Alternatives to Xcodes
Other tools in this directory that do similar work, with a verified install command for each. Xcodes itself: install Xcodes.
brew-php-switcher
Brew PHP switcher is a simple shell script to switch your apache and CLI quickly between major versions of PHP. If you support multiple products/proje
MiddleClick
"Wheel click" with three-finger click/tap for Trackpad and Magic Mouse
ios-deploy
Install and debug iPhone apps from the command line, without using Xcode
install-nothing
A terminal application that simulates installing things but doesn't actually install anything
pinact
pinact is a CLI to edit GitHub Workflow and Composite action files and pin versions of Actions and Reusable Workflows. pinact can also update their ve
cc-switch
Installed with brew. Open source, with a documented one-command setup.
MAA
click tool for the daily tasks of Arknights · supporting all clients
swiftformat
A command-line tool and Xcode Extension for formatting Swift code
xcodegen
A Swift command line tool for generating your Xcode project
AndroidTool
One-click screenshots, video recordings, app installation for iOS and Android
click
The "Command Line Interactive Controller for Kubernetes"
git-xargs
git-xargs is a command-line tool (CLI) for making updates across multiple Github repositories with a single command
yj
CLI - Convert between YAML, TOML, JSON, and HCL. Preserves map order
dovi_tool
dovi_tool is a CLI tool combining multiple utilities for working with Dolby Vision
CleanMyMac CLI
Clean Xcode, Docker, Homebrew, and developer caches, remove project and AI artifacts, analyze storage, and reclaim disk space from the Terminal
yt-dlp
A feature-rich command-line audio/video downloader
gemini-cli
Installed with brew. Open source, with a documented one-command setup.
thefuck
Magnificent app which corrects your previous console command
fzf
:cherry_blossom: A command-line fuzzy finder
lazygit
simple terminal UI for git commands
pake
🤱🏻 Turn any webpage into a desktop app with one command
tmux
Installed with brew. Open source, with a documented one-command setup.
SiYuan
Installed with brew. Open source, with a documented one-command setup.
yazi
💥 Blazing fast terminal file manager written in Rust, based on async I/O
How we picked these
We match on what the tool does and how it installs, then order by how widely each project is used. We're not saying these are better or worse than Xcodes — that depends on what you're building. We're saying they're the projects people reach for in the same situations, and each one has an install command we checked against its documentation.
Xcodes is developed by its own authors and this page is an independent reference; we are not affiliated with or sponsored by any project listed, and nothing here is a paid placement.