YKYH Picks
☰ Menu
Home›Command-Line Tools›sift
CLI Open source 3 installs/mo

sift for Mac

Fast and powerful open source alternative to grep

Quick answer: sift is a command-line tool for macOS. Install it with brew install sift. It is distributed under the GPL-3.0-only licence. It has 3 Homebrew installs in the last 30 days.

What sift is

sift is a command-line tool for macOS: fast and powerful open source alternative to grep.

It is distributed as a Homebrew formula, which builds or pours a binary and puts it on your PATH. It is distributed under the GPL-3.0-only licence.

How to install sift

  1. Open Terminal (press ⌘ + Space and type “Terminal”).
  2. If Homebrew is not installed yet, run the installer below once.
  3. Run brew install sift.

Homebrew installer, if you need it:

Prefer a graphical installer? Download it from the official site. MacPicks never hosts or mirrors binaries — the Homebrew command always pulls from the vendor's own release.

Similar apps in Command-Line Tools

Closest apps in the same category, ordered by description similarity and install base. These are related tools, not confirmed substitutes; the comparison pages cover hand-picked head-to-head matchups.

jobberAlternative to cron, with better status-reporting and error-handlingCLIOpen source3/moslrnPowerful console-based newsreaderCLIOpen source4/mocgrepContext-aware grep for source codeCLIOpen source4/mofexPowerful field extraction toolCLIOpen source2/mohyxPowerful hex editor for the consoleCLIOpen source2/modemumbleMore powerful symbol demangler (a la c++filt)CLIOpen source2/mo

Frequently asked questions

How do I install sift on Mac?

Run brew install sift in Terminal. This requires Homebrew; if you do not have it, install it first with the command below.

Is sift open source?

Yes — Homebrew distributes it under the GPL-3.0-only licence.

Does sift run on Apple silicon?

Homebrew publishes this formula for macOS. If upstream does not ship an Apple silicon build, Rosetta 2 handles the Intel binary.

How popular is sift?

It was installed 3 times in the last 30 days according to Homebrew analytics, ranking #10250 in this catalogue.

What version of sift is current?

The latest packaged version is 0.9.2.