Chocolatey

ApplicationChocolatey Software

Also called choco, chocolatey.org

Chocolatey SoftwareSystem

A community Windows package manager that predates winget. The process is choco.exe. It is not WinGet.

What you need to know

Chocolatey is the older community manager. WinGet is Microsoft's later CLI.

Chocolatey Software's choco.exe predates winget. Get it from chocolatey.org/install. Package ids do not match WinGet. Scoop and Ninite are different tools.

What is it?: A community Windows package manager
Same as WinGet?: No. Different client and catalog
Command?: choco.exe

Feex says

If the script says choco, I would install Chocolatey from chocolatey.org. If the script says winget, I would use App Installer. Mixing the two lines is how ids fail.

What is Chocolatey?

choco.exe installs packages from Chocolatey's community feed (and other sources you add). winget.exe is Microsoft's later client. They do not share package ids.

If you have never used it

If a README says "choco install", Chocolatey is the community package manager from Chocolatey Software. It started in 2011, before winget. Install it from chocolatey.org/install. The command is choco.exe. It is not WinGet, not Scoop, and not Ninite.

What is it used for?

choco install from the community repo

That one-liner is why people still use Chocolatey. winget install uses Microsoft's catalog and different ids.

choco upgrade all

A Chocolatey habit. winget upgrade --all is the Microsoft parallel, not this exe.

Internal feeds on commercial SKUs

Chocolatey Software sells that. Scoop buckets are a different layout.

Who is it for?

People following an older Windows setup script
Shops that already standardized on choco
Anyone comparing this to winget or Scoop

Current status

Chocolatey (2011) is a current package manager from Chocolatey Software. The vendor still points Windows users at https://chocolatey.org/install.

How old is it?

Chocolatey launched in 2011. WinGet arrived in 2020. Scoop in 2013. Many older Windows guides still say choco because this repo was first. Current Windows also has winget in App Installer.

Versions

Major channels first. Exact build numbers are not all verified here.

Open source client

Chocolatey for Business

System requirements

Values follow the publisher's public guidance. Workload still changes the real need.

Minimum

Minimum system requirements
Operating system	Windows 10 or Windows 11, per current Chocolatey docs
RAM	Enough for Windows plus this app. Heavy projects want more.

Resource profile

CPU demand: Follows the installer a package runs
Network demand: Downloads from the feed you chose

Installed processes

These executables belong to this product when it is installed.

Installed processes
choco.exe	Package manager CLI

Startup components

choco.exe is a CLI. It should not start with Windows. Some packages add their own Startup.

File locations

Common Chocolatey locations
Typical install	C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\

File formats

Nuspec packages. packages.config lists

Common problems

Package id is not the winget id

choco search and winget search are different catalogs. Copying an id across tools fails.

Community package quality varies

Read the package page. WinGet's source has its own review rules. Neither is Ninite's curated checkbox page.

Getting unstuck

Install from chocolatey.org/install with the documented PowerShell

A random choco.exe in Downloads is not the client. winget is already on many PCs if you wanted Microsoft's CLI.

choco source list if installs fail

A broken source is Chocolatey config. Scoop's buckets are a different file tree.

Run the prompt as administrator for machine-wide installs

User-scope Scoop is the other model. Chocolatey often wants admin.

Alternatives

WinGet for the Microsoft catalog. Scoop for user-folder tools. Ninite for a one-shot installer page.

Official help and downloads

Start with the vendor. Random exe sites are not a support channel.

Official contacts
Download	chocolatey.org/install Official installer or vendor page
Help	docs.chocolatey.org/ Vendor support
Official site	chocolatey.org/ Start here, not a random exe host

Related hardware

Network and disk for the packages you pull. The client itself is small.

Technical details

Vendor version numbers change. This article does not pin a build.

Sources and verification

Reviewed by Feex editorial. Last verified August 2026 Status: Feex Reviewed. How we research.

Chocolatey official site · Vendor product page
Chocolatey help · Vendor support
Chocolatey docs · Install and commands
Foxhole process map · First-party samples on Windows PCs. Not a lab benchmark.

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