Best Homebrew Alternatives in 2026
Updated
20 apps from package managers ranked against Homebrew on the same published basis.
- 1Homebrew vs npm
- 2Homebrew vs uv
- 3Homebrew vs Yarn
- 4Homebrew vs Cargo
- 5Homebrew vs Gradle
- 6Homebrew vs pip
- 7Homebrew vs pnpm
- 8Homebrew vs Composer
- 9Homebrew vs Conan
- 10Homebrew vs Pixi
- 11Homebrew vs NuGet
- 12Homebrew vs Go Modules
- 13Homebrew vs Nix
- 14Homebrew vs conda
- 15Homebrew vs PDM
- 16Homebrew vs Poetry
- 17Homebrew vs Apache Maven
- 18Homebrew vs vcpkg
- 19Homebrew vs Chocolatey
- 20Homebrew vs Hex
Homebrew alternatives compared
| # | App | Score | Free plan | From | Runs on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | npm | 9.3 | Free plan | $7/mo | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 2 | uv | 9.3 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 3 | Yarn | 9.1 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 4 | Cargo | 9.1 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 5 | Gradle | 9.0 | Free plan | Free | API, Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 6 | pip | 9.0 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 7 | pnpm | 8.9 | No | — | Android, Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 8 | Composer | 8.9 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Windows |
| 9 | Conan | 8.7 | No | — | Android, iOS, Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 10 | Pixi | 8.7 | Free plan | €42/mo | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 11 | NuGet | 8.6 | No | — | API, Linux, Mac, Web, Windows |
| 12 | Go Modules | 8.5 | No | — | Android, iOS, Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 13 | Nix | 8.5 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Windows |
| 14 | conda | 8.4 | No | — | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 15 | PDM | 8.4 | No | — | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 16 | Poetry | 8.3 | No | — | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 17 | Apache Maven | 8.1 | No | — | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 18 | vcpkg | 8.1 | No | — | Android, iOS, Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 19 | Chocolatey | 8.1 | No | $1.50/mo | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 20 | Hex | 8.1 | Free plan | $7.50/mo | API, self-hosted, Web |
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Questions about Homebrew alternatives
What is the best alternative to Homebrew?
npm, number 1 in package managers with a score of 9.3 out of 10. The others here: uv, Yarn, Cargo and 16 more.
What is the best free alternative to Homebrew?
npm is the best-ranked alternative with a free plan. 10 of the 20 alternatives here publish a free plan on their own pricing pages.
How are these alternatives ranked?
Ranked on what each maker publishes: documentation depth, a free tier and the platforms it runs on.