# Install crunch with Homebrew, apt, MacPorts, Nix

Wordlist generator. Version 3.6 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. Also installable with debian: sudo apt install crunch.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:crunch
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install crunch
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

- MacPorts (94%):

```sh
sudo port install crunch
```

  Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: security/crunch/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1

### Linux

- Debian apt (92%):

```sh
sudo apt install crunch
```

  Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: crunch from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#crunch
```

  Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/cr/crunch/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:crunch
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 3.6
- **Source summary:** Wordlist generator
- **Homepage:** <https://sourceforge.net/projects/crunch-wordlist/>
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T19:37:03+00:00

## Executables

- crunch (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 3.6
## Project history and usage

Crunch is a small GPL wordlist generator used in password-auditing workflows. Its package-manager identity is tied less to a large upstream ecosystem than to its role as a compact command-line tool that can emit large, patterned candidate lists for other security tools.

### Project history

The upstream readme credits Crunch version 1.0 to mimayin and dates the initial release to 2004 based on copyright metadata. Later versions were maintained by bofh28, with the changelog showing the tool evolving through character-set files, output splitting, resume support, compression, pattern syntax, Unicode support, and archive-format support.

### Adoption history

Crunch remained a SourceForge-hosted utility rather than a larger platform project, but it became broadly packaged because its interface is simple and useful in security lab environments. The supplied package metadata lists it in Homebrew, Debian, Ubuntu, MacPorts, and Nix, which matches its role as a portable Unix-style CLI.

### How it is used

Users commonly run Crunch to generate all combinations or permutations from a standard or custom character set, often piping the output into password-auditing tools or writing very large wordlist files. The upstream changelog explicitly calls out work on output chunking, files larger than 2 GB, resume behavior, compression, and pattern handling, all of which are package-nerd details that matter when a formula is used in long-running shell pipelines.

### Why package nerds care

For packagers, Crunch is the classic kind of security formula: a C command-line program, a manpage/readme as the main documentation surface, and a stable executable name that matters more than a rich library API. Its SourceForge code and release files make provenance straightforward, while its use in potentially huge output pipelines makes predictable builds and path installation important.

### Timeline

- 2004: Version 1.0 initial release is recorded in the upstream changelog.
- 2008-2012: Later copyrights and changelog entries show continued maintenance by bofh28.
- 2014: SourceForge file metadata shows the readme updated alongside the 3.x release series.

### Related projects

- Crunch is commonly used alongside password-auditing and cracking tools that consume generated candidate lists, such as John the Ripper-style workflows mentioned in the upstream changelog.

### Sources

- <https://sourceforge.net/projects/crunch-wordlist/>
- <https://sourceforge.net/projects/crunch-wordlist/files/crunch-wordlist/readme.txt>
- <https://sourceforge.net/p/crunch-wordlist/code>


## Security Notes

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

- **Geiger risk:** green / low
- narrow executable package without higher-risk signals

## Other Package-Manager Records

- Debian apt - crunch - 3.6-3: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: crunch from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | tool for creating wordlist | http://sourceforge.net/projects/crunch-wordlist/
- Nix - crunch: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/cr/crunch/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- Ubuntu apt - crunch - 3.6-3: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: crunch from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | tool for creating wordlist | http://sourceforge.net/projects/crunch-wordlist/
- MacPorts - crunch: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: security/crunch/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1


## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/crunch.yml](https://github.com/mxcl/pkgdb/blob/main/combined/crunch.yml)


## Sources

- pkg.so package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation
- external package-manager database matches
- cross-ecosystem install command graph