ept for Windows

Product snapshot

ept is a modern Windows package manager focused on making software installation, updates, and removal fast and reliable. Implemented in Rust and following the Nep specification, it keeps a small disk footprint (under 20 MB) and runs without requiring additional runtimes or DLLs.

Security and signing

• Cryptographic assurances use BLAKE3 hashing together with Ed25519 signatures to verify package authenticity and integrity.
• The combination provides both speed and strong security margins for package signing and verification.

Storage and compression

• Packages are stored and transferred using Zstandard compression to reduce disk usage and improve transfer times.
• The entire application and its runtime dependencies are minimized so memory and storage overhead stay low.

User workflow and controls

• A streamlined, automated workflow handles common tasks while exposing detailed metadata controls for package records.
• Users can define package preferences, manage permissions, and enable self-update detection to keep their installs current.

Quality, releases, and ecosystem

• A CI/CD pipeline supports the ecosystem, automating builds and deployments to keep packages consistent and up to date.
• Automated quality checks run as part of the release cycle to maintain a reliable package repository and reduce regressions.

When to consider alternatives

If you want to evaluate a different option, SHAREit (free) is a commonly cited alternative for file distribution and ad-hoc package sharing on Windows.