# Homebrew vs pnpm

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** pnpm

| Attribute | Homebrew | pnpm |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 55.2 (52% (medium)) | 70.2 (65% (medium)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 100 | 100 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 0 | 600 |
| adoption.github_stars | 50,016 | 36,813 |
| adoption.package_downloads_weekly | - | 223,195,967 |
| 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":"A package manager for JavaScript projects that emphasizes fast performance and minimal disk space requirements. It is indexed under Package Registries.","source":"https://pnpm.io","question":"What is pnpm?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"pnpm is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the MIT licence. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://pnpm.io","question":"Is pnpm free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"pnpm supports a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://pnpm.io","question":"What platforms does pnpm support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. pnpm can be deployed self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://pnpm.io","question":"Can pnpm be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 7 integrations for pnpm, including GitHub Actions, AppVeyor, Azure Pipelines, Bitbucket Pipelines, CircleCI, npm and JSR. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://pnpm.io","question":"What does pnpm integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. pnpm is published under the MIT 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/pnpm/pnpm","question":"Is pnpm open source?","confidence":0.99}]` |
| 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 Node.js package manager that stores packages in a single content-addressable store and hard-links them into projects, eliminating duplication across projects and accelerating installation times |
| 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":"manager_client","ecosystem":"js","deployment":"cli_local","workspaces":true,"open_source":"oss","pricing_model":"free","upstream_proxy":true,"package_formats":"multi","private_packages":true,"content_addressable":true,"vuln_license_scanning":true,"lockfile_deterministic":true,"supply_chain_integrity":true}` |
| integrations.count | 8 | 7 |
| 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":"GitHub Actions"},{"name":"AppVeyor"},{"name":"Azure Pipelines"},{"name":"Bitbucket Pipelines"},{"name":"CircleCI"},{"name":"npm"},{"name":"JSR"},{"name":"GitLab CI","native":false,"category":"ci","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"Jenkins","native":false,"category":"ci","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"Semaphore","native":false,"category":"ci","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"Travis CI","native":false,"category":"ci","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"GitLab","native":true,"category":"ci_cd"}]` |
| language.primary | Ruby | Rust |
| license.spdx | BSD-2-Clause | MIT |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"mac":true,"linux":true,"windows":true}` | `{"cli":true,"mac":true,"linux":true,"windows":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"free","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://brew.sh","retrievedAt":"2026-10-15T09:22:56.084Z"}` | `{"type":"open_source","sourceUrl":"https://pnpm.io","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T21:32:10.481Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | free | open_source |
| pricing.price_level | free | free |
| pricing.transparent | - | yes |
| release.cadence_days | 3 | - |
| 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/pnpm/pnpm/releases/tag/v12.14.0","date":"2026-10-15T13:42:33Z","type":"stable","version":"v12.14.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pnpm/pnpm/releases/tag/v11.28.6","date":"2026-10-15T13:45:17Z","type":"stable","version":"v11.28.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/pnpm/pnpm/releases/tag/v12.13.0","date":"2026-10-13T08:32:10Z","type":"stable","version":"v12.13.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pnpm/pnpm/releases/tag/v12.12.1","date":"2026-10-11T11:30:09Z","type":"stable","version":"v12.12.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/pnpm/pnpm/releases/tag/v10.34.7","date":"2026-10-12T06:05:46Z","type":"stable","version":"v10.34.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/pnpm/pnpm/releases/tag/v12.12.0","date":"2026-10-10T19:52:45Z","type":"stable","version":"v12.12.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pnpm/pnpm/releases/tag/v12.11.2","date":"2026-10-09T17:38:44Z","type":"stable","version":"v12.11.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/pnpm/pnpm/releases/tag/v12.11.1","date":"2026-10-09T12:28:20Z","type":"stable","version":"v12.11.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/pnpm/pnpm/releases/tag/v12.11.0","date":"2026-10-09T06:43:40Z","type":"stable","version":"v12.11.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pnpm/pnpm/releases/tag/pnpr%400.1.0-alpha.15","date":"2026-10-10T12:35:55Z","type":"prerelease","version":"pnpr@0.1.0-alpha.15"},{"url":"https://github.com/pnpm/pnpm/releases/tag/v12.10.1","date":"2026-10-06T17:37:30Z","type":"stable","version":"v12.10.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/pnpm/pnpm/releases/tag/v12.10.0","date":"2026-10-06T05:24:45Z","type":"stable","version":"v12.10.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pnpm/pnpm/releases/tag/v11.28.5","date":"2026-10-06T05:27:13Z","type":"stable","version":"v11.28.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/pnpm/pnpm/releases/tag/v12.9.1","date":"2026-10-03T20:48:42Z","type":"stable","version":"v12.9.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/pnpm/pnpm/releases/tag/v11.28.4","date":"2026-10-03T20:48:54Z","type":"stable","version":"v11.28.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/pnpm/pnpm/releases/tag/v12.9.0","date":"2026-10-02T22:28:05Z","type":"stable","version":"v12.9.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pnpm/pnpm/releases/tag/v12.8.2","date":"2026-09-30T01:08:47Z","type":"stable","version":"v12.8.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/pnpm/pnpm/releases/tag/v11.28.3","date":"2026-09-30T15:28:07Z","type":"stable","version":"v11.28.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/pnpm/pnpm/releases/tag/v12.8.1","date":"2026-09-28T17:40:12Z","type":"stable","version":"v12.8.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/pnpm/pnpm/releases/tag/v12.8.0","date":"2026-09-28T07:35:50Z","type":"stable","version":"v12.8.0"}]` |
| reliability.status_page | yes | - |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | yes |
| security.scorecard | 5.9 | 6.8 |
| security.trust_center | https://brew.sh/2021/04/21/security-incident-disclosure/ | https://pnpm.io/blog/tags/security |
| 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=npm&package_name=%40pnpm%2Ferror&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` |

## Capabilities (Package Registries)

| Capability | Homebrew | pnpm |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Role | Public registry | Package manager client |
| **Ecosystem** |  |  |
| Ecosystem / language | OS-level | JavaScript |
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Deployment | CLI-local | CLI-local |
| **Formats** |  |  |
| Package formats supported | Many formats | Many formats |
| **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 2026-10-17T01:31:35.245Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*