js
+++ b/packages/@vue/cli/lib/util/ProjectPackageManager.js
@@ -235,36 +235,48 @@ class PackageManager {
     } catch (e) {}
   }
 
-  async runCommand (args) {
+  async runCommand (command, args) {
     await this.setRegistryEnvs()
-    await executeCommand(this.bin, args, this.context)
+    return await executeCommand(
+      this.bin,
+      [
+        ...PACKAGE_MANAGER_CONFIG[this.bin][command],
+        ...(args || [])
+      ],
+      this.context
+    )
   }
 
   async install () {
     if (process.env.VUE_CLI_TEST) {
       try {
-        await this.runCommand([PACKAGE_MANAGER_CONFIG[this.bin].install, '--offline'])
+        await this.runCommand('install', ['--offline'])
       } catch (e) {
-        await this.runCommand([PACKAGE_MANAGER_CONFIG[this.bin].install])
+        await this.runCommand('install')
       }
     }
 
-    return this.runCommand([PACKAGE_MANAGER_CONFIG[this.bin].install])
+    return await this.runCommand('install')
   }
 
-  async add (packageName, isDev = true) {
-    return this.runCommand([
-      ...PACKAGE_MANAGER_CONFIG[this.bin].add,
-      packageName,
-      ...(isDev ? ['-D'] : [])
-    ])
+  async add (packageName, {
+    tilde = false,
+    dev = true
+  } = {}) {
+    const args = dev ? ['-D'] : []
+    if (tilde) {
+      if (this.bin === 'yarn') {
+        args.push('--tilde')
+      } else {
+        process.env.npm_config_save_prefix = '~'
+      }
+    }
+
+    return await this.runCommand('add', [packageName, ...args])
   }
 
   async remove (packageName) {
-    return this.runCommand([
-      ...PACKAGE_MANAGER_CONFIG[this.bin].remove,
-      packageName
-    ])
+    return await this.runCommand('remove', [packageName])
   }
 
   async upgrade (packageName) {
@@ -281,10 +293,7 @@ class PackageManager {
       return
     }
 
-    return this.runCommand([
-      ...PACKAGE_MANAGER_CONFIG[this.bin].add,
-      packageName
-    ])
+    return await this.runCommand('add', [packageName])
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/@vue/cli/lib/util/getVersions.js b/packages/@vue/cli/lib/util/getVersions.js
index 4a765fae88..68a8e4085a 100644
--- a/packages/@vue/cli/lib/util/getVersions.js
+++ b/packages/@vue/cli/lib/util/getVersions.js
@@ -15,7 +15,8 @@ module.exports = async function getVersions () {
   if (process.env.VUE_CLI_TEST || process.env.VUE_CLI_DEBUG) {
     return (sessionCached = {
       current: local,
-      latest: local
+      latest: local,
+      latestMinor: local
     })
   }
 
@@ -44,9 +45,21 @@ module.exports = async function getVersions () {
     latest = cached
   }
 
+  let latestMinor = `${semver.major(latest)}.${semver.minor(latest)}.0`
+  if (
+    // if the latest version contains breaking changes
+    /major/.test(semver.diff(local, latest)) ||
+    // or if using `next` branch of cli
+    (semver.gte(local, latest) && semver.prerelease(local))
+  ) {
+    // fallback to the local cli version number
+    latestMinor = local
+  }
+
   return (sessionCached = {
     current: local,
     latest,
+    latestMinor,
     error
   })
 }