Chocolatey
Hacker ApprovedRanked 21 of 35 package managers by recommenders
People recommend Chocolatey as a command-line package manager for Windows software, citing one-line installs and checksum checks. Critics say its install process feels dated and sometimes stalls.
People recommend Chocolatey as a command-line package manager for Windows software, citing one-line installs and checksum checks. Critics say its install process feels dated and sometimes stalls.
16 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 13
- criticize it
- 3
- approval share
- 81%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 13 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 4.3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Installs Windows software from command line
“Most build tools and compilers can be installed via the command line on windows.”
Comment from 15 Feb 2026 in “I Fixed Windows Native Development” “I can also now run and install over cmd with choco, scoop and winget.”
Comment from 3 May 2026 in “Windows quality update: Progress we've made since March” “Or use choco, winget or whatever.”
Comment from 14 Feb 2026 in “7zip.com Is Serving Malware” Good option beside Scoop and Winget
“Chocolatey, Winget, and Scoop are all good options for installing software.”
Comment from 4 Sep 2026 in “O&O ShutUp10 – The antispy tool for Windows 10 and 11” “the only sane way to install Java seems to be scoop.sh or chocolatey”
Comment from 28 Nov 2025 in “Installing Java in 2025, and Version Managers” “and chocolatey which is nice”
Comment from 15 May 2026 in “I love Linux, but I can't quit Windows” Easy package search and one-line installs
“I get a lot of mileage out of package repository search”
Comment from 1 Jan 2026 in “Blog: PyPI in 2025: A Year in Review” “Choco solves this with a one-liner for me.”
Comment from 15 Feb 2026 in “I Fixed Windows Native Development”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Installs feel dated, slow, or stall
“Even chocolatey, which is supposed to make your life easier, has an archaic install process from the 90s.”
Comment from 17 Jun 2026 in “Windows 11 25H2 – I'm so happy to not be using this” “As soon as i install chocolatey or 3rd party it starts to stall even more”
Comment from 28 Aug 2026 in “Get your Windows license refund”
Other package managers people recommend
The four most recommended other package managers, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
See all 35 package managers, rankedWhat people said
14 of the 17 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Chocolatey, Winget, and Scoop are all good options for installing software.”
“As soon as i install chocolatey or 3rd party it starts to stall even more”
“I prefer the apt-Linux approach, even Ansible, or chocolatey.”
“Even chocolatey, which is supposed to make your life easier, has an archaic install process from the 90s.”
“and chocolatey which is nice”
“I can also now run and install over cmd with choco, scoop and winget.”
“Choco solves this with a one-liner for me.”
“Most build tools and compilers can be installed via the command line on windows.”
“Or use choco, winget or whatever.”
“This is where package managers shine.”
“using Chocolatey saved me from this attack vector because maintainers hardcode SHA256 checksums”
“it's not super reliable to install these packages in my recent experience”
“I get a lot of mileage out of package repository search”
“the only sane way to install Java seems to be scoop.sh or chocolatey”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.