diff --git a/cmd/cmd_controller.js b/cmd/cmd_controller.js
index 6e35d3b2b..d965cfe1d 100644
--- a/cmd/cmd_controller.js
+++ b/cmd/cmd_controller.js
@@ -127,6 +127,7 @@ class EmbarkController {
         engine.startService("codeGenerator");
         engine.startService("namingSystem");
         engine.startService("console");
+        engine.startService("pluginCommand");
 
         engine.events.on('check:backOnline:Ethereum', function () {
           engine.logger.info(__('Ethereum node detected') + '..');
@@ -280,7 +281,7 @@ class EmbarkController {
             engine.startService("webServer");
             engine.startService("namingSystem");
             engine.startService("console");
-
+            engine.startService("pluginCommand");
             return callback();
           }
 
diff --git a/lib/core/engine.js b/lib/core/engine.js
index 7554d43f2..23af30e40 100644
--- a/lib/core/engine.js
+++ b/lib/core/engine.js
@@ -70,7 +70,8 @@ class Engine {
       "processManager": this.processManagerService,
       "storage": this.storageService,
       "graph": this.graphService,
-      "codeCoverage": this.codeCoverageService
+      "codeCoverage": this.codeCoverageService,
+      "pluginCommand": this.pluginCommandService
     };
 
     let service = services[serviceName];
@@ -130,6 +131,10 @@ class Engine {
     this.servicesMonitor.startMonitor();
   }
 
+  pluginCommandService() {
+    this.registerModule('plugin_cmd', {embarkConfigFile: this.embarkConfig, embarkConfig: this.config.embarkConfig, packageFile: 'package.json'});
+  }
+
   namingSystem(_options) {
     this.registerModule('ens');
   }
diff --git a/lib/modules/plugin_cmd/index.js b/lib/modules/plugin_cmd/index.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b840c51a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/modules/plugin_cmd/index.js
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+let fs = require('./../../core/fs.js');
+let utils = require('./../../utils/utils.js');
+let async = require('async');
+class PluginCommand {
+  constructor(embark) {
+    this.embark = embark;
+    this.config = this.embark.pluginConfig;
+    this.embarkConfig = this.config.embarkConfig;
+    this.registerCommand();
+  }
+  registerCommand() {
+    const self = this;
+    self.embark.registerConsoleCommand((cmd, _options) => {
+      let cmdArray = cmd.split(' ');
+      cmdArray = cmdArray.filter(cmd => cmd.trim().length > 0);
+      let cmdName = cmdArray[0];
+      return {
+        match: () =>  cmdName === 'plugin',
+        process: (callback) => {
+          if(cmdArray.length < 3 || cmdArray[1] !== 'install' || typeof cmdArray[2] === 'undefined') {
+            return callback('invalid use of plugin command. Please use plugin install <package>');
+          }
+          let npmInstall = ['npm', 'install', '--save'];
+          npmInstall = npmInstall.concat(cmdArray.slice(2));
+          let npmPackage = npmInstall[3];
+          self.embark.logger.info(`Installing npm package ${npmPackage} ...`);
+          async.waterfall([
+            function npmInstallAsync(cb) {
+              utils.runCmd(npmInstall.join(' '), {silent: false, exitOnError: false}, (err) => {
+                if(err) {
+                  return cb(err);
+                }
+                cb();
+              });
+            },
+            function addToEmbarkConfig(cb) {
+              // get the installed package from package.json
+              let packageFile = fs.readJSONSync(self.config.packageFile);
+              let dependencies = Object.keys(packageFile.dependencies);
+              let installedPackage = dependencies.filter((dep) => npmPackage.indexOf(dep) >=0);
+              self.embarkConfig.plugins[installedPackage[0]] = {};
+              fs.writeFile(self.config.embarkConfigFile, JSON.stringify(self.embarkConfig, null, 2), cb);
+            }
+          ], (err) => {
+            if(err) {
+              let errorMessage = `Error installing npm package ${npmPackage}. Please visit https://embark.status.im/plugins/ for all supported plugins`;
+              self.embark.logger.error(errorMessage);
+              return callback('Error occurred');
+            }
+            callback(null, `npm package ${npmPackage} successfully installed as a plugin`);
+          });
+        }
+      };
+    });
+  }
+}
+
+module.exports = PluginCommand;
diff --git a/lib/utils/utils.js b/lib/utils/utils.js
index acc2ade9c..293c06b5c 100644
--- a/lib/utils/utils.js
+++ b/lib/utils/utils.js
@@ -129,17 +129,37 @@ function pingEndpoint(host, port, type, protocol, origin, callback) {
   });
 }
 
-function runCmd(cmd, options) {
+function runCmd(cmd, options, callback) {
   const shelljs = require('shelljs');
-  let result = shelljs.exec(cmd, options || {silent: true});
-  if (result.code !== 0) {
-    console.log("error doing.. " + cmd);
-    console.log(result.output);
-    if (result.stderr !== undefined) {
-      console.log(result.stderr);
+  options = Object.assign({silent: true, exitOnError: true, async: true}, options || {});
+  const outputToConsole = !options.silent;
+  options.silent = true;
+  let result = shelljs.exec(cmd, options, function (code, stdout) {
+    if(code !== 0) {
+      if (options.exitOnError) {
+        return exit();
+      }
+      if(typeof callback === 'function') {
+        callback(`shell returned code ${code}`);
+      }
+    } else {
+      if(typeof callback === 'function') {
+        return callback(null, stdout);
+      }
     }
-    exit();
-  }
+  });
+
+  result.stdout.on('data', function(data) {
+    if(outputToConsole) {
+      console.log(data);
+    }
+  });
+
+  result.stderr.on('data', function(data) {
+    if (outputToConsole) {
+      console.log(data);
+    }
+  });
 }
 
 function cd(folder) {