No. 5 of 51 ·Development Environment Managers

vfox

Windows · Mac · Linux

Freedom report

Three barsScore 6.6

Free tierA free tier is on its own pricing page
Open codeNo open-source code on record
Runs widely3 of 6 device platforms
DocumentedPlans, terms and facts published

vfox is ranked #5 of 51 in development environment managers on Freedom251. It runs on Linux, macOS, Windows. There is a free plan.

vfox plans and pricing

All plans

vfox Free Apache 2.0 licensed vfox.dev · 4 Oct 2026

Compared on development environment managers

Runtime management: Yes
Dependency locking: Yes
Configuration as code: Yes
Shell integration: Yes

Best vfox alternatives

See all 12

Two bars ActiveState Platform Free tier No. 1Free6.6 Two bars devenv Free tier No. 2Free6.6 Two bars Flox Free tier No. 3$20/mo6.6 Two bars FVM Free tier No. 4Free6.6 Two bars DDEV Free tier No. 6Free6.5 Two bars DevPod Free tier No. 7Free6.5

The record

Purpose: vfox is a cross-platform version manager for installing and switching between development runtimes and SDKs.
Version scopes: It supports project, session, and global version scopes, with automatic switching when entering a project directory.
Shared configuration: Tool versions can be recorded in `.vfox.toml` to share consistent project configuration with a team.
Plugins: A plugin system lets users add support for tools and runtime environments, and the public plugin registry accepts community submissions.
Integrations: The documentation lists community plugins for tools including Bun, Clang, CMake, Crystal, Dart, Deno, and .NET.
Shell support: Supported shells include PowerShell, Git Bash, Bash, ZSH, Fish, CMD, Clink, Cmder, and Nushell; CMD supports only global scope and is not recommended.
Legacy configuration: Plugins with support can read legacy version files such as `.nvmrc`, and this capability is enabled by default.
Installation: The quick start documents Windows installation through Scoop, winget, or a setup installer, and Unix-like installation through Homebrew, package repositories, or an install script.
CI and containers: For Docker, CI/CD, and other non-interactive shells, the FAQ recommends `vfox exec` because shell activation hooks are intended for interactive shells.
Security guidance: For shared SDK storage on Linux and macOS, the guide recommends group permissions and warns that world-writable permissions can let users modify or delete others’ SDK files.
Notable limit: The configuration guide says vfox currently supports only HTTP(S) proxy protocols.
License and maintainer: The site says vfox is released under the Apache 2.0 License and identifies Han Li in its copyright notice.
What it does: vfox is a cross-platform version manager for installing and switching development environments and runtime versions.
Automatic switching: It can automatically switch to the appropriate version when entering a project directory.
Price from: Free

Where it ranks on Freedom251

Is vfox yours?

Claim it for free: prove the domain, then correct facts, plans and screenshots. An editor reviews every change.

Claim it free Promote vfox

Sources

vfox.dev/guides/intro.html· checked 4 Oct 2026
vfox.dev/plugins/create/howto_registry.html· checked 4 Oct 2026
vfox.dev/plugins/available.html· checked 4 Oct 2026
vfox.dev/guides/configuration.html· checked 4 Oct 2026
vfox.dev/guides/quick-start.html· checked 4 Oct 2026
vfox.dev/guides/faq.html· checked 4 Oct 2026
vfox.dev/guides/multi-user-sharing.html· checked 4 Oct 2026
vfox.dev· checked 4 Oct 2026
vfox.dev/usage/core-commands.html· checked 4 Oct 2026