NSIS AlternativesSoftware Installers and other similar apps like NSIS

NSIS is described as '(Nullsoft Scriptable Install System) is a professional open source system to create Windows installers. It is designed to be as small and flexible as possible and is therefore very suitable for internet distribution' and is a popular software installer in the os & utilities category. There are more than 50 alternatives to NSIS for a variety of platforms, including Windows, Linux, Mac, BSD and Wine apps. The best NSIS alternative is Inno Setup, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like NSIS are WiX, Velopack, Advanced Installer and Wix#.

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NSIS alternatives are mainly Software Installers but may also be Package Managers. Other popular filters includes Linux + Free. Filter by these or use the filter bar below if you want a narrower list of alternatives or looking for a specific functionality of NSIS.
NSIS iconNSIS
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NSIS (Nullsoft Scriptable Install System) is a professional open source system to create Windows installers. It is designed to be as small and flexible as possible and is therefore very suitable for internet distribution.

More about NSIS
NSIS alternatives page was last updated Feb 5, 2025
  1. Inno Setup icon
     111 likes

    Inno Setup is a free installer for Windows programs. First introduced in 1997, Inno Setup today rivals and even surpasses many commercial installers in feature set and stability.

    55 Inno Setup alternatives
    Compiler

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Wine
    Inno Setup iconNSIS Icon

    Inno Setup VS NSIS

    Is Inno Setup a good alternative to NSIS?
     
    • Almost everyone thinks Inno Setup is a great NSIS alternative.

    • Inno Setup is the most popular Windows alternative to NSIS.

    • Inno Setup is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to NSIS.

    • Inno Setup is Free and Open SourceNSIS is also Free and Open Source
  2. WiX icon
     20 likes

    The Windows Installer XML (WiX) is a toolset that builds Windows installation packages from XML source code. The toolset supports a command line environment that developers may integrate into their build processes to build MSI and MSM setup packages.

    40 WiX alternatives
    WiX screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows

    WiX Features

    1.  Command line interface
    2.  WixPie IDE
    3.  WixEdit
    WiX iconNSIS Icon

    WiX VS NSIS

    Is WiX a good alternative to NSIS?
     
  3. Velopack icon
     1 like

    Velopack is an installation and auto-update framework for cross-platform desktop applications. It's opinionated, extremely easy to use with zero config needed. With just one command you can be up and running with an installable application, and it's lightning fast for...

    7 Velopack alternatives
    Velopack screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Mac
    • Linux

    Velopack Features

    1.  Auto Update
    Velopack iconNSIS Icon

    Velopack VS NSIS

    Is Velopack a good alternative to NSIS?
     
    • Velopack is the most popular Mac & Linux alternative to NSIS.

    • Velopack is Free and Open SourceNSIS is also Free and Open Source
  4. Advanced Installer icon
     16 likes

    Advanced Installer is a powerful and easy to use setup authoring tool which offers full Windows Installer support and more. You can configure every aspect of your installer through a simple graphical user interface or through its command line.

    44 Advanced Installer alternatives
    Advanced Installer screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreemiumProprietary

    Platforms

    • Windows
    Advanced Installer iconNSIS Icon

    Advanced Installer VS NSIS

    Is Advanced Installer a good alternative to NSIS?
     
  5. Wix# icon
     5 likes

    WixSharp enables creating MSI files or WiX source code by using C# source code. Upon execution, the C# code is transformed into a MSI file or WiX source code. Thanks to C# features such as inheritance, it becomes easy to create installers.

    21 Wix# alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Platforms

    • Windows
    Wix# iconNSIS Icon

    Wix# VS NSIS

    Is Wix# a good alternative to NSIS?
     
  6. DCP Setup Maker icon
     4 likes

    Powerful simple-to-use application to generate stable and multi-platform installers. Its intuitive user interface and exceptional ease of use makes it very easy to build complex desktop or web installers with large amounts of files.

    15 DCP Setup Maker alternatives
    Scan

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Wine

    DCP Setup Maker Features

    1.  Portable
    2.  Nuget
    DCP Setup Maker iconNSIS Icon

    DCP Setup Maker VS NSIS

    Is DCP Setup Maker a good alternative to NSIS?
     
    Comments about DCP Setup Maker as an Alternative to NSIS
     
    Guest

    Works on multiple platforms instead of just Windows!

    Positive commentMay 11, 2018
    -1
    NSIS Icon
    DCP Setup Maker icon
    • DCP Setup Maker is Free and Open SourceNSIS is also Free and Open Source
  7. Makeself icon
     3 likes

    makeself.sh is a small shell script that generates a self-extractable tar.gz archive from a directory. The resulting file appears as a shell script (many of those have a .run suffix), and can be launched as is.

    36 Makeself alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    • BSD

    Makeself Features

    1.  No registration required
    2.  Command line interface
    Makeself iconNSIS Icon

    Makeself VS NSIS

    Is Makeself a good alternative to NSIS?
     
  8. IzPack icon
     9 likes

    IzPack is a one-stop solution for packaging, distributing and deploying applications.

    34 IzPack alternatives
    IzPack screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Java
    IzPack iconNSIS Icon

    IzPack VS NSIS

    Is IzPack a good alternative to NSIS?
     
  9. Effing Package Management! icon
     1 like

    The packaging formats used by different distributions of Linux can be a pain point for software developers wishing to release their projects in an easily consumable way. Debian and Ubuntu rely on .deb packages, while Fedora and RedHat both use .rpm style packaging systems.

    25 Effing Package Management! alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • OpenSolaris
    Effing Package Management! iconNSIS Icon

    Effing Package Management! VS NSIS

    Is this a good alternative to NSIS?
     
  10.  1 like

    Alien is a program that converts between the rpm, dpkg, stampede slp, and slackware tgz file formats. If you want to use a package from another distribution than the one you have installed on your system, you can use alien to convert it to your preferred package format and...

    25 alien pkg convert alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Platforms

    • Linux
    NSIS Icon

    alien pkg convert VS NSIS

    Is alien pkg convert a good alternative to NSIS?
     
  11. PACE Suite icon
     4 likes

    PACE Suite is an advanced software packaging tool with intuitive user interface and set of features providing (re)packaging in Windows installer and various virtualization formats. As an alternative to Wise Package Studio, PACE is out-of-the-box solution that doesn't need...

    17 PACE Suite alternatives
    MSI generator - part of PACE Suite

    License model

    Platforms

    • Windows

    PACE Suite Features

    1.  Portable
    2.  Software Deployment
    PACE Suite iconNSIS Icon

    PACE Suite VS NSIS

    Is PACE Suite a good alternative to NSIS?
     
    • PACE Suite is the most popular commercial alternative to NSIS.

    • PACE Suite is Paid and ProprietaryNSIS is Free and Open Source
  12. SFX Tool icon
     2 likes

    SFX Tool is a graphical user interface and script generator for the Nullsoft Scriptable Install System. It allows the user to create simple setup files in minutes without writing a line of code. Advanced users may also edit the install script before it is compiled.

    42 SFX Tool alternatives
    SFX Tool screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Platforms

    • Windows

    SFX Tool Features

    1.  Package Installing
    2.  Auto-installer
    Discontinued

    The project has been discontinued. Last version, 2006-01-28, can be still downloaded from SourceForge

    SFX Tool iconNSIS Icon

    SFX Tool VS NSIS

    Is SFX Tool a good alternative to NSIS?
     
12 of 55 NSIS alternatives