zerobrew

MIT/Apache-2.0 Rust client for Homebrew packages — uv-style store, much faster installs

DevOps / Tooling · Apache-2.0 · 8.2k

Reviewed 2026-10-08 · last push 2026-10-15 · repo checked 2026-10-19

What's Good

Dual-licensed Apache-2.0 or MIT (zerobrewhq/zerobrew), written in Rust. Release v0.4.0 (2026-10-08) ships binaries for macOS and Linux on arm64 and x64; install via `curl -fsSL https://zerobrew.rs/install | bash` or `brew install zerobrewhq/zerobrew/zerobrew`. Familiar verbs: `zb install`, `zb bundle` (Brewfile), `zb outdated`, `zb upgrade`, `zb gc`, and `zbx` to run without linking. Benchmarks are published with scripts and logs in the repo, and a CI parity workflow compares installed prefixes against Homebrew byte for byte. ★~7.6k.

The Catch

The project calls itself experimental and recommends running it alongside Homebrew, not replacing it — do not purge brew. It depends on Homebrew’s formulas, bottles, and infrastructure; it is a faster client, not a new package ecosystem. Cold-install gains shrink on slow links (downloads dominate big bottles), and the “100x” headline is the warm-cache case. Vs mise (runtime version manager): zerobrew installs Homebrew packages, it does not pin language toolchains per project.

Verdict

MIT/Apache Rust Homebrew client when brew installs are your CI or new-laptop bottleneck — run it next to brew, not instead of it.

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