Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Homebrew VS Yay

Compare Homebrew VS Yay and see what are their differences

Homebrew logo Homebrew

The missing package manager for macOS

Yay logo Yay

Yay is an AUR helper written in go, based on the design of yaourt, apacman and pacaur.
  • Homebrew Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-03-29
  • Yay Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-13

Homebrew features and specs

  • User-Friendly
    Homebrew provides an easy-to-use command-line interface that simplifies the installation and management of software packages.
  • Wide Range of Packages
    Homebrew offers a vast repository of software, covering a broad spectrum of utilities, languages, and applications.
  • Dependency Management
    Homebrew automatically handles dependencies, ensuring that all required packages are installed and up to date.
  • Community Support
    Homebrew has a strong community backing and regular contributions, which ensures frequent updates and a robust support system.
  • Cross-Platform
    Homebrew is available on macOS and Linux, allowing for consistent package management across different operating systems.
  • Customizability
    Users can create their own formulae to install software that isn’t available in the core repositories.

Possible disadvantages of Homebrew

  • Resource Intensive
    Some users find that Homebrew can be resource-intensive, particularly during installation of large packages or those with numerous dependencies.
  • Security Risks
    Because Homebrew allows for the installation of third-party software, there is a potential risk of downloading insecure or malicious packages.
  • Complexity for Beginners
    While user-friendly for most, beginners with no command-line experience might find the initial learning curve steep.
  • Duplication
    Users might accidentally install software that is already managed by other package managers or system libraries, leading to duplication.
  • Limited GUI Support
    Homebrew is primarily a command-line tool and lacks a graphical user interface, which could be a drawback for users who prefer GUI-based package management.

Yay features and specs

  • AUR Support
    Yay provides seamless support for Arch User Repository (AUR) packages, allowing users to easily search for, install, and update AUR packages along with official repository packages.
  • Combined Package Management
    It combines both AUR and official repository package management in one tool, streamlining the process and reducing the need to use multiple package managers.
  • User-Friendly Interface
    Yay offers a user-friendly command-line interface with clear prompts and options, making it easier to navigate and use than some other AUR helpers.
  • Speed and Efficiency
    Thanks to its optimized codebase and use of go programming language, Yay is typically faster than some alternatives, enhancing the overall system update process.
  • Interactive Search
    It provides an interactive search feature, allowing users to conveniently search for packages without leaving the terminal interface, enhancing user experience.

Possible disadvantages of Yay

  • Dependency Management Complexity
    Managing dependencies for AUR packages can become complex and may require manual intervention, particularly with packages that have many dependencies or conflicts.
  • Potential for Inexperienced User Errors
    As with any AUR helper, misuse by inexperienced users could potentially lead to system instability if non-vetted or conflicting packages are installed.
  • Security Risks
    Since AUR packages are user-submitted, there is an inherent security risk involved with installing them, as they may not receive the same scrutiny as official repository packages.
  • Limited Official Support
    While Yay is popular and widely used, it is not officially supported by Arch Linux, and users must turn to community forums for support and troubleshooting.
  • Dependency on the Go Language
    As Yay is written in Go, it requires Go runtime for compilation from source, which might be an inconvenience for some users who prefer not to have additional language runtimes.

Homebrew videos

Homebrew Review: Coopers Lager - Taste Test

More videos:

  • Review - Homebrew Review | Alchemist Class by Mage Hand Press (featuring Designer Mike Holik)
  • Review - Northern Brewer Cream Ale Homebrew Review Tasting

Yay videos

Review Mister Potato YAY - YERS Spicy Tebabo & Cheezy Wheezy 💗 Rozu Style

More videos:

  • Review - My First Order from WeCrochet! (Review + an AMAZING deal) | Yay For Yarn
  • Review - Yay Labs Ice Cream Ball Review

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Homebrew and Yay)
Front End Package Manager
Focus Music
0 0%
100% 100
Package Manager
92 92%
8% 8
Work Music
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Homebrew and Yay

Homebrew Reviews

Top Homebrew Alternative: ServBay Becomes the Go-To for Developers
Homebrew is a highly popular package manager on macOS and Linux systems, enabling users to easily install, update, and uninstall command-line tools and applications. Its design philosophy focuses on simplifying the software installation process on macOS, eliminating the need for manual downloads and compilations of software packages.
Source: medium.com

Yay Reviews

We have no reviews of Yay yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Homebrew seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 917 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Homebrew mentions (917)

  • Connect to Unsupported Older Linux servers with VS Code Remote-SSH using Custom glibc & libstdc++
    Install glibc and patchelf using brew (Homebrew), or build from source, or use a prebuilt binary (if available). This guide uses brew. Also you can see this. - Source: dev.to / 20 days ago
  • Dark Souls CRUD Arena - The Prisoner Approach
    In past personal projects, and in my most recent role, I've used Docker for dependency management to avoid the "works on my machine" scenario. I also just like keeping dependencies off my machine, but for this project I opted not to use containers given my lack of dependencies. I used Homebrew for all my needs :). - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • Use the Amazon Q Developer CLI on AWS Graviton
    Install Homebrew if it's not already available on your computer. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • 5 Local Environment Mistakes I See Everywhere, and How to Fix Them Properly
    # ./launch.sh: #!/bin/bash if ! Command -v brew &> /dev/null; then echo "❌ Homebrew is not installed. Install it from https://brew.sh/" exit 1 fi if ! Command -v docker &> /dev/null; then echo "⚙️ Installing Docker..." brew install --cask docker fi if ! Command -v php &> /dev/null; then echo "🐘 Installing PHP..." brew install php@8.3 fi. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • Open Source Developer Patronage Programs: A Sustainable Future for FOSS
    Projects like curl and Homebrew have successfully leveraged patronage programs to achieve financial sustainability. These examples highlight the potential for other projects to follow suit and secure the funding necessary for continued innovation. - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
View more

Yay mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Yay yet. Tracking of Yay recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Homebrew and Yay, you can also consider the following products

Chocolatey - The sane way to manage software on Windows.

paru - An AUR helper written in Rust and based on the design of yay. It aims to be your standard pacman wrapping AUR helper with minimal interaction.

iTerm2 - A terminal emulator for macOS that does amazing things.

Conda - Binary package manager with support for environments.

VS Code - Build and debug modern web and cloud applications, by Microsoft

pikaur - AUR helper with minimal dependencies. Review PKGBUILDs all in once, next build them all without user interaction.Inspired by pacaur, yaourt and yay.