What is Zero Install?

Zero Install is a decentralised, cross-platform software installation system. It lets you run applications without installing them first, works on Linux, Windows and macOS, and is fully open source. It is a good fit if you want to run software from multiple sources without a central store deciding what you can install, or if you publish software and want to distribute it yourself.

How it differs from app stores and package managers

Traditional installation means downloading a package, running an installer, and trusting that installer with whatever it does to your system. Zero Install takes a different route: software is described by a feed, and the program is run directly from that description.

Core ideas

Run without installing

Zero Install is built around running applications directly. You can control everything from a command-line or graphical interface, and the project describes the experience as running apps with a single click. Because the app is not installed in the usual sense, you do not have to guess what happens during installation.

You control your own computer

There is no requirement to accept a single version of a library or application. You can mix and match stable and experimental apps on a single system, which is useful when you want to test a newer build without disturbing everything else.

Anyone can distribute software

A publisher creates one package that works on multiple platforms, then hosts it on any static web host. There is no central point of control, and dependency handling and automatic updates are part of the system. This lowers the barrier for small projects that do not want to go through a store review process.

Security is central

Three properties matter here:

• Installing an app does not grant it administrator access.
• Digital signatures are always checked before new software is run.
• Apps can share libraries without having to trust each other.

The signature check is the key mechanism: before a new piece of software executes, Zero Install verifies who signed it, so a shared library cannot silently impersonate another publisher.

When to use it

Zero Install suits you if:

• You want to try or run software without a full installation.
• You need several versions of the same app or library side by side.
• You distribute software and want one package for Linux, Windows and macOS without a central store.
• You care about running software without granting it administrator rights.

It is less obviously a fit if you only ever install software from one vendor's store and never need multiple versions or self-hosting.

A concrete example

Suppose you maintain a small tool and want users on all three platforms to run it. Instead of building separate installers, you publish a feed on a static web host. A user points Zero Install at that feed, and the tool runs; dependencies are resolved automatically, and updates are picked up from the same feed. If the user also wants an experimental build, they can run it alongside the stable one without the two interfering.

Current state

The project is actively maintained. Recent Windows releases include 2.29.0 (May 2026), which replaced the fallback to an external solver with a built-in SAT solver and added support for arm64ec, and 2.28.7, which fixed http_proxy support and improved translations. Earlier 2026 releases raised the minimum .NET Framework version to 4.8 and added support for a source parameter. To get started, the site offers a download and documentation.