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 MacPorts. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to Homebrew and 19 are available for Mac so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Mac alternatives to Homebrew are Brewer X, Applite, Mas CLI and Setapp.

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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. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to Homebrew.
Homebrew iconHomebrew
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Homebrew is the easiest and most flexible way to install the UNIX tools Apple didn’t include with macOS. Also available for Linux.

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Homebrew alternatives page was last updated May 3, 2025
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  1. MacUpdater icon

    MacUpdater

     261 likes
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    MacUpdater is an application that can scan your Mac and display which of the apps that you have installed are not up-to-date. MacUpdater can also update those outdated apps to their newest versions with a simple click.

    17 MacUpdater alternatives

    License model

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • DE flagGermany
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Mac
    MacUpdater screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Privacy focused

    Features

    1.  Update Notifier
    2.  Auto Update
    3.  No Subscription
    4.  Software Installer
    5.  Ad-free
    6.  Software Download
    7.  Package Manager
    8.  Dark Mode
    9.  No Tracking
    10.  No registration required

    MacUpdater VS Homebrew

     

    • MacUpdater is the most popular Mac alternative to Homebrew.

    • MacUpdater is the most popular commercial alternative to Homebrew.

    • MacUpdater is Paid and ProprietaryHomebrew is Free and Open Source
    • MacUpdater is Lightweight and Privacy focusedHomebrew is not according to our users
  2. Nix Package Manager icon

    Nix Package Manager

     25 likes
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    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...

    44 Nix Package Manager alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • NL flagNetherlands
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    • BSD

    Properties

    1.  Privacy focused
    2.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Package Manager
    2.  Command line interface
    3.  Portable
    4.  Ad-free
    5.  No Tracking
    6.  No registration required

    Nix Package Manager VS Homebrew

     
  4. Brewer X icon

    Brewer X

     11 likes
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    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.

    14 Brewer X alternatives

    License model

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Mac
    Install, upgrade, or uninstall anything in parallel with bulk actions

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Dark Mode
    2.  Ad-free
    3.  No Tracking
    4.  No registration required
    5.  Works Offline
    6.  Homebrew

    Brewer X VS Homebrew

     
  5. Ad
    Screenshot
    Setapp icon
    Setapp

    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 configurab...

    https://setapp.com
    Learn More
  6. MacPorts icon

    MacPorts

     26 likes
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    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.

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Mac
    MacPorts screenshot 1

    MacPorts Features

    1.  Command line interface

    MacPorts VS Homebrew

     
  7. Applite icon

    Applite

     7 likes
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    User-friendly GUI macOS application for Homebrew Casks.

    57 Applite alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Homebrew
    Applite screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Privacy focused
    3.  Minimalistic

    Features

    1.  Ad-free
    2.  No Tracking
    3.  No registration required
    4.  Dark Mode
    5.  Homebrew

    Applite VS Homebrew

     
  8. Mas CLI icon

    Mas CLI

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

    13 Mas CLI alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • RU flagRussia

    Platforms

    • Mac

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Ad-free
    2.  Access the AppStore

    Mas CLI VS Homebrew

     
  10. Setapp icon

    Setapp

     26 likes
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    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.

    9 Setapp alternatives

    License model

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • UA flagUkraine

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Online
    Setapp screenshot 1

    Setapp Features

    1.  Auto Update
    2.  Subscription based

    Setapp VS Homebrew

     
    Comments about Setapp as an Alternative to Homebrew
    Guest
    Negative Oct 13, 2020
    1

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

    Homebrew Icon
    Setapp icon
    • Setapp is Paid and ProprietaryHomebrew is Free and Open Source
  11. Spack icon

    Spack

     3 likes
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    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...

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • International

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux

    Spack Features

    1.  Non Destructive Editing
    2.  File Versioning

    Spack VS Homebrew

     
  12. Cakebrew icon

    Cakebrew

     18 likes
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    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:

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • BR flagBrazil

    Platforms

    • Mac
    Cakebrew screenshot 1
    Discontinued

    Last update is from March 2021. It's no longer maintained https://github.com/brunophilipe/Cakebrew/issues/255

    Cakebrew Features

    1.  Ad-free
    2.  No registration required
    3.  Graphical User Interface
    4.  Homebrew

    Cakebrew VS Homebrew

     
  13. Lix Project icon

    Lix Project

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

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • DE flagGermany
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Mac

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Privacy focused

    Features

    1.  Command line interface
    2.  No registration required
    3.  Ad-free
    4.  No Tracking

    Lix Project VS Homebrew

     
  14. macapps.link icon

    macapps.link

     42 likes
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    The best alternative to Ninite for Mac. Get multiple apps silently. Just choose what apps to install and get apps installed automatically, fast and easy.

    23 macapps.link alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Online
    macapps.link screenshot 1

    macapps.link Features

    1.  Unattended installation

    macapps.link VS Homebrew

     

  15. asdf

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    "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.

    22 asdf alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux

    asdf Features

    1.  Command line interface

    asdf VS Homebrew

     
12 of 19 Homebrew alternatives