diff --git a/.changeset/heavy-rabbits-melt.md b/.changeset/heavy-rabbits-melt.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..cb836588f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/heavy-rabbits-melt.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@backstage/cli': patch
+---
+
+The `create-plugin` command now prefers dependency versions ranges that are already in the lockfile.
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/create-plugin/createPlugin.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/create-plugin/createPlugin.ts
index c9784969af..0d47df8c22 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/create-plugin/createPlugin.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/create-plugin/createPlugin.ts
@@ -30,8 +30,9 @@ import {
   getCodeownersFilePath,
 } from '../../lib/codeowners';
 import { paths } from '../../lib/paths';
-import { packageVersions } from '../../lib/version';
 import { Task, templatingTask } from '../../lib/tasks';
+import { Lockfile } from '../../lib/versioning';
+import { createPackageVersionProvider } from '../../lib/version';
 
 const exec = promisify(execCb);
 
@@ -262,6 +263,13 @@ export default async (cmd: Command) => {
     ? await fs.readJson(paths.resolveTargetRoot('lerna.json'))
     : { version: '0.1.0' };
 
+  let lockfile: Lockfile | undefined;
+  try {
+    lockfile = await Lockfile.load(paths.resolveTargetRoot('yarn.lock'));
+  } catch (error) {
+    console.warn(`No yarn.lock available, ${error}`);
+  }
+
   Task.log();
   Task.log('Creating the plugin...');
 
@@ -288,7 +296,7 @@ export default async (cmd: Command) => {
         privatePackage,
         npmRegistry,
       },
-      packageVersions,
+      createPackageVersionProvider(lockfile),
     );
 
     Task.section('Moving to final location');
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/lib/tasks.test.ts b/packages/cli/src/lib/tasks.test.ts
index 9ee4e93336..4d9af05c4b 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/lib/tasks.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/lib/tasks.test.ts
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ describe('templatingTask', () => {
     // Files content
     const testFileContent = 'testing';
     const testVersionFileContent =
-      "version: {{pluginVersion}} {{version 'mock-pkg'}}";
+      "version: {{pluginVersion}} {{versionQuery 'mock-pkg'}}";
 
     mockFs({
       [tmplDir]: {
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ describe('templatingTask', () => {
       {
         pluginVersion: '0.0.0',
       },
-      { 'mock-pkg': '0.1.2' },
+      () => '^0.1.2',
     );
 
     await expect(
@@ -60,6 +60,6 @@ describe('templatingTask', () => {
     ).resolves.toBe(testFileContent);
     await expect(
       fs.readFile(resolvePath(destDir, 'sub/version.txt'), 'utf8'),
-    ).resolves.toBe('version: 0.0.0 0.1.2');
+    ).resolves.toBe('version: 0.0.0 ^0.1.2');
   });
 });
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/lib/tasks.ts b/packages/cli/src/lib/tasks.ts
index be6d052365..e17015d6cf 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/lib/tasks.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/lib/tasks.ts
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ export async function templatingTask(
   templateDir: string,
   destinationDir: string,
   context: any,
-  versions: { [name: string]: string },
+  versionProvider: (name: string, versionHint?: string) => string,
 ) {
   const files = await recursive(templateDir).catch(error => {
     throw new Error(`Failed to read template directory: ${error.message}`);
@@ -90,11 +90,11 @@ export async function templatingTask(
           { name: basename(destination), ...context },
           {
             helpers: {
-              version(name: string) {
-                if (versions[name]) {
-                  return versions[name];
-                }
-                throw new Error(`No version available for package ${name}`);
+              versionQuery(name: string, versionHint: string | unknown) {
+                return versionProvider(
+                  name,
+                  typeof versionHint === 'string' ? versionHint : undefined,
+                );
               },
             },
           },
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/lib/version.ts b/packages/cli/src/lib/version.ts
index 61ee4003fc..52ff594423 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/lib/version.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/lib/version.ts
@@ -15,7 +15,9 @@
  */
 
 import fs from 'fs-extra';
+import semver from 'semver';
 import { paths } from './paths';
+import { Lockfile } from './versioning';
 
 /* eslint-disable import/no-extraneous-dependencies,monorepo/no-internal-import */
 /*
@@ -41,7 +43,7 @@ import { version as devUtils } from '@backstage/dev-utils/package.json';
 import { version as testUtils } from '@backstage/test-utils/package.json';
 import { version as theme } from '@backstage/theme/package.json';
 
-export const packageVersions = {
+export const packageVersions: Record<string, string> = {
   '@backstage/backend-common': backendCommon,
   '@backstage/cli': cli,
   '@backstage/config': config,
@@ -60,3 +62,25 @@ export function findVersion() {
 
 export const version = findVersion();
 export const isDev = fs.pathExistsSync(paths.resolveOwn('src'));
+
+export function createPackageVersionProvider(lockfile?: Lockfile) {
+  return (name: string, versionHint?: string) => {
+    const targetVersion = versionHint || packageVersions[name];
+    if (!targetVersion) {
+      throw new Error(`No version available for package ${name}`);
+    }
+
+    const lockfileEntries = lockfile?.get(name);
+    if (
+      name.startsWith('@types/') &&
+      lockfileEntries?.some(entry => entry.range === '*')
+    ) {
+      return '*';
+    }
+    const validRanges = lockfileEntries?.filter(entry =>
+      semver.satisfies(targetVersion, entry.range),
+    );
+    const highestRange = validRanges?.slice(-1)[0];
+    return highestRange?.range ?? `^${targetVersion}`;
+  };
+}
diff --git a/packages/cli/templates/default-backend-plugin/package.json.hbs b/packages/cli/templates/default-backend-plugin/package.json.hbs
index 8275223f49..43b9e83fe1 100644
--- a/packages/cli/templates/default-backend-plugin/package.json.hbs
+++ b/packages/cli/templates/default-backend-plugin/package.json.hbs
@@ -23,20 +23,20 @@
       "clean": "backstage-cli clean"
     },
     "dependencies": {
-      "@backstage/backend-common": "^{{version '@backstage/backend-common'}}",
-      "@backstage/config": "^{{version '@backstage/config'}}",
-      "@types/express": "^4.17.6",
-      "express": "^4.17.1",
-      "express-promise-router": "^4.1.0",
-      "winston": "^3.2.1",
-      "cross-fetch": "^3.0.6",
-      "yn": "^4.0.0"
+      "@backstage/backend-common": "{{versionQuery '@backstage/backend-common'}}",
+      "@backstage/config": "{{versionQuery '@backstage/config'}}",
+      "@types/express": "{{versionQuery '@types/express' '4.17.6'}}",
+      "express": "{{versionQuery 'express' '4.17.1'}}",
+      "express-promise-router": "{{versionQuery 'express-promise-router' '4.1.0'}}",
+      "winston": "{{versionQuery 'winston' '3.2.1'}}",
+      "cross-fetch": "{{versionQuery 'cross-fetch' '3.0.6'}}",
+      "yn": "{{versionQuery 'yn' '4.0.0'}}"
     },
     "devDependencies": {
-      "@backstage/cli": "^{{version '@backstage/cli'}}",
-      "@types/supertest": "^2.0.8",
-      "supertest": "^4.0.2",
-      "msw": "^0.29.0"
+      "@backstage/cli": "{{versionQuery '@backstage/cli'}}",
+      "@types/supertest": "{{versionQuery '@types/supertest' '2.0.8'}}",
+      "supertest": "{{versionQuery 'supertest' '4.0.2'}}",
+      "msw": "{{versionQuery 'msw' '0.29.0'}}"
     },
     "files": [
       "dist"
diff --git a/packages/cli/templates/default-plugin/package.json.hbs b/packages/cli/templates/default-plugin/package.json.hbs
index 318830da39..77c3c84efb 100644
--- a/packages/cli/templates/default-plugin/package.json.hbs
+++ b/packages/cli/templates/default-plugin/package.json.hbs
@@ -24,28 +24,28 @@
     "clean": "backstage-cli clean"
   },
   "dependencies": {
-    "@backstage/core-components": "^{{version '@backstage/core-components'}}",
-    "@backstage/core-plugin-api": "^{{version '@backstage/core-plugin-api'}}",
-    "@backstage/theme": "^{{version '@backstage/theme'}}",
-    "@material-ui/core": "^4.12.2",
-    "@material-ui/icons": "^4.9.1",
-    "@material-ui/lab": "4.0.0-alpha.57",
-    "react": "^16.13.1",
-    "react-dom": "^16.13.1",
-    "react-use": "^17.2.4"
+    "@backstage/core-components": "{{versionQuery '@backstage/core-components'}}",
+    "@backstage/core-plugin-api": "{{versionQuery '@backstage/core-plugin-api'}}",
+    "@backstage/theme": "{{versionQuery '@backstage/theme'}}",
+    "@material-ui/core": "{{versionQuery '@material-ui/core' '4.12.2'}}",
+    "@material-ui/icons": "{{versionQuery '@material-ui/icons' '4.9.1'}}",
+    "@material-ui/lab": "4{{versionQuery '@material-ui/lab' '.0.0-alpha.57'}}",
+    "react": "{{versionQuery 'react' '16.13.1'}}",
+    "react-dom": "{{versionQuery 'react-dom' '16.13.1'}}",
+    "react-use": "{{versionQuery 'react-use' '17.2.4'}}"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
-    "@backstage/cli": "^{{version '@backstage/cli'}}",
-    "@backstage/core-app-api": "^{{version '@backstage/core-app-api'}}",
-    "@backstage/dev-utils": "^{{version '@backstage/dev-utils'}}",
-    "@backstage/test-utils": "^{{version '@backstage/test-utils'}}",
-    "@testing-library/jest-dom": "^5.10.1",
-    "@testing-library/react": "^11.2.5",
-    "@testing-library/user-event": "^13.1.8",
-    "@types/jest": "^26.0.7",
-    "@types/node": "^14.14.32",
-    "msw": "^0.29.0",
-    "cross-fetch": "^3.0.6"
+    "@backstage/cli": "{{versionQuery '@backstage/cli'}}",
+    "@backstage/core-app-api": "{{versionQuery '@backstage/core-app-api'}}",
+    "@backstage/dev-utils": "{{versionQuery '@backstage/dev-utils'}}",
+    "@backstage/test-utils": "{{versionQuery '@backstage/test-utils'}}",
+    "@testing-library/jest-dom": "{{versionQuery '@testing-library/jest-dom' '5.10.1'}}",
+    "@testing-library/react": "{{versionQuery '@testing-library/react' '11.2.5'}}",
+    "@testing-library/user-event": "{{versionQuery '@testing-library/user-event' '13.1.8'}}",
+    "@types/jest": "{{versionQuery '@types/jest' '26.0.7'}}",
+    "@types/node": "{{versionQuery '@types/node' '14.14.32'}}",
+    "msw": "{{versionQuery 'msw' '0.29.0'}}",
+    "cross-fetch": "{{versionQuery 'cross-fetch' '3.0.6'}}"
   },
   "files": [
     "dist"