MacPorts
The facts below are what the maker publishes about MacPorts, checked and dated. Our editors have not written about it yet.
Plans and prices
From MacPorts's own pricing page, checked 11 Oct 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| MacPorts | Free | Command-line package manager · BSD 3-Clause License · macOS focused |
The facts
Each one read from MacPorts's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- Audience
- The project invites peer users, system administrators, developers, students, and contributors to participate.checked 11 Oct 2026
- Binary installers
- MacPorts can create precompiled binary installers for installing ported applications on remote computers without compiling from source there.checked 11 Oct 2026
- Custom builds
- Ports can use variants, and users can customize installations by building MacPorts from source or following its Git sources.checked 11 Oct 2026
- Dependency resolution
- Yeschecked 21 Sep 2026
- Integrations
- The project uses Trac for bug tracking and its wiki, with read-only integration to the Git repository through a source browser and project timeline.checked 11 Oct 2026
- Isolation
- The guide says ported software is confined to a private sandbox to keep it separate from operating-system and vendor-supplied software.checked 11 Oct 2026
- License
- The MacPorts command-line software is provided under a 3-Clause BSD License.checked 11 Oct 2026
- Package formats
- tbz2,tar,tbz,tgz,tlz,txz,xar,zip,cpgz,cpiochecked 21 Sep 2026
- Package management
- MacPorts can download, compile, install, upgrade, and uninstall ports, including their required dependencies.checked 11 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- MacPorts is a community project providing a command-line system to compile, install, and upgrade open-source software on Mac.checked 11 Oct 2026
- Requirements
- Some ports may require Apple's Command Line Developer Tools, and some may optionally require Xcode or an X11 environment.checked 11 Oct 2026
- Security
- The project provides checksums for packaged downloads and identifies a public key for verifying detached GPG signatures.checked 11 Oct 2026
- Software catalog
- Its ports tree contains thousands of open-source software packages, with more added regularly.checked 11 Oct 2026
- Support
- Support resources include documentation, a FAQ, mailing lists, a Trac bug tracker, IRC, and Matrix; the project notes that IRC participants are not guaranteed to be available or answer questions.checked 11 Oct 2026
Money
- Free plan
- Yeschecked 21 Sep 2026
Where it runs
- macOS support
- The installation page lists installers for macOS Golden Gate, Tahoe, Sequoia, Sonoma, and multiple legacy macOS releases.checked 11 Oct 2026
- Other platforms
- Support for other POSIX-compliant platforms such as BSD and GNU/Linux is experimental and is not a main project focus.checked 11 Oct 2026
- Supported platforms
- macOSchecked 21 Sep 2026
