Tools: Zerobrew Guide 2026: The 20x Faster Rust Client For Homebrew

Stop waiting for Homebrew. Discover Zerobrew: the Rust-based client using APFS clonefiles and parallel streaming to install 20x faster. Updated Feb 2026.

Zerobrew is an experimental, high-performance client for Homebrew written in Rust. It solves the "updating Homebrew..." delay by using parallel streaming and APFS clonefiles, aiming for speed without breaking your existing setup.

Every brew install you run is a micro-tax on your productivity. In an era where CI/CD pipelines cost by the minute, waiting for sequential Ruby scripts is no longer viable. Zerobrew changes that.

Enter Zerobrew: an experimental, high-performance client written in Rust. It utilizes the existing Homebrew ecosystem but reimagines the delivery mechanism to achieve 2x faster cold installs and up to 20x faster warm installs.

This isn't just a wrapper; it's a complete architectural overhaul using parallel streaming and filesystem cloning. Below, we break down how it works, the verified benchmarks, and how to implement it safely.

Zerobrew achieves its velocity by abandoning the sequential processing model of legacy package managers.

While Homebrew downloads and extracts files one by one, Zerobrew uses the tokio runtime to saturate your network and CPU. It streams downloads, hashes content, and materializes binaries concurrently.

Legacy managers install to versioned directories (e.g., /usr/local/Cellar). Zerobrew stores packages based on their SHA256 hash in a central store (/opt/zerobrew/store).

On macOS, Zerobrew leverages the Apple File System's copy-on-write capability. When you install a package, Zerobrew creates a "clonefile"—a filesystem reference to the existing data blocks in the store.

We tested Zerobrew against standard Homebrew to measure raw throughput. Benchmarks performed on an M3 Max MacBook Pro (Feb 2026).

Source: Dev.to