What is Homebrew?
Quick answer: Homebrew is the de-facto
package manager for macOS. It installs command-line tools ("formulae") and GUI
applications ("casks") from Terminal, tracks versions, and makes upgrades a single
command.
Homebrew is the de-facto package manager for macOS. It installs command-line tools ("formulae") and GUI applications ("casks") from the terminal, tracks versions, and makes upgrades a single command.
Formulae vs casks
A formula builds or downloads a binary and links it into your
PATH — that is how git, node or ripgrep
get installed. A cask installs a .app bundle, exactly as if
you had dragged it into /Applications.
Where the data on this site comes from
Names, descriptions, versions, licences and dependencies come from the public
formulae.brew.sh JSON API. Install counts come from Homebrew's opt-in
analytics, which is the only public popularity signal available. Nothing on this site
is scraped from a third-party app store or invented.
Last updated 2026-10-26.