Software Alternatives & Reviews

Chocolatey VS NixOS

Compare Chocolatey VS NixOS and see what are their differences

Chocolatey logo Chocolatey

The sane way to manage software on Windows.

NixOS logo NixOS

25 Jun 2014 . All software components in NixOS are installed using the Nix package manager. Packages in Nix are defined using the nix language to create nix expressions.
  • Chocolatey Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-22
  • NixOS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-12

Chocolatey videos

Chocolatey - The Package Manager For Windows Review

More videos:

  • Review - Chocolatey: A Windows Package Manager?
  • Review - Chocolatey Review

NixOS videos

First Impression of the NixOS Installation Procedure

More videos:

  • Review - Introduction to NixOS - Brownbag by Geoffrey Huntley
  • Review - NixOS 18.03 - A Configuration-focused GNU+Linux Distro

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Chocolatey and NixOS)
Windows Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Front End Package Manager
Package Manager
72 72%
28% 28
Developer Tools
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Chocolatey and NixOS

Chocolatey Reviews

Comparing Package Managers
Chocolatey is more established and easier to host a custom repository (plus it runs in the system context). The deployment of applications and especially updating is not as easy as some of the other options, but if cost is an issue, it’s always a safe bet (I tend to include it as standard on an AVD build and then use Azure Runbooks to deploy and update applications by...
5 Best Windows package manager to use via command line
Chocolatey works for both Windows 10 and 7, it released in 2011, thus it has been around for quite some time now. This makes it one of the largest online repository to download and install various open source and closed source software packages for Windows OS. It offers both community and enterprise solutions. The best thing, one can easily visit the official website of...
6 Best Windows Package Manager to Auto-Update Apps (2020)
The name sounds amusing but you better take this app seriously. Chocolatey has the largest app repository and it supports PowerShell, command line, and even GUI. You name it and Chocolatey has that app. To install, you just need to type the following in command prompt and hit enter.
Source: techwiser.com

NixOS Reviews

The 10 Best Immutable Linux Distributions in 2024
Why it’s on the list: NixOS uses the Nix package manager, which treats packages as isolated from each other. This unique approach to package management virtually eliminates “dependency hell”.

Social recommendations and mentions

Chocolatey might be a bit more popular than NixOS. We know about 252 links to it since March 2021 and only 246 links to NixOS. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Chocolatey mentions (252)

  • Let’s build AI-tools with the help of AI and Typescript!
    Chocolatey Windows software management solution, we use this for installing Python and Deno. - Source: dev.to / 14 days ago
  • Giving Kyma a little spin ... a SpinKube
    Authenticating with Kyma is a (in my opinion) unnecessary challenge as it leverages the OIDC-login plugin for kubectl. You find a description of the setup here. This works fine when on a Mac but can give you some headaches on a Windows and on Linux machine especially when combined with restrictive setups in corporate environments. For Windows I can only recommend installing krew via chocolatey and then install the... - Source: dev.to / 20 days ago
  • Effective Neovim Setup. A Beginner’s Guide
    On a Windows machine, you can use Chocolatey by running the command. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • Need Help with getting Haskell onto my Windows Laptop
    I've used WSL2 and GHC/Nix--worked without any issues. However, there is Chocolatey: https://chocolatey.org/. Source: 5 months ago
  • Python Versions and Release Cycles
    For OSX there is homebrew or pyenv (pyenv is another solution on Linux). As pyenv compiles from source it will require setting up XCode (the Apple IDE) tools to support this which can be pretty bulky. Windows users have chocolatey but the issue there is it works off the binaries. That means it won't have the latest security release available since those are source only. Conda is also another solution which can be... - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
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NixOS mentions (246)

  • I use NixOS for my home-server, and you should too!
    As we covered in my last post, NixOS is a amazing Linux distribution for creating stable and declared environments. Now while this is amazing for a desktop setup, it is also perfect for a home-server or home-lab. - Source: dev.to / 7 days ago
  • Colima k8s nix setup
    Nix is a cross-platform package manager. It uses the nix programming language. Nix and NixOs are often used in the same context, but while the first is a package manager, the latter is a linux distribution based on nix. - Source: dev.to / 12 days ago
  • NixOs - Your portable dev enviroment
    Today I want to talk to you about Nixos. What is it? Nixos is a declarative and reproducible OS, partly taking the words used on their own page. What does that mean? - Source: dev.to / 21 days ago
  • Nix – A One Pager
    Software developers often want to customize: 1. Their home environments: for packages (some reach for brew on MacOS) and configurations (dotfiles, and some reach for stow). 2. Their development shells: for build dependencies (compilers, SDKs, libraries), tools (LSP, linters, formatters, debuggers), and services (runtime, database). Some reach for devcontainers here. 3. Or even their operating systems: for... - Source: Hacker News / 21 days ago
  • Tools for Linux Distro Hoppers
    Hopping from one distro to another with a different package manager might require some time to adapt. Using a package manager that can be installed on most distro is one way to help you get to work faster. Flatpak is one of them; other alternative are Snap, Nix or Homebrew. Flatpak is a good starter, and if you have a bunch of free time, I suggest trying Nix. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Chocolatey and NixOS, you can also consider the following products

Ninite - Ninite is the easiest way to install software.

GNU Guix - Like Nix but GNU.

Scoop - A command-line installer for Windows

Homebrew - The missing package manager for macOS

asdf-vm - An extendable version manager

Just Install - just-install - The stupid package installer for Windows.