YKYH Picks
☰ Menu
Home›Command-Line Tools›zbar
CLI Open source 3,015 installs/mo Trending 1.69×

zbar for Mac

Suite of barcodes-reading tools

Quick answer: zbar is a command-line tool for macOS. Install it with brew install zbar. It is distributed under the LGPL-2.1-only licence. It has 3,015 Homebrew installs in the last 30 days.

What zbar is

zbar is a command-line tool for macOS: suite of barcodes-reading tools.

It is distributed as a Homebrew formula, which builds or pours a binary and puts it on your PATH. It is distributed under the LGPL-2.1-only licence.

How to install zbar

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

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.

openldapOpen source suite of directory softwareCLIOpen source3,082/mogogcliGoogle Suite CLICLIOpen source4,609/molibzipC library for reading, creating, and modifying zip archivesCLIOpen source5,538/molibrawLibrary for reading RAW files from digital photo camerasCLIOpen source1,055/moexiftoolPerl lib for reading and writing EXIF metadataCLIOpen source9,161/mosuite-sparseSuite of Sparse Matrix SoftwareCLIOpen source728/mo

Frequently asked questions

How do I install zbar on Mac?

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

Is zbar open source?

Yes — Homebrew distributes it under the LGPL-2.1-only licence.

Does zbar 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 zbar?

It was installed 3,015 times in the last 30 days according to Homebrew analytics, ranking #499 in this catalogue.

What version of zbar is current?

The latest packaged version is 0.23.95.