What are the best Windows package managers?

Question

15

Options
Considered

537

User
Recs.

Sep 12, 2021

Last
Updated

Here’s the Deal

The Best 1 of 13 OptionsWhy?

Best Windows package managers	Price	Last Updated
94 Scoop	Open Source	Sep 3, 2021
88 Chocolatey	Free / paid	Sep 12, 2021
-- RuckZuck	0	Aug 16, 2021
-- winget	FREE	Jul 27, 2021
66 Ninite	Free / paid	Aug 4, 2021

See Full List

12 Other Options Considered

Chocolatey

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

InterestingLibertas's Experience

I have been using this for years in setting up machines or just running stuff on CI/CD and it's just awesome See More

Top Pro

Sieg

Installs silently without crapware. 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

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

Scriptable

You can put Chocolatey install commands into your powershell scripts. 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Macrium downloads the online installer, 7-zip doesn't associate files, PotPlayer is outdated, etc.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

Upgrade all software with one command

choco upgrade all is like Windows Update for all of your 3rd party software. ... or for the more succinct command use 'cup' !! See More

Top Con

Incomplete and conflicting package options

Not enough maintenance done to package library so there are different similarly-named or -versioned packages available, some broken and some not. 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 Con

Buggy

Slow, many packages fail to install, and config can corrupt causing it to not be able to manage packages anymore, leading to a bunch of installed and non-updateable 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 Con

Uploading packages can be time consuming

It can take weeks to have a package accepted and with a fair amount of resubmitting for the dev/ maintainer. 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

Free and open source

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

Top Pro

Manages the entire software lifecycle

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

Decentralized package sources

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

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

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

More Selection

It has programs that can't be found in scoop or ninite. See More

See All

Ninite

Top Pro

Handles updates for you

Save yourself from having to manually update all those small apps that don't auto-update themselves. See More

Top Con

Limited selection of apps

ConvivialEurytus's Experience

It has never downloaded anything else then what I choose, and there is no virus in the downloads. But, the free edition is a little limited. Still, it has what you need to get started. See More

Top Pro

Well adapted to the Windows environment

Top Con

No command-line interface in free version

David Aslan French's Experience

Ninite has a very limited selection of apps, and not even the best free apps in their categories. It as really cool and good in 2010 but since then has really suffered. The web, and applications have moved on. Not worth using now imo. See More

Top Pro

Install in bulk, without the restarts

Perfect for getting a fresh install of Window up to speed in as little time as possible. See More

Top Con

Installs apps only in their default location

Very unfortunate for those having their system on a budget or even mid-tier SSD. See More

Top Pro

Saves you from manually filling in all the details of installation

Installs apps to their default locations, using your PC's language or one you choose, using Internet Explorer's proxy settings (so you can quickly get Chrome, Firefox, or Opera up and running on a fresh Window install). See More

Top Pro

No toolbars or extra junk

Ninite's installation does not install "extra features" offered during installation. See More

Top Pro

Curated list of commonly used quality software

Everything from Steam and iTunes to Putty and Eclipse - likely has most, if not all of the major free applications you use on a regular basis. Check the website for the full list. See More

Top Pro

Verifies file checksums

Ninite makes sure that you've downloaded the right file, and that it's not corrupted, by checking the file checksums for each application. This means that you're less likely to end up with a buggy app, or to accidentally download malware/viruses, all with no extra work. See More

See All

AppGet

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just-install

Top Pro

Open source, free and libre

https://github.com/just-install/just-install See More

Top Con

Limited package selection

Since project is open source there is way to add new packages, but you'll have to figure out how to configure new package and submit pull request. There's no army of volunteers responding to requests. See More

VivaciousDespoina's Experience

Simple, direct, usually just works. Command line. See More

Top Pro

Works within Windows guidelines

The programs are listed in Control Panel and can be uninstalled using standard Windows procedure. Downloads from original source, doesn't repackage. It just automates the install process, skipping prompts and dialogs. See More

Top Con

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

Top Pro

Can install bundles, without needing command line parameters

Like Ninite, you can create a custom .exe installer which automatically downloads and installs a package selection -- no command line switches needed. https://just-install.it/customizer.html See More

See All

Chocolatey GUI

Add Video or Image

Novus

Top Pro

Open Source

Novus is open source (https://github.com/novus-package-manager/novus) This makes it easier for people to contribute and add package manifests See More

Top Con

Shortage of packages

Novus is still in development, and does not have a lot of packages See More

NonchalantErecura's Experience

Novus is an amazing package manager and I always use this as it installs so much faster. See More

Top Pro

Quit and Forcequit Feature

Novus has the ability to easily quit and forcequit applications. This has been extremely useful for me, especially when task manager itself is unresponsive See More

Top Pro

Quit and Forcequit Feature

Novus has the ability to easily quit and forcequit applications. This has been extremely useful for me, especially when task manager itself is unresponsive See More

Top Pro

Extremely Fast Installations

Using multithreaded downloads, Novus installs packages 8 times faster See More

Top Pro

Non Admin Installations

Novus can install any package without an admin terminal. It automatically elevates to an admin terminal without bypassing UAC (User Access Control) See More

See All

Windows IIS FTP

RemixOS

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Scoop

Top Pro

Free and Open Source

Github repo can be found here. See More

Top Con

Doesn't handle orphan packages

Package maintainers can add other needed packages, but if a package gets uninstalled, it doesn't mark other packages as orphans. (No package relation trees) See More

Asad. Gharighi's Experience

Works as expected like a charm. See More

Top Pro

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

Top Con

Has a smaller selection of packages than Chocolatey

While Chocolatey seems to have a huge selection of packages including some windows updates, Scoop has a much smaller selection mainly focused on command-line tools. However, it can be argued that Scoop is focusing on a different type of setup than Chocolatey so package count may not be a good comparison. See More

ResourcefulStilbon's Experience

its very popular See More

Top Pro

Users can easily create their own apps and collections of apps

Top Con

Doesn't handle dependencies, which is the entire point

Judging from the author's own demo video, where git fails to install because it requires other stuff. Seems like the author has never used a real package manager like apt. See More

Top Pro

Great help available on GitHub Wiki

Top Pro

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

Top Pro

Apps are installed without requiring admin permission

Installing for all users requires admin permissions in order to be secure, so scoop installs without that requiring an elevated command prompt. See More

Top Pro

Installed packages verified by checksums

Top Pro

Absolutely zero costs

Unlike some competitors, there is no free nor paid version, simply the FLOSS software as it is built. See More

Top Pro

Simple versioning model for dependencies

In Chocolatey, if a package declares dependencies on a bad version of a package, installation or upgrade might break. Scoop dependencies are the latest version of a package, which reduces the chance of things breaking. See More

Top Pro

Sets reasonable default configuration options for apps

E.g. installing npm configures the global package prefix to your local app folder, and curl includes the Mozilla CA list. See More

Top Pro

Good CLI UX

Packages have well-defined, simple names, without any unnecessary duplication, and are actively maintained. If you are used to Homebrew in OSX, you will (almost) feel at home. See More

Top Pro

Easy to upgrade installed packages

Easy to upgrade installed packages, unlike in Chocolately which makes you pay for upgrade feature. See More

Top Pro

Customisable selection

If the standard package selection isn't enough for you, you can easily find additional "buckets" that suit your needs. You can also create your own and share them. https://github.com/rasa/scoop-directory See More

Top Pro

All default packages are portable with a few exceptions

See All

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The Best 1 of 13 OptionsWhy?

My Recommendation for Scoop

My Recommendation for Scoop

Free and Open Source

Doesn't handle orphan packages

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

Has a smaller selection of packages than Chocolatey

Users can easily create their own apps and collections of apps

Doesn't handle dependencies, which is the entire point

Great help available on GitHub Wiki

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

Apps are installed without requiring admin permission

Installed packages verified by checksums

Absolutely zero costs

Simple versioning model for dependencies

Sets reasonable default configuration options for apps

Good CLI UX

Easy to upgrade installed packages

Customisable selection

All default packages are portable with a few exceptions

12 Other Options Considered

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

Sieg

Unable to easily change your install directory in the free version

Scriptable

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

Upgrade all software with one command

Incomplete and conflicting package options

Easy to use

Buggy

Straightforward install process

Uploading packages can be time consuming

Downloaded files are verified by checksums

Free and open source

Manages the entire software lifecycle

GUI available

Builds on technologies you know

Decentralized package sources

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

Support and features available for organizations

Can be extended with PowerShell

More Selection

My Recommendation for RuckZuck

My Recommendation for RuckZuck

Easy to-the-point installation of apps

Apps available less comphrehensie in scope then other options in this category

My Recommendation for winget

My Recommendation for winget

Open Source

Difficult setup which requires some research and time to find out the appropriate apps to be installed

Extremly useful once passed the hurdle of settting up winget

My Recommendation for Ninite

My Recommendation for Ninite

Handles updates for you

Limited selection of apps

Well adapted to the Windows environment

No command-line interface in free version

Install in bulk, without the restarts

Installs apps only in their default location

Saves you from manually filling in all the details of installation

No toolbars or extra junk

Curated list of commonly used quality software

Verifies file checksums

My Recommendation for MSYS2

My Recommendation for MSYS2

Great package manager (Pacman) for Windows

Easy Install

My Recommendation for OneGet

My Recommendation for OneGet

Native Package Manager, included in Windows10

No user-oriented packages

My Recommendation for AppGet

My Recommendation for AppGet

My Recommendation for Windows Remix

My Recommendation for Windows Remix

ClickOnce

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