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Best Software Packaging Tools in 2026

28 software packaging tools ranked on what their makers publish — plans and prices, free tiers, platforms and the facts on their own pages.

28ranked
14free plans on this page
$33.25/molowest paid tier
3 Oct 2026last checked
#1 Advanced Installer Top pick · 9.1 Free plan · $33.25/mo #2 electron-builder Runner-up · 8.7 Free plan · Free #3 Tauri Bundler Also great · 8.7 Free plan · Free
  1. 1

    Advanced Installer

    9.1
    Free planFree trial Windows
    Free plan
    Yes
    Target platforms
    Windows 7+, Windows Server 2008 R2+, Mac OS X 10.x for Java bundles
    Output formats
    MSI, EXE, MSIX, APPX, App-V, MST, ThinApp
    Command-line packaging
    Yes
    Silent installation
    Yes
    RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms
    $33.25/mofirst paid tier About Advanced InstallerVisit site
  2. 2

    electron-builder

    8.7
    Free plan LinuxmacOSWindows
    Target platforms
    macOS, Windows, Linux
    Output formats
    DMG, PKG, MAS, AppImage, Snap, DEB, RPM, FreeBSD, Pacman, P5P, APK, NSIS, NSIS Web, portable EXE, AppX, MSIX, MSI, Squirrel.Windows, ZIP, 7z, tar.xz, tar.gz, tar.bz2, tar.lz, tar.7z
    Command-line packaging
    Yes
    Silent installation
    Yes
    RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms
    Free About electron-builderVisit site
  3. 3

    Tauri Bundler

    8.7
    Free plan AndroidiOSLinuxmacOSWindows
    Free plan
    Yes
    Target platforms
    Linux, macOS, Windows, Android, iOS
    Output formats
    AppImage, Debian, RPM, Flatpak, Snap, AUR, DMG, macOS .app, MSI, NSIS .exe
    Command-line packaging
    Yes
    Silent installation
    Yes
    RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms
    Free About Tauri BundlerVisit site
  4. 4

    InstallAware

    8.7
    Free planFree trial LinuxmacOSWindows
    Free plan
    Yes
    Target platforms
    Windows, macOS, Linux
    Output formats
    MSI, EXE, MSIX, APPX, App-V, DEB, RPM, PKG
    Command-line packaging
    Yes
    Silent installation
    Yes
    RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms
    Free About InstallAwareVisit site
  5. 5

    install4j

    8.3
    Free trial LinuxmacOSWindows
    Free plan
    No
    Target platforms
    Windows, Windows ARM, macOS, Linux/Unix, POSIX-compatible systems
    Output formats
    native installers, MSIX, ZIP, macOS bundles, gzipped TAR, RPM, DEB
    Command-line packaging
    Yes
    Silent installation
    Yes
    RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms
    About install4jVisit site
  6. 6

    InstallBuilder

    7.9
    Free trial LinuxmacOSWindows
    Free plan
    No
    Target platforms
    Windows, macOS, Linux, Solaris, AIX, HP-UX, IRIX, FreeBSD, OpenBSD
    Output formats
    Self-contained executable, RPM, DEB, DMG, ZIP, CD-ROM, DVD
    Command-line packaging
    Yes
    Silent installation
    Yes
    RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms
    About InstallBuilderVisit site
  7. 7

    IzPack

    7.7
    Free plan LinuxmacOSself-hostedWindows
    Free plan
    Yes
    Target platforms
    Windows, Linux, Solaris, macOS
    Output formats
    Standard JAR installer; web installer and pack JARs
    Command-line packaging
    Yes
    Silent installation
    Yes
    RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms
    Free About IzPackVisit site
  8. 8

    NSIS

    7.4
    Free plan WindowsLinuxmacOS
    Free plan
    Yes
    Target platforms
    Windows
    Output formats
    Self-contained executable installers (.exe) and uninstallers
    Command-line packaging
    Yes
    Silent installation
    Yes
    RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms
    Free About NSISVisit site
  9. 9

    WiX Toolset

    7.3
    Windows
    Target platforms
    Windows
    Output formats
    MSI, MSP, MSM, MST, and EXE bundles
    Command-line packaging
    Yes
    Silent installation
    Yes
    RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms
    About WiX ToolsetVisit site
  10. 10

    Electron Forge

    7.2
    WindowsmacOSLinux
    Target platforms
    Windows, macOS, Linux
    Output formats
    Squirrel.Windows, ZIP, DEB, RPM, DMG, AppX, Flatpak
    Command-line packaging
    Yes
    RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms
    About Electron ForgeVisit site
  11. 11

    nFPM

    7.1
    Free plan WebWindowsmacOSLinux
    Free plan
    Yes
    Target platforms
    Linux, macOS, Windows
    Output formats
    DEB, RPM, APK, IPK, Arch Linux, MSIX
    Command-line packaging
    Yes
    RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms
    Free About nFPMVisit site
  12. 12

    Inno Setup

    7.0
    Windows
    Target platforms
    Windows
    Output formats
    EXE installer
    Command-line packaging
    Yes
    Silent installation
    Yes
    RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms
    About Inno SetupVisit site
  13. 13

    Master Packager Suite

    7.0
    Free plan Windows
    Free plan
    Yes
    Target platforms
    Windows 10 and Windows 11 (64-bit)
    Output formats
    MSI, MSIX, MST, INTUNEWIN
    Command-line packaging
    Yes
    Silent installation
    Yes
    RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms
    Free About Master Packager SuiteVisit site
  14. 14

    InstallShield

    6.8
    Windows
    Free plan
    No
    Target platforms
    Windows
    Output formats
    MSI, EXE, APPX, MSIX, MSP
    Command-line packaging
    Yes
    Silent installation
    Yes
    RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms
    About InstallShieldVisit site
  15. 15

    appimagetool

    6.7
    Free plan Linux
    Free plan
    Yes
    Target platforms
    Linux; builds documented for x86_64, i686, aarch64, and armhf
    Output formats
    AppImage; optional zsync file
    Command-line packaging
    Yes
    RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms
    Free About appimagetoolVisit site
  16. 16

    RayPack Studio

    6.6
    WindowsmacOS
    Free plan
    No
    Target platforms
    Windows; macOS
    Output formats
    MSI; MST; MSP; MSIX; APPX; App-V; ThinApp; SWV; LAYPKG; Intune
    Command-line packaging
    Yes
    Silent installation
    Yes
    RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms
    About RayPack StudioVisit site
  17. 17

    InstallForge

    6.6
    Free plan Windows
    Free plan
    Yes
    Target platforms
    Windows
    Output formats
    EXE setup packages
    Command-line packaging
    Yes
    RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms
    Free About InstallForgeVisit site
  18. 18

    Squirrel.Windows

    6.5
    Windows
    Target platforms
    Windows
    Output formats
    Setup.exe, Setup.msi, full .nupkg, delta .nupkg, RELEASES
    Command-line packaging
    Yes
    Silent installation
    Yes
    RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms
    About Squirrel.WindowsVisit site
  19. 19

    CyberInstaller Suite

    6.5
    Free plan Windows
    Free plan
    Yes
    Target platforms
    Windows Vista, Server 2008, 7, 8.x, 10 and 11
    Output formats
    compressed self-extracting executable; CD/DVD package; web-page download package
    Command-line packaging
    Yes
    Silent installation
    Yes
    RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms
    Free About CyberInstaller SuiteVisit site
  20. 20

    makeself

    6.5
    Free plan WindowsmacOSLinux
    Free plan
    Yes
    Target platforms
    Linux; macOS; Windows via Cygwin or WSL; Solaris; HP-UX; AIX; FreeBSD; OpenBSD; NetBSD; IRIX; UnicOS/Cray
    Output formats
    Self-extracting shell archives; compressed TAR; .run; .sh
    Command-line packaging
    Yes
    RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms
    Free About makeselfVisit site
  21. 21

    Avidemux

    6.5
    Free planOpen source WebWindowsmacOSLinux
    Free plan
    Yes
    RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms
    Free About AvidemuxVisit site
  22. 22

    electron-packager

    6.3
    Free plan WindowsmacOSLinux
    Free plan
    Yes
    Target platforms
    Windows, macOS, Linux
    Output formats
    .app, .exe, platform-specific application bundles
    Command-line packaging
    Yes
    RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms
    Free About electron-packagerVisit site
  23. 23

    EMCO MSI Package Builder

    6.2
    Windows
    Free plan
    No
    Target platforms
    Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10, 11; Windows Server 2008 R2 through 2025
    Output formats
    MSI, MSIX/AppX, IntuneWin
    Command-line packaging
    Yes
    Silent installation
    Yes
    RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms
    About EMCO MSI Package BuilderVisit site
  24. 24

    cargo-bundle

    6.2
    WindowsmacOSLinux
    Target platforms
    macOS, iOS, Linux, Windows
    Output formats
    .app, .deb, .AppImage, .msi
    Command-line packaging
    Yes
    RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms
    About cargo-bundleVisit site
  25. 25

    fpm

    6.1
    LinuxmacOS
    Target platforms
    Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, CentOS, RHEL, Arch Linux, FreeBSD, macOS, Solaris
    Output formats
    deb, rpm, solaris, freebsd, osxpkg, pacman, puppet, p5p, sh, tar, zip, dir
    Command-line packaging
    Yes
    RecognisedDocumentedFree planFree trialPlatforms
    About fpmVisit site

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Questions about this list

Which software packaging tool is ranked first on The Geeks Club?

Advanced Installer is ranked #1 of 28 with a score of 9.1. electron-builder is second and Tauri Bundler third.

How many of these have a free plan?

14 of the 25 on this page publish a free plan on their own pricing pages.

Which is the cheapest paid option?

On this page, Advanced Installer has the lowest first paid tier we found: $33.25/mo.

How is this list ranked?

Ranked on how quickly a newcomer can get going: documentation depth, a free tier or trial, and the platforms it runs on. Paid placements never change a rank.

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