Open Source Homebrew Alternatives for Linux

There are many alternatives to Homebrew for Linux if you are looking for a replacement. The best open source Linux alternative is Flatpak. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to Homebrew and many of them are open source and available for Linux so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting open source Linux alternatives to Homebrew are Flathub, Synaptic, GNOME Software and Nix Package Manager.

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Homebrew alternatives are mainly Package Managers, but if you're looking for Software Installers or Software Updaters you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Windows and Mac. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to Homebrew.
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Alternatives list

  1. Flatpak icon
     73 likes

    Distributing applications on Linux is a pain: different distributions in multiple versions, each with their own versions of libraries and packaging formats. Flatpak is here to change all that. It allows the same app to be installed on different Linux distributions, including...

    33 Flatpak alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Linux
     
  2. Flathub icon
     51 likes

    Flathub is the place to get and distribute apps for all of desktop Linux. It is powered by Flatpak, allowing Flathub apps to run on almost any Linux distribution.

    26 Flathub alternatives

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Online
     
  3. Nix is a powerful package manager for macOS, Linux and other Unix systems that makes package management reliable and reproducible. It provides atomic upgrades and rollbacks, side-by-side installation of multiple versions of a package, multi-user package management and easy setup...

    57 Nix Package Manager alternatives

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    • BSD
     
  4. The pacman package manager is one of the major distinguishing features of Arch Linux . It combines a simple binary package format with an easy-to-use build system. The goal of pacman is to make it possible to easily manage packages, whether...

    45 pacman (package manager) alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Arch Linux
     
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    1
    pacman (package manager) vs Homebrew Comments
    Guest
    Negative
    0

    Because it doesn't work on Macs! Duh!

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    • pacman (package manager) is Free and Open SourceHomebrew is also Free and Open Source
  5. Bazaar is a new app store for GNOME with a focus on discovering and installing applications and add-ons from Flatpak remotes, particularly Flathub. It emphasizes supporting the developers who make the Linux desktop possible.

    40 Bazaar App Store alternatives

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Flathub
    • GNOME
    • Flatpak
     
  6. Warehouse icon
     12 likes

    Warehouse is a versatile toolbox for managing flatpak user data, viewing flatpak app info, and batch managing installed flatpaks.

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
     
  7. GNU Guix icon
     23 likes

    A purely functional package manager and an advanced distribution of the GNU operating system developed by the GNU Project—which respects the freedom of computer users.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Self-Hosted
    • GNU Hurd
     
  8. Snapcraft icon
     26 likes

    Snaps are software packages that are simple to create and install. They auto-update and are safe to run. And because they bundle their dependencies, they work on all major Linux systems without modification.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
     
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