Workbrew Free: Real Homebrew Visibility, Zero Developer Disruption

Homebrew is widely used inside organizations, often before IT or security teams even realize it. Developers install it immediately because it gives them fast access to the tools they need. Over time, it becomes a de-facto part of your engineering environment that influences productivity, security, onboarding, and compliance.

Yet despite its importance, most organizations lack even the most basic visibility into it. They don’t know where Homebrew is installed, what packages have been deployed, which dependencies are present, or whether vulnerabilities exist. They have no standardized method for installation, no consistent baseline for new devices, and no reliable way to govern how Brew is used.

The challenge is simple but significant: You can’t manage what you can’t see.

Workbrew Free solves this immediately.It provides structured deployment, accurate visibility, and essential governance for Homebrew - without slowing developers down, operational friction, and cost.

No credit card. No user limits. No device limits. No expiration.

The Organizational Problem Homebrew Creates

Homebrew was designed for individual developers, not teams and enterprises. That design assumption creates predictable gaps when Homebrew proliferates inside a company:

• No guaranteed way to know which devices are using Homebrew
• No unified package inventory across the fleet
• No insight into dependencies or why they were installed
• No visibility into outdated or vulnerable packages
• No standardization for onboarding or provisioning
• No support for environments where users aren’t admins

These gaps introduce risk and inconsistency at scale. They also force organizations into undesirable patterns: ignoring Homebrew and hoping nothing breaks, relying on unenforceable documentation, or attempting to build internal tooling that is costly to maintain.

Workbrew Free replaces all of those approaches with a practical, purpose-built solution.

What Workbrew Free Delivers

Workbrew Free is built to give organizations the visibility and control they need, while preserving the simplicity and flexibility developers expect from Homebrew.

Standardized Deployment Across the Fleet

Workbrew introduces a predictable installation method for Homebrew. Teams can deploy via:

• A simple PKG installer for individual devices
• Any major MDM, including Jamf, Kandji, Intune, SimpleMDM, and Fleet

After installation, devices automatically enroll into Workbrew, creating a consistent foundation for every Mac in the organization.

Clear, Actionable Visibility

Once devices are connected, Workbrew Free provides immediate insight into your Homebrew environment:

• All devices with Homebrew usage
• Every package installed across the fleet
• Package versions, history, and install sources
• Dependency chains and the reason each package exists
• High-level vulnerability counts per device

This transforms Brew usage from a blind spot into a defined, observable part of your environment.

Consistent, Maintainable Onboarding

With Workbrew Free, teams can define a standard Brewfile - either through the UI or via version control - to specify the baseline packages new devices should receive. As devices check in, Workbrew installs these packages automatically.

This ensures every Mac starts with the same approved toolkit, eliminating the drift and guesswork that normally accompanies Homebrew-based setups.

Zero Disruption to Developers

Developers continue using Brew exactly as they always have:

brew install  

brew update  

brew upgrade  

brew tap

Workbrew preserves the expected Homebrew interface while layering in secure management under the hood. Existing installations remain intact, custom workflows continue to operate, and developers retain the speed and flexibility Brew provides.

If Workbrew is removed, the underlying Homebrew setup continues functioning normally. There is no lock-in, no proprietary format, and no required workflow change.

Why Free Matters

Workbrew Free is intentionally designed to meet the foundational needs of organizations without forcing a purchasing decision. It gives every team a responsible way to manage Homebrew at scale:

• No cost barriers
• No seat limitations
• No per-device pricing
• No trial period or expiration

For teams that later need advanced capabilities - remote commands, detailed vulnerability data, guardrails, policy enforcement, or deeper integrations - those are available in paid tiers. But the essential deployment and visibility layer is fully available at no charge.

See Your Homebrew Environment Clearly - Starting Today

Homebrew is already powering your engineering organization. The question is whether you have a clear, accurate understanding of how it is being used.

Workbrew Free turns that uncertainty into visibility and control, while preserving the developer experience that makes Brew so valuable in the first place.

Trying Workbrew Free is simple: install it on a single device, even a virtual machine, and see Homebrew activity in the Workbrew Console right away. For a deeper look into how organizations are using Workbrew Free, check out our webinar recording here.