Homebrew

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MacPorts

MacPorts vs Homebrew: what is MacPorts, how to install it on a Mac, and how to uninstall it. MacPorts installs on an Intel Mac, where Homebrew does not.

MacPorts is a package manager for macOS. It downloads, builds, and installs command line software, along with anything a program depends on, so you do not have to assemble the pieces yourself.

Most Mac developers use Homebrew. MacPorts is the main alternative. Since September 2026 it is the only one of the two that installs on an Intel Mac. It's my recommendation for Intel-based Macs.

Choosing a package manager is one step in setting up your Mac for development. See the full Mac setup roadmap.

Before you get started

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The MacPorts details on this page were checked in September 2026, against MacPorts 2.12.6.

First steps to install MacPorts

First, check the macOS version. If you're running an older version, update macOS to the latest macOS version.

MacPorts needs Apple's command line developer tools, because it compiles software on your Mac whenever a ready-made package is not available. Install Xcode Command Line Tools first. Here's how to install it:

$ xcode-select --install

The full Xcode package is needed only for a few packages that build against Apple's own frameworks. MacPorts tells you when the full Xcode package is needed.

Choose between MacPorts and Homebrew

Both package managers install command line software and keep it updated. How they do it is different.

  • File location: MacPorts installs everything under /opt/local. Homebrew installs under /opt/homebrew for Apple Silicon, and under /usr/local for Intel.
  • Terminology: Software packages are "ports" in MacPorts and "formulae" or "casks" in Homebrew.
  • Administrator access: most MacPorts commands that change your system need sudo and your password. Homebrew avoids sudo for everyday commands because it owns its own folder.
  • Dependencies: MacPorts prefers to build and supply its own copies of the libraries a program depends on. Homebrew leans more on what macOS already ships. MacPorts installs are therefore larger and more self-contained, and less likely to break when Apple changes a system library.
  • Ready-made packages: both publish pre-compiled binaries for common software. MacPorts calls them archives and Homebrew calls them bottles. When neither is available for your Mac, the software compiles locally, which takes longer.
  • Graphical applications: Homebrew installs many Mac apps through casks. MacPorts offers far fewer graphical applications, so you will install most apps yourself.
  • Processor support: Homebrew is not available for installation on an Intel Mac. MacPorts can be installed on an Intel Mac.

I recommend setting up any Apple Silicon Mac by installing Homebrew. It has a larger collection, more Mac apps, and more community support when something goes wrong. Choose MacPorts when you have an Intel Mac, when you want a self-contained installation, or when a program you need has a MacPorts port and no Homebrew formula.

Use MacPorts on an Intel Mac

Homebrew no longer installs on an Intel Mac. Since September, 2026, the Homebrew install script on an Intel Mac displays the message Homebrew on macOS is only supported on Apple Silicon processors!. Homebrew's package installer also won't install it. An existing Intel installation keeps working, but Homebrew stopped building ready-made Intel packages in August 2026, and says it will remove the ability to run on Intel in or after September 2027.

MacPorts has no processor requirement. Neither its install page nor its guide mentions Apple Silicon or Intel, because it installs on either.

MacPorts also still publishes ready-made Intel packages. Its archive carries current x86_64 builds for every macOS an Intel Mac can run, from macOS 11 Big Sur through macOS 26 Tahoe. Only the newest set, for macOS 27 Golden Gate, is Apple Silicon only, which makes sense because no Intel Mac runs macOS 27.

Note: coverage on macOS 26 Tahoe is good but not complete. Of eighteen common ports checked in September 2026, most had ready-made Intel builds for Tahoe and several did not. When a ready-made package is missing, MacPorts compiles that software on your Mac instead. The result is the same but the wait is longer, and a large program can take a while on an older Intel Mac.

Install MacPorts

MacPorts supplies an installer package for each macOS version.

Go to the MacPorts install page and download the package that matches your macOS version. Packages are published for macOS 27 Golden Gate, macOS 26 Tahoe, macOS 15 Sequoia, and macOS 14 Sonoma, with older releases listed separately. If you do not know which version you have, check the macOS version first.

Open the downloaded .pkg file and follow the installer. It puts MacPorts in /opt/local and adds that folder to your PATH by editing your shell configuration file.

Open a new terminal window afterwards (your current one does not yet know about the new PATH). Confirm the port command works:

$ port version

You will see a version number such as Version: 2.12.6.

Before installing anything, update the port definitions so MacPorts knows about current software. This command also updates MacPorts itself:

$ sudo port selfupdate

You will be asked for your Mac login password, because the command writes outside your home folder.

Run your first MacPorts commands

Search the collection before installing, so you use the right name. Port names often differ from the Homebrew names you may know:

$ port search wget

Install a program with install. MacPorts downloads a ready-made package when one exists for your Mac, and compiles the software when one does not:

$ sudo port install wget

See what you have installed:

$ port installed

Update everything to current versions. Run these occasionally, the way you would run brew upgrade:

$ sudo port selfupdate
$ sudo port upgrade outdated

Remove a program you no longer want:

$ sudo port uninstall wget

Know what MacPorts does not solve

MacPorts is not the same as Homebrew.

  • Package names differ, so a list of Homebrew formulae is not a shopping list for MacPorts. Search for each one.
  • A Brewfile does not work with MacPorts. There is no import.
  • Some software is packaged for Homebrew and not for MacPorts, particularly graphical Mac applications that Homebrew installs as casks.
  • Compiling takes time. On an Intel Mac, where more packages (ports) build from source, installs take longer than Homebrew.
  • Instructions you find online usually assume Homebrew. You must translate brew install into sudo port install.

You can install both MacPorts and Homebrew on the same Mac. If you have both and a command behaves strangely, check which one supplied the program by running which followed by the program name.

Uninstall MacPorts

Removing MacPorts takes three steps.

First, uninstall every package (port) you installed. This leaves MacPorts itself in place:

$ sudo port -fp uninstall installed

Next, remove the macports user and group that the installer created for privilege separation. On macOS 10.15 Catalina and later this step comes before deleting the files, unless you have turned off System Integrity Protection:

$ sudo dscl . -delete /Users/macports
$ sudo dscl . -delete /Groups/macports

Finally, remove what remains. The command below deletes the MacPorts folders themselves, so read it before you run it, and do not run it if you changed the installation prefix during setup:

$ sudo rm -rf \
    /opt/local \
    /Applications/DarwinPorts \
    /Applications/MacPorts \
    /Library/LaunchDaemons/org.macports.* \
    /Library/Receipts/DarwinPorts*.pkg \
    /Library/Receipts/MacPorts*.pkg \
    /Library/StartupItems/DarwinPortsStartup \
    /Library/Tcl/darwinports1.0 \
    /Library/Tcl/macports1.0 \
    ~/.macports

Not all of those paths exist on every Mac, and missing ones are fine. If you plan to reinstall MacPorts later, save any configuration files you edited in /opt/local/etc first.

Continue setting up your Mac

Don't miss the full visual roadmap and checklist that shows how to set up a Mac for software development, with all the essential tools and settings you might not yet know about.