What are the best Windows package managers?

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score 79 · Accepted Answer

Chocolatey

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Top Pro

Large number of applications/utilities available

Chocolatey has a massive community package repository of installs (more than 4,000 packages), and its open nature allows everyone to contribute more as needed. See More

Top Con

Sometimes hard to know which package to install from community package repository

The community repository contains multiple packages with similar names, making it hard to know which one to install. This is of course only related to using Chocolatey with the community repository, and you can look up the number of downloads to see which are the most widely used. See More

Malachi Austin's Experience

Chocolatey is extremely useful in providing a package manager similar to those available on UNIX-based systems. I recommend it for anyone looking for a Aptitude/YUM-like package manager. See More

Top Pro

No crapware

Installs silently without crapware. See More

Top Con

Some package installs aren't good or polished or don't install well

Macrium downloads the online installer, 7-zip doesn't associate files, PotPlayer is outdated, etc. See More

Top Pro

Scriptable

You can put Chocolatey install commands into your powershell scripts. See More

Top Con

Unable to easily change your install directory in the free version

In the free version you must know the native installer switches and pass them through with install args. In the paid versions you have a ubiquitous install directory option where Chocolatey determines how to properly pass that to the underlying native installer. Details on the differences - http://stackoverflow.com/a/19777121 See More

Top Pro

Upgrade all software with one command

choco upgrade all is like Windows Update for all of your 3rd party software. See More

Top Pro

Straightforward install process

To install Chocolatey simply copy the text from their site and paste it into either cmd.exe or powershell. See More

Top Pro

Easy to use

Just open powershell and type choco install firefox to install Firefox, or choco install java to install Java. See More

Top Pro

Free and open source

It's licensed under Apache License 2.0 with source code available on GitHub. See More

Top Pro

Downloaded files are verified by checksums

Chocolatey requires checksums by default for files downloaded over non-secure locations and highly recommends it for HTTPS/SSL locations. It is moving towards requiring checkums by default for downloading from secure locations. See More

Top Pro

Manages the entire software lifecycle

From install to upgrade to uninstall, Chocolatey manages the whole process. See More

Top Pro

Decentralized package sources

Packages can be installed from multiple sources, including private sources. See More

Top Pro

GUI available

There's a package called ChocolateyGUI that can be installed and lets you use Chocolatey with a UI frontend. See More

Top Pro

Builds on technologies you know

Unattended installation and PowerShell. See More

Top Pro

Integrates with almost every configuration management / infrastructure automation / RMM tool

Chocolatey integrates with almost every infrastructure automation tool out there. https://chocolatey.org/docs/features-infrastructure-automation See More

Top Pro

Can be extended with PowerShell

Chocolatey allows installing extension packages that add PowerShell functions to your package automation scripts. See More

Top Pro

Support and features available for organizations

There is a business edition available for organizations that need more support. The business edition also includes a Package Synchronizer, Package Internalizer, Package Builder, and a host of other features. See More

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The Best 2 of 8 OptionsWhy?

My Recommendation for Chocolatey

My Recommendation for Chocolatey

Large number of applications/utilities available

Sometimes hard to know which package to install from community package repository

No crapware

Some package installs aren't good or polished or don't install well

Scriptable

Unable to easily change your install directory in the free version

Upgrade all software with one command

Straightforward install process

Easy to use

Free and open source

Downloaded files are verified by checksums

Manages the entire software lifecycle

Decentralized package sources

GUI available

Builds on technologies you know

Integrates with almost every configuration management / infrastructure automation / RMM tool

Can be extended with PowerShell

Support and features available for organizations

My Recommendation for Scoop

My Recommendation for Scoop

Free and Open Source

Has a smaller selection of packages than Chocolatey

Apps are installed without requiring admin permission

App packages install locally (so users can preserve their own environment) or globally

App installs are independent and self-contained; therefore, they have fewer conflicts and are easier to uninstall

Absolutely zero costs

Installed packages verified by checksums

Users can easily create their own apps and collections of apps

Good CLI UX

Great help available on GitHub Wiki

Easy to upgrade installed packages

Sets reasonable default configuration options for apps

Simple versioning model for dependencies

6 Other Options Considered

My Recommendation for Ninite

My Recommendation for Ninite

Curated list of commonly used quality software

Limited selection of apps

Handles updates for you

Installs apps only in their default location

Install in bulk, without the restarts

No command-line interface in free version

Saves you from manually filling in all the details of installation

Well adapted to the Windows environment

No toolbars or extra junk

Verifies file checksums

My Recommendation for Windows Remix

My Recommendation for Windows Remix

ClickOnce

My Recommendation for OneGet

My Recommendation for OneGet

Native Package Manager, included in Windows10

No user-oriented packages

My Recommendation for just-install

My Recommendation for just-install

Open source, free and libre

Limited package selection

Works within Windows guidelines

Requires admin command shell, doesn't have built-in UAC.

Can install bundles, without needing command line parameters

My Recommendation for RuckZuck

My Recommendation for RuckZuck

My Recommendation for Npackd

My Recommendation for Npackd

Offers both GUI and command-line interface

Smaller selection of packages

Free and open-source

Contains no adware or additional unrelated software

Don't see your favorite option? Add it.

My Recommendation for Windows IIS FTP

My Recommendation for Windows IIS FTP

My Recommendation for RemixOS

My Recommendation for RemixOS

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