# Install ngspice with Homebrew

Spice circuit simulator. Version 46 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-25.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:ngspice
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install ngspice
```

  Evidence: provider-native install command

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:ngspice
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Version:** 46
- **Source summary:** Spice circuit simulator
- **Homepage:** <https://ngspice.sourceforge.io/>
- **Last updated:** 2026-06-25T13:37:57+02:00
- **Generated:** 2026-08-03T00:40:33+00:00

## Executables

- ngspice (alias)

## Install behavior

- Bottle: not available

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-08-03
- Package-manager version: 46
## Project history and usage

ngspice is the open-source continuation of the Berkeley SPICE circuit-simulation lineage. It is a command-line and library-capable simulator for analog, digital, mixed-signal, and mixed-level electronic circuits, with a long release history and broad packaging across Unix-like systems, Windows channels, and EDA workflows.

### Project history

The ngspice manual says the project is an update of Spice3f5, the last Berkeley release of the Spice3 simulator family, developed to add features and fix bugs. The same manual describes the project as assembled from Spice3f5, XSPICE, CIDER, and original ngspice material, with Paolo Nenzi's first manual preface dated March 24, 2001.

The project inherited Spice3 and CIDER from the University of California at Berkeley and XSPICE from Georgia Tech. Its early 2000s 'ng-spice-rework' releases show the transition from cleanup and bug fixing into a simulator with XSPICE mixed-signal support, CIDER mixed-level simulation, model updates, Windows/MINGW support, and broader portability.

Release 46 was distributed in March 2026; the version 46 manual is dated March 31, 2026. The SourceForge download page listed ngspice-46 as the latest release, and Homebrew packaged stable version 46 from SourceForge.

### Adoption history

ngspice is the significant package in this batch. It is packaged by Homebrew, MacPorts, Debian/Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch, Nix, openSUSE, Chocolatey, Scoop, and Alpine-family repositories in the av.db input. Homebrew analytics on July 1, 2026 reported 2,500 install-on-request events over 365 days, and SourceForge showed weekly downloads for release 46 and old releases.

Its adoption is helped by compatibility rather than novelty. The project advertises SPICE compatibility, support for PSPICE/LTSPICE model parameters and netlists for discrete circuits, HSPICE device libraries from foundry PDKs for integrated circuits, and third-party schematic/simulation front ends. That makes it a common open simulation engine under GUI and scripted EDA workflows.

### How it is used

The normal package-nerd use is to install `ngspice`, feed it a SPICE netlist from the command line, run DC, AC, transient, noise, pole-zero, sensitivity, distortion, S-parameter, or mixed-signal analyses, and inspect plots or raw output files. More advanced users build it as a shared library or integrate it through tools such as KiCad, Xschem, Qucs-S, PySpice, or Tcl/Tk-related tooling.

The practical reason people care about the package is that it is the free, scriptable SPICE engine that package managers can ship everywhere. It sits in a lineage older than most package ecosystems, but remains active because open PDKs, Verilog-A/OpenVAF model loading, mixed-signal code models, and simulator-library embedding keep generating new use cases.

### Timeline

- {'date': '2000-11-04', 'event': 'ng-spice-rework-13 release listed enhancements and bug fixes.'}
- {'date': '2001-03-24', 'event': 'Paolo Nenzi dated the first ngspice manual preface.'}
- {'date': '2004-01-27', 'event': 'ng-spice-rework-15 incorporated XSPICE, CIDER, numparam, model updates, and examples.'}
- {'date': '2026-03-31', 'event': 'Version 46 manual date.'}

### Related projects

- Berkeley SPICE
- Spice3f5
- XSPICE
- CIDER
- KiCad
- Xschem
- Qucs-S
- PySpice
- OpenVAF

### Sources

- <https://formulae.brew.sh/api/formula/ngspice.json>
- <https://ngspice.sourceforge.io/>
- <https://ngspice.sourceforge.io/docs/ngspice-manual.pdf>
- <https://ngspice.sourceforge.io/relinfo.html>
- <https://sourceforge.net/projects/ngspice/files/ng-spice-rework/>


## Security Notes

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

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


## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/ngspice.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/ngspice.yml)


## Sources

- Nucleus package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- curated package history
- pkgdb category and tag curation