About Devbox
Devbox is a command line tool that builds isolated development environments from a list of packages. It gives every developer on a project the same tools without installing Docker or running virtual machines. The setup is described in a small config file that can be committed to Git.
What it does
You list the packages and scripts your project needs in a devbox.json file. Devbox then opens an isolated shell with those versions. You can run several runtime versions on one machine without them getting in each other's way. Packages come from the Nix package manager, but you do not need to write any Nix code.
Key features
- Isolated shells with no Docker or VMs
- Searchable index of packages and versions
- Simple JSON config file
- Share the same setup through Git
- Plugins to reuse config across projects
Who it's for
- Developers who want the same setup on every machine
- Teams that onboard new people often
Pricing and good to know
Devbox is open source under the Apache-2.0 license, so the tool itself is free to use. The project is built by Jetify with help from the community. It works in a local shell on your own machine, so you do not need a hosted service to get started.
Highlights
- Build isolated shells from a list of packages
- Run several versions of a runtime side by side
- Define the whole setup in a devbox.json file
- Share the same environment across machines with Git
- Search over 400,000 package versions
