Homebrew Alternatives for Mac

There are many alternatives to Homebrew for Mac if you are looking for a replacement. The best Mac alternative is MacUpdater. It's not free, so if you're looking for a free alternative, you could try Nix Package Manager or WailBrew. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to Homebrew and many of them are available for Mac so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Mac alternatives to Homebrew are Brewer X, MacPorts, Applite and Mas CLI.

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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. MacUpdater icon
     270 likes

    Automates scanning for outdated third-party Mac software, delivers one-click updates, runs silent daily checks, sends update alerts, and keeps an update history. Free trial scans, while bulk updating beyond ten apps requires a paid license and detailed control.

    18 MacUpdater alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
     
  2. 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...

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    • BSD
     
  3. WailBrew icon
     7 likes

    A minimalistic and beautiful GUI for Homebrew package management on macOS. Experience the power of command-line tools through an intuitive, modern interface.

    11 WailBrew alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Homebrew
     
  4. Brewer X icon
     12 likes

    Brewer X is a refreshing user interface for Homebrew. Manage your apps, scripts, and fonts with ease and dive into the most comprehensive software library for macOS.

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
     
  5. MacPorts icon
     26 likes

    The MacPorts Project is an opensource package management system that simplifies compiling, installing, upgrading, and removal of other open-source software on Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger and later, running on Intel or Apple Silicon.

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
     
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    10
  6. Mas CLI icon
     5 likes

    A simple command line interface for the Mac App Store. Designed for scripting and automation.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
     
  7. Spack icon
     4 likes

    Spack is a package manager for supercomputers, Linux, and macOS. It makes installing scientific software easy. Spack isn’t tied to a particular language; you can build a software stack in Python or R, link to libraries written in C, C++, or Fortran, and easily swap compilers or...

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    • Windows
     
  8. Setapp icon
     27 likes

    Setapp provides a curated collection of commercial apps available through a low-cost subscription. Access to the apps is driven by a straight-forward local app that neatly organizes them in a searchable, filterable and configurable list.

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Online
     
    |
    1
    Comments about Setapp as an Alternative to Homebrew
    Guest
    Negative
    1

    Homebrew is for open source packages. Setapp is just a subscription-based app ownership platform for proprietary applications.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Setapp icon
    Setapp icon
    • Setapp is Paid and ProprietaryHomebrew is Free and Open Source
  9. Lix Project icon
     1 like

    A modern, delicious implementation of the Nix package manager, focused on correctness, usability, and growth — and committed to doing right by its community.

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Mac
     
  10. Cakebrew icon
     18 likes

    Cakebrew is the most convenient way to use Homebrew for your daily tasks! It does for Homebrew what Synaptics does to Linux package managers. From the Cakebrew UI, you can:

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
     
  11.  Like

    "asdf" is a tool version manager. All tool version definitions are contained within one file (.tool-versions) which you can check in to your project's Git repository to share with your team, ensuring everyone is using the exact same versions of tools.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
     
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