Best Homebrew Alternatives in 2026
Updated
20 platforms from package managers ranked against Homebrew on the same published basis.
- 1Homebrew vs Gradle
- 2Homebrew vs NuGet
- 3Homebrew vs Hex
- 4Homebrew vs npm
- 5Homebrew vs uv
- 6Homebrew vs Yarn
- 7Homebrew vs Cargo
- 8Homebrew vs RubyGems.org
- 9Homebrew vs pip
- 10Homebrew vs Composer
- 11Homebrew vs pnpm
- 12Homebrew vs Pixi
- 13Homebrew vs Nix
- 14Homebrew vs Conan
- 15Homebrew vs conda
- 16Homebrew vs PDM
- 17Homebrew vs Poetry
- 18Homebrew vs Go Modules
- 19Homebrew vs Chocolatey
- 20Homebrew vs CocoaPods
Homebrew alternatives compared
| # | Platform | Score | Free plan | From | Runs on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gradle | 8.7 | Free plan | Free | API, Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 2 | NuGet | 8.3 | No | — | API, Linux, Mac, Web, Windows |
| 3 | Hex | 8.3 | Free plan | $7.50/mo | API, self-hosted, Web |
| 4 | npm | 7.5 | Free plan | $7/mo | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 5 | uv | 7.5 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 6 | Yarn | 7.4 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 7 | Cargo | 7.4 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 8 | RubyGems.org | 7.4 | No | — | API, Linux, Mac, Web, Windows |
| 9 | pip | 7.3 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 10 | Composer | 7.2 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Windows |
| 11 | pnpm | 7.1 | No | — | Android, Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 12 | Pixi | 7.1 | Free plan | €42/mo | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 13 | Nix | 7.0 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Windows |
| 14 | Conan | 6.9 | No | — | Android, iOS, Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 15 | conda | 6.9 | No | — | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 16 | PDM | 6.9 | No | — | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 17 | Poetry | 6.8 | No | — | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 18 | Go Modules | 6.8 | No | — | Android, iOS, Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 19 | Chocolatey | 6.7 | No | $1.50/mo | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 20 | CocoaPods | 6.7 | Free plan | Free | iOS, Mac |
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Questions about Homebrew alternatives
What is the best alternative to Homebrew?
Gradle, number 1 in package managers with a score of 8.7 out of 10. The others here: NuGet, Hex, npm and 16 more.
What is the best free alternative to Homebrew?
Gradle is the best-ranked alternative with a free plan. 11 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, open and connectable first: a public API, open-source code, the depth of its documentation and a free tier to try it on. Model lists are sorted by the figure in their title, exactly as each provider publishes it.