Smooth.Fast.Reproducible.
A Homebrew-compatible package manager that respects your control.
No auto-updates. No sudo. No surprises.
curl -fsSL coldbrew.sh/install | bashWorks on macOS and Linux
Blazingly Fast
Built in Rust with aggressive caching and parallel downloads. Cold brew is served fast.
* Benchmarks measured on Apple M2 MacBook Pro. Your results may vary.
Core Principles
Coldbrew is built on five unwavering principles that guide every decision.
User is always in control
No auto-updates, no forced upgrades, no sudo. You decide what happens on your machine.
Explicit over implicit
Each command does exactly what it says and nothing more. No hidden side effects.
Fast by default
Bottles-only, parallelism where safe, and aggressive caching. Cold brew, served quick.
Cross-platform first-class
macOS and Linux are equal citizens with consistent behavior across platforms.
Reproducible via lockfiles
coldbrew.lock is authoritative for project installs. Same versions, every time.
Everything you need
Modern package management without the friction.
Multi-version support
Install node@18 and node@22 side-by-side. Switch between versions per project.
No sudo required
Everything installs to ~/.coldbrew. Remove it all with rm -rf if you want.
Lockfiles
coldbrew.lock pins exact versions and checksums. Reproducible builds, always.
Smart shims
Auto-detects .nvmrc, .python-version, and more. Right version, right project.
Parallel downloads
Download multiple packages simultaneously. Aggressive caching saves bandwidth.
Interactive upgrades
See the upgrade plan before it runs. No surprise dependency cascades.
Homebrew compatible
Uses Homebrew's formula index and bottles. Access to thousands of packages.
Safe garbage collection
crew gc is interactive by default. Never accidentally delete needed versions.
Coldbrew vs Homebrew
Same great packages. Better developer experience.
| Feature | Coldbrew | Homebrew |
|---|---|---|
| Written in | Rust | Ruby |
| No sudo required | ||
| Multi-version support | ||
| Lockfile support | ||
| No auto-updates | ||
| Interactive upgrades | ||
| Version file detection | ||
| Parallel downloads | ||
| Cross-platform | ||
| Package ecosystem | Homebrew | Homebrew |
Get started in seconds
Three simple steps to a better package management experience.
Install Coldbrew
One command to get started
curl -fsSL coldbrew.sh/install | bashSet up your shell
Add Coldbrew to your PATH
echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.coldbrew/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrcInstall packages
Start installing what you need
crew install node python rust