# Homebrew vs NuGet

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** Homebrew

| Attribute | Homebrew | NuGet |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 55.2 (52% (medium)) | 46.1 (38% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 100 | 17 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 0 | 9 |
| adoption.github_stars | 50,016 | 1,648 |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"Homebrew is a package manager that installs command-line tools, libraries, and applications from upstream source code. It organizes each package in an isolated directory and uses symlinks to integrate them into your system. It is indexed under Package Registries.","source":"https://brew.sh","question":"What is Homebrew?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Homebrew offers a free tier, so you can start without paying. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://brew.sh","question":"Is Homebrew free?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Homebrew supports macOS, Linux and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://brew.sh","question":"What platforms does Homebrew support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Homebrew can be deployed self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://brew.sh","question":"Can Homebrew be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Homebrew is published under the BSD-2-Clause licence, a permissive licence that generally allows commercial use and modification. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://github.com/Homebrew/brew","question":"Is Homebrew open source?","confidence":0.95}]` | `[{"answer":"NuGet is the official central repository for .NET packages. It allows developers to author, discover, and integrate reusable code libraries and components into their .NET applications. It is indexed under Package Registries.","source":"https://www.nuget.org","question":"What is NuGet?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"NuGet is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the Apache-2.0 licence. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://www.nuget.org","question":"Is NuGet free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"NuGet supports the web and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://www.nuget.org","question":"What platforms does NuGet support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. NuGet can be deployed cloud / SaaS and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://www.nuget.org","question":"Can NuGet be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 3 integrations for NuGet, including Visual Studio, GitHub Codespaces and Azure DevOps. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://www.nuget.org","question":"What does NuGet integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. NuGet is published under the Apache-2.0 licence, a permissive licence that generally allows commercial use and modification. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://github.com/NuGet/NuGetGallery","question":"Is NuGet open source?","confidence":0.95},{"answer":"NuGet is available worldwide. The vendor is headquartered in the United States.","source":"https://www.nuget.org","question":"Where is NuGet available?","confidence":0.75}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"self_hosted":true}` | `{"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | Homebrew is a free, community-driven package manager that automates the installation and management of software packages, libraries, and applications. It supports multiple platforms and package formats, allowing users to install tools from official repositories or maintain custom packages. | A repository hosting application designed for managing and distributing .NET software libraries, available as an open-source alternative suitable for self-deployment. |
| features.capabilities | `{"role":"public_registry","ecosystem":"os","deployment":"cli_local","open_source":"oss","pricing_model":"free","package_formats":"multi","private_packages":true,"content_addressable":true,"vuln_license_scanning":true,"supply_chain_integrity":true}` | `{"role":"public_registry","ecosystem":"dotnet","deployment":"both","open_source":"oss","pricing_model":"free","package_formats":"single"}` |
| integrations.count | 8 | 5 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Mac App Store","native":true},{"name":"WinGet","native":true},{"name":"VSCode","native":true},{"name":"Go","native":true},{"name":"Cargo","native":true},{"name":"uv","native":true},{"name":"Flatpak","native":true},{"name":"kubectl","native":true}]` | `[{"name":"Visual Studio"},{"name":"Visual Studio Code"},{"name":"GitHub Codespaces"},{"name":"Azure DevOps"},{"name":"Azure DevOps Server"}]` |
| language.primary | Ruby | C# |
| license.spdx | BSD-2-Clause | Apache-2.0 |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | `{"hqCountry":"US","primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"mac":true,"linux":true,"windows":true}` | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"free","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://brew.sh","retrievedAt":"2026-10-15T09:22:56.084Z"}` | `{"type":"open_source","sourceUrl":"https://www.nuget.org","retrievedAt":"2026-10-13T11:17:24.996Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | free | open_source |
| pricing.price_level | free | free |
| pricing.transparent | - | yes |
| release.cadence_days | 3 | 34 |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/releases/tag/7.0.9","date":"2026-10-08T10:51:59Z","type":"stable","version":"7.0.9"},{"url":"https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/releases/tag/7.0.8","date":"2026-10-05T07:48:38Z","type":"stable","version":"7.0.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/releases/tag/7.0.7","date":"2026-09-28T07:49:21Z","type":"stable","version":"7.0.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/releases/tag/7.0.6","date":"2026-09-21T16:33:33Z","type":"stable","version":"7.0.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/releases/tag/7.0.5","date":"2026-09-21T14:32:39Z","type":"stable","version":"7.0.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/releases/tag/7.0.4","date":"2026-09-17T16:38:21Z","type":"stable","version":"7.0.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/releases/tag/7.0.3","date":"2026-09-16T18:31:15Z","type":"stable","version":"7.0.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/releases/tag/7.0.2","date":"2026-09-15T16:44:56Z","type":"stable","version":"7.0.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/releases/tag/7.0.1","date":"2026-09-13T16:26:18Z","type":"stable","version":"7.0.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/releases/tag/7.0.0","date":"2026-09-13T08:30:11Z","type":"stable","version":"7.0.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/releases/tag/6.0.22","date":"2026-09-05T07:56:10Z","type":"stable","version":"6.0.22"},{"url":"https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/releases/tag/6.0.21","date":"2026-09-01T12:22:13Z","type":"stable","version":"6.0.21"},{"url":"https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/releases/tag/6.0.20","date":"2026-08-27T10:26:48Z","type":"stable","version":"6.0.20"},{"url":"https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/releases/tag/6.0.19","date":"2026-08-24T07:43:35Z","type":"stable","version":"6.0.19"},{"url":"https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/releases/tag/6.0.18","date":"2026-08-17T07:46:53Z","type":"stable","version":"6.0.18"},{"url":"https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/releases/tag/6.0.17","date":"2026-08-11T14:37:20Z","type":"stable","version":"6.0.17"},{"url":"https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/releases/tag/6.0.16","date":"2026-08-10T13:40:39Z","type":"stable","version":"6.0.16"},{"url":"https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/releases/tag/6.0.15","date":"2026-08-03T07:55:59Z","type":"stable","version":"6.0.15"},{"url":"https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/releases/tag/6.0.14","date":"2026-07-31T15:10:38Z","type":"stable","version":"6.0.14"},{"url":"https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/releases/tag/6.0.13","date":"2026-07-27T12:54:46Z","type":"stable","version":"6.0.13"}]` | `[{"url":"https://github.com/NuGet/NuGetGallery/releases/tag/v2024.12.06","date":"2024-12-06T21:44:49Z","type":"stable","version":"v2024.12.06"},{"url":"https://github.com/NuGet/NuGetGallery/releases/tag/v2024.12.05","date":"2024-12-05T17:52:55Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2024.12.05"},{"url":"https://github.com/NuGet/NuGetGallery/releases/tag/v2023.04.25","date":"2023-04-27T14:26:06Z","type":"stable","version":"v2023.04.25"},{"url":"https://github.com/NuGet/NuGetGallery/releases/tag/v2023.02.27","date":"2023-02-27T16:09:45Z","type":"stable","version":"v2023.02.27"},{"url":"https://github.com/NuGet/NuGetGallery/releases/tag/v2022.10.19","date":"2022-10-31T17:21:59Z","type":"stable","version":"v2022.10.19"},{"url":"https://github.com/NuGet/NuGetGallery/releases/tag/v2021.04.08","date":"2021-04-09T04:30:39Z","type":"stable","version":"v2021.04.08"},{"url":"https://github.com/NuGet/NuGetGallery/releases/tag/v2020.06.09","date":"2020-06-09T17:19:40Z","type":"stable","version":"v2020.06.09"},{"url":"https://github.com/NuGet/NuGetGallery/releases/tag/v2019.06.24","date":"2019-07-01T22:13:47Z","type":"stable","version":"v2019.06.24"},{"url":"https://github.com/NuGet/NuGetGallery/releases/tag/v2019.01.14","date":"2019-01-15T21:00:46Z","type":"stable","version":"v2019.01.14"},{"url":"https://github.com/NuGet/NuGetGallery/releases/tag/v2018.12.12","date":"2018-12-13T00:24:25Z","type":"stable","version":"v2018.12.12"},{"url":"https://github.com/NuGet/NuGetGallery/releases/tag/v2018.11.12","date":"2018-11-13T02:24:57Z","type":"stable","version":"v2018.11.12"},{"url":"https://github.com/NuGet/NuGetGallery/releases/tag/v2018.10.20","date":"2018-10-19T23:09:46Z","type":"stable","version":"v2018.10.20"},{"url":"https://github.com/NuGet/NuGetGallery/releases/tag/v2018.11.05","date":"2018-11-06T23:33:15Z","type":"stable","version":"v2018.11.05"},{"url":"https://github.com/NuGet/NuGetGallery/releases/tag/v2018.09.25","date":"2018-09-26T22:26:36Z","type":"stable","version":"v2018.09.25"},{"url":"https://github.com/NuGet/NuGetGallery/releases/tag/v2018.08.08","date":"2018-08-20T22:47:52Z","type":"stable","version":"v2018.08.08"},{"url":"https://github.com/NuGet/NuGetGallery/releases/tag/v2018.08.01","date":"2018-08-20T22:47:43Z","type":"stable","version":"v2018.08.01"},{"url":"https://github.com/NuGet/NuGetGallery/releases/tag/v2018.07.16","date":"2018-07-17T18:54:25Z","type":"stable","version":"v2018.07.16"},{"url":"https://github.com/NuGet/NuGetGallery/releases/tag/v2018.11.06","date":"2018-06-12T02:54:37Z","type":"stable","version":"v2018.11.06"},{"url":"https://github.com/NuGet/NuGetGallery/releases/tag/v2018.05.21","date":"2018-05-25T18:25:31Z","type":"stable","version":"v2018.05.21"},{"url":"https://github.com/NuGet/NuGetGallery/releases/tag/v2018.05.08","date":"2018-05-15T22:26:47Z","type":"stable","version":"v2018.05.08"}]` |
| reliability.status_page | yes | yes |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | - |
| security.scorecard | 5.9 | 5 |
| security.trust_center | https://brew.sh/2021/04/21/security-incident-disclosure/ | - |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2FHomebrew%2Fbrew&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=nuget&package_name=nuget.services.build&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` |

## Capabilities (Package Registries)

| Capability | Homebrew | NuGet |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Role | Public registry | Public registry |
| **Ecosystem** |  |  |
| Ecosystem / language | OS-level | .NET |
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Deployment | CLI-local | Both |
| **Formats** |  |  |
| Package formats supported | Many formats | Single ecosystem |
| **Hosting** |  |  |
| Private / scoped packages | ✓ | - |
| Upstream proxy / caching | - | - |
| **Resolution** |  |  |
| Lockfile / deterministic installs | - | - |
| Workspaces / monorepo | - | - |
| Content-addressable store | ✓ | - |
| **Supply chain** |  |  |
| Supply-chain integrity | ✓ | - |
| Vulnerability / licence scanning | ✓ | - |
| **Licensing** |  |  |
| Openness | Open-source | Open-source |
| **Pricing** |  |  |
| Pricing model | Free / OSS | Free / OSS |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T20:13:25.063Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*