Acquiring users is hard. Here’s how Homebrew can make it easier. 

Developers use Homebrew to install graphical applications on their machines. To give you a sense of reach, in the last 30 days, Homebrew recorded at least 1,355,488 cask install events (we say “at least” because Homebrew’s analytics are opt-out and many users have them disabled).

If you’re looking to distribute your commercial software to developers directly, you can submit them to Homebrew for inclusion or create a “tap” (a third-party Homebrew repository) and soon your software will be available via brew install on machines everywhere. 

Next we’ll showcase a few successful implementations of these strategies, and walk you through how you might replicate their success. 

Companies that use Homebrew as a distribution channel

Warp: warp.dev 

Command: brew install –cask warp

In the last year, Warp has been installed on at least 161,460 machines.

Raycast: raycast.com 

Command: brew install –cask raycast

In the last year, Warp has been installed on at least 85,477 machines.

HTTPie: httpie.io

Command: brew install httpie

In the last year, HTTPie has been installed on at least 104,671 machines.

Distributing commercial software via Homebrew/cask

Homebrew has two main official repositories, known as “taps”, for package contributions: Homebrew/core and Homebrew/cask. If your tool is commercial and closed source, Homebrew/cask is required. Homebrew/core can only be open-source software built from source. 

What to know about Homebrew/cask

The Homebrew/cask tap accepts pre-compiled binaries, and it’s most commonly used for installing desktop applications. 

When users run brew install --cask Homebrew downloads an application or binary off the internet, and installs it on an end user’s machine. As such, casks are not compiled on Homebrew infrastructure. Because of how they are packaged, some casks may be changed on the upstream’s server at any time so cannot be checksummed as formulae can. 

When an end-user installs a graphical application, that application needs to be signed by Apple, which provides their own security review process (i.e. Quarantine, Gatekeeper). 

Creating and submitting to Homebrew/cask

Casks can also be created via brew create but the code that’s generated for a cask looks a bit different. Instead of Homebrew compiling source code, it's downloading an application or binary off the internet and installing it on your machine. 

The process for submitting a cask is different from a formula. For more information on submitting a cask, see our post on Security and the Homebrew Contribution Model. 

We’re bringing Homebrew to Work

With Workbrew, developers will be able to bring the tools they already love to work – opening up opportunities to further grow your audience. 

Get it touch with us, the Homebrew experts, to help get your formula or cask included into Homebrew.