Software Alternatives & Reviews

NixOS VS Flatpak

Compare NixOS VS Flatpak and see what are their differences

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.

Flatpak logo Flatpak

Flatpak is the new framework for desktop applications on Linux
  • NixOS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-12
  • Flatpak Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-08-06

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

Flatpak videos

How to Use Flatpak

More videos:

  • Review - [2018] LINUX - FLATPAK REVIEW and SETUP
  • Review - Matador FlatPak Toiletry Bottle Review | TSA Approved | Small Travel Container & Liquid Soap Holder

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to NixOS and Flatpak)
Front End Package Manager
Package Manager
75 75%
25% 25
Developer Tools
45 45%
55% 55
Programming
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

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

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”.

Flatpak Reviews

We have no reviews of Flatpak yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, NixOS should be more popular than Flatpak. It has been mentiond 246 times since March 2021. 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.

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 / 5 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 / 10 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 / 19 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 / 20 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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Flatpak mentions (84)

  • 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
  • I cannot get flatpak to find anything on a fresh Debian12 install
    The repository that I used is the official one from flathub.org, I literally typed:. Source: 8 months ago
  • Modern CSV version 2 is now available
    It shouldn't be too complicated to create a package from the provided tarball. [1]: https://flatpak.org/. - Source: Hacker News / 8 months ago
  • Flutter 3 on Devuan 4: Getting started
    Besides, there may be other ways to install them, although there doesn't seem no such Flatpak packages in Flathub. For example, some senerio to use some release channel or Docker / Podman. Additionally, when you use a different Linux distro where systemd is adopted and therefore can do Snaps (Snapd), you have another possibility. - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
  • Android Studio on Devuan 4: Install
    Besides, there is another way to install Android Studio on Devuan: Flatpak. They have the package. Moreover, when you use a different Linux distro and can use Snaps, there is also the package. - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
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What are some alternatives?

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

GNU Guix - Like Nix but GNU.

Snapcraft - Snaps are software packages that are simple to create and install.

Homebrew - The missing package manager for macOS

FLATHUB - Apps for Linux, right here

Chocolatey - The sane way to manage software on Windows.

asdf-vm - An extendable version manager