zerobrew
zerobrew is a fast Homebrew-compatible package installer written in Rust that brings uv-style architecture to Homebrew packages on macOS and Linux.Why zerobrew?
zerobrew is more of a performance-optimized client for the Homebrew ecosystem. It relies on Homebrew’s formula definitions, pre-built bottles, and package infrastructure while providing significant performance improvements through:- Content-addressable storage for deduplication
- APFS clonefiles for zero-overhead copying on macOS
- Source build fallback using Homebrew’s Ruby DSL
- Parallel downloads and installations
Performance snapshot
| Package | Homebrew | ZB (cold) | ZB (warm) | Cold Speedup | Warm Speedup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall (top 100) | 452s | 226s | 59s | 2.0x | 7.6x |
| ffmpeg | 3034ms | 3481ms | 688ms | 0.9x | 4.4x |
| libsodium | 2353ms | 392ms | 130ms | 6.0x | 18.1x |
| sqlite | 2876ms | 625ms | 159ms | 4.6x | 18.1x |
| tesseract | 18950ms | 5536ms | 643ms | 3.4x | 29.5x |
zerobrew is experimental. We recommend running it alongside Homebrew rather than as a replacement, and do not recommend purging Homebrew unless you are absolutely sure about the implications.
Get started
Installation
Install zerobrew on macOS or Linux in seconds
Quick start
Get started with your first zerobrew command