Alternatives to MacPorts

Ports-style package manager that builds open-source software on macOS. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.

Replacements

Listings that take over the same core job as MacPorts.

  • GNU Guix

    A transactional package manager and GNU/Linux distribution whose packages and system configurations are written in Guile Scheme.

    FreeOpen sourceLinuxCommand line

    GNU Guix is a transactional package manager configured in Guile Scheme with reproducible environments, but it targets Linux rather than macOS and packages only free software.

  • Miniforge

    Minimal installers for Conda and Mamba preconfigured to use the conda-forge package channel.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinuxCommand line

    Miniforge installs conda and mamba with the conda-forge channel on macOS, Linux and Windows, geared to Python and data science packages rather than Unix ports.

  • Devbox

    A command-line tool that creates isolated, reproducible development environments from Nix packages without containers.

    FreeOpen sourcemacOSLinuxCommand line

    Devbox gives per-project environments from Nix packages on macOS and Linux without learning Nix, rather than a single system-wide ports tree.

Similar software

Related functionality, not a direct replacement.