AppGeek vs Topgrade

AppGeek is a free Windows utility that checks installed programs and Windows Store packages against Microsoft’s winget package manager, then shows which applications are outdated. Its curated catalogue contains 67 applications verified against the live winget repository. AppGeek does not install updates automatically: users select what to run, can pin a version to suppress a particular update, and can export installed-application inventories as CSV or HTML. It offers installer, portable, and light builds; the light build needs the .NET 8 Desktop Runtime. Requirements are 64-bit Windows 10 version 1809 or later, or Windows 11, plus administrator rights. The maker says there is no telemetry or account, and the installed software list remains on the PC. Releases publish SHA-256 checksums, but the program is not code signed, so Windows may warn on first launch. It is open source under GPL-3.0, including commercial use, and supports bulk updates and scheduled scans.

Topgrade is a free command-line tool that detects tools in use and runs the commands needed to update them. Run it with the `topgrade` command. The project provides self-updating binaries, source installation, and package-manager options; release binaries cover macOS, Windows, Linux, and FreeBSD. Its example configuration includes Arch package managers, DNF, Nix, Homebrew, Flatpak, and Winget. Topgrade can pull or fetch configured Git repositories, and custom commands can run before, during, or after its built-in commands. It can use SSH to run Topgrade on configured remote hosts before acting locally. On first run, it creates a configuration file if one is missing and also loads and merges files from `topgrade.d`. The project describes itself as a fork of r-darwish's Topgrade that aims to keep the tool maintained. Its example configuration advises against running it as root on Unix, since it invokes sudo or an equivalent where needed. Only the latest version is supported, and fixes are not backported.