elan vs SDKMAN!
elan
github.comSDKMAN!
sdkman.ioSide by side
| Figure | elan | SDKMAN! |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 0 |
| Spec score · Runtime Version Managers | 7.7 (#9) | 7.2 (#22) |
| Spec score · Development Environment Managers | 7.7 (#24) | 7.1 (#45) |
| Purpose | elan manages installations of the Lean theorem prover. | SDKMAN! manages multiple Software Development Kits on Unix systems. |
Plans
In their own words
elan
elan manages installations of the Lean theorem prover on Linux, macOS and Windows. Its `lean` and `lake` binaries use a project’s `lean-toolchain` file to select the specified Lean version and download it when needed. The separate `elan` command provides manual control to install, select, run or uninstall Lean versions. The project supports version pinning, lockfiles, automatic switching, shell integration and CI/CD use. Installation options include shell instructions for Linux and macOS, a PowerShell method for Windows, and release downloads for supported platforms. The README recommends the Nixpkgs version on NixOS because toolchains downloaded by elan require patching there. Lake needs git to download dependencies. The project describes itself as a fork of rustup adapted for Lean infrastructure. elan is free at free, and the repository lists Apache-2.0 and MIT licenses. The releases page identifies v4.2.4 as the latest release.
SDKMAN!
SDKMAN! is a command-line interface and API for managing Software Development Kits in the JVM ecosystem. It supports languages and tools including Java, Scala, Kotlin, Groovy, Ant, Gradle, Grails, Maven, SBT, Spark, Spring Boot, and Vert.x. From the CLI, users can install, uninstall, list, inspect, switch, upgrade, and set default SDK versions. A project can record its versions in an .sdkmanrc file, with automatic switching available when entering its directory. Java distributions are obtained through the Foojay DISCO API. SDKMAN! works on macOS and Linux; Windows use requires WSL or MSYS with MinGW, since it does not run natively there. Cygwin is no longer supported. The installer requires curl, zip, and unzip, and works with Bash and ZSH. Its CI mode answers prompts, disables colored output, and turns off self-updates. SDKMAN! is free, open source, and Apache 2.0 licensed. Security updates are provided only for the latest released CLI version. The project says Go, Rust, Node.js, Python, and Ruby toolchains are outside its intended scope.