Install

Packages for Crystal releases are available from different sources. There are official ones provided the Crystal project, system packages and community-maintained packages. This page gives an overview of available installation methods.

Linux

Many Linux distribution provide Crystal in their system packages. It might not be the most recent version though. Third party package managers are typically more up to date.

DEB and RPM packages are available in our own package repository and we provide an installer script for convenience.

Crystal

Installer (DEB & RPM) x86_64

curl -fsSL https://crystal-lang.org/install.sh | sudo bash

Tarball (.tar.gz) x86_64 x86_64-bundled

Download: x86_64 x86_64-bundled

System

APT (Debian, Ubuntu, etc.) x86_64

apt install crystal

Apk (Alpine Linux) x86_64 aarch64

apk add crystal shards

Pacman (Arch Linux) x86_64

pacman -S crystal shards

Emerge (Gentoo) x86_64

emerge -a dev-lang/crystal

Community

Homebrew/Linuxbrew x86_64

brew install crystal

asdf x86_64

asdf plugin add crystal
asdf install crystal latest

Snapcraft x86_64

snap install crystal --classic

Nix x86_64 aarch64

crystal package

84codes (DEB & RPM) x86_64 aarch64

Linux-based Docker images and developer tools are also available.

MacOS

The Crystal project provides universal archives for MacOS that work on both, Apple Silicon and Intel.

The most popular installation method is via Homebrew.

Crystal

Tarball (.tar.gz) universal

Download: universal

Community

Homebrew x86_64 aarch64

brew install crystal

asdf universal

asdf plugin add crystal
asdf install crystal latest

Nix x86_64 aarch64

crystal package

MacPorts x86_64 aarch64

port install crystal

Crystal is also available in developer tooling on macOS.

Windows (preview)

Note

Windows support is currently a preview and not yet complete, but largely usable.

Official builds are available as a ZIP archive or installer.

Crystal

Installer (.exe) x86_64

Download: x86_64

Portable Archive (.zip) x86_64

Download: x86_64

Community

Scoop x86_64

scoop install git
scoop bucket add crystal-preview https://github.com/neatorobito/scoop-crystal
scoop install vs_2022_cpp_build_tools crystal

WinGet x86_64

Crystal is also available in developer tooling on Windows.

FreeBSD

System

Package x86_64 aarch64

sudo pkg install -y crystal shards

Port x86_64 aarch64

sudo make -C/usr/ports/lang/crystal reinstall clean
sudo make -C/usr/ports/devel/shards reinstall clean

OpenBSD

System

Package x86_64 aarch64

doas pkg_add crystal

Port x86_64 aarch64

doas make -C/usr/ports/lang/crystal clean install

Android

Community

Termux aarch64

pkg install crystal

Docker

Crystal

crystallang x86_64

docker pull crystallang/crystal

Community

84codes x86_64 aarch64

docker pull 84codes/crystal

Developer Tools

Crystal

GitHub Actions x86_64 aarch64

- uses: crystal-lang/install-crystal@v1

Community

devenv.sh x86_64 aarch64

languages.crystal.enable = true

Nightly builds

Nightly builds are the bleeding-edge version of Crystal, being a daily snapshot of the current development status in the master branch. This is inherently less stable than proper a release, but allows trying out new features and testing compatibility with existing code bases. It’s recommended to test against nightlies regularly in order to notice any issues timely and avoid surprises after the next release.

Building from Source

The Crystal compiler is self-hosted, so in order to build it you need a Crystal compiler. Hence from source installation is not an ideal way to get Crystal in the first place. However it is possible to bootstrap from a different platform through cross-compiling.