YKYH Picks
☰ Menu
Home›Command-Line Tools›librtlsdr
CLI Open source 382 installs/mo

librtlsdr for Mac

Use Realtek DVB-T dongles as a cheap SDR

Quick answer: librtlsdr is a command-line tool for macOS. Install it with brew install librtlsdr. It is distributed under the GPL-2.0-or-later licence. It has 382 Homebrew installs in the last 30 days.

What librtlsdr is

librtlsdr is a command-line tool for macOS: use Realtek DVB-T dongles as a cheap SDR.

It is distributed as a Homebrew formula, which builds or pours a binary and puts it on your PATH. It is distributed under the GPL-2.0-or-later licence.

How to install librtlsdr

  1. Open Terminal (press ⌘ + Space and type “Terminal”).
  2. If Homebrew is not installed yet, run the installer below once.
  3. Run brew install librtlsdr.

Homebrew installer, if you need it:

Prefer a graphical installer? Download it from the official site. MacPicks never hosts or mirrors binaries — the Homebrew command always pulls from the vendor's own release.

Similar apps in Command-Line Tools

Closest apps in the same category, ordered by description similarity and install base. These are related tools, not confirmed substitutes; the comparison pages cover hand-picked head-to-head matchups.

soapysdrVendor and platform neutral SDR support libraryCLIOpen source227/mosoapyrtlsdrSoapySDR RTL-SDR Support ModuleCLIOpen source136/mosoapyremoteUse any Soapy SDR remotelyCLIOpen source51/molibdvbpsiLibrary to decode/generate MPEG TS and DVB PSI tablesCLIOpen source5/molibdvbcsaFree implementation of the DVB Common Scrambling AlgorithmCLIOpen sourceluaradioLightweight, embeddable flow graph signal processing framework for SDRCLIOpen source

Frequently asked questions

How do I install librtlsdr on Mac?

Run brew install librtlsdr in Terminal. This requires Homebrew; if you do not have it, install it first with the command below.

Is librtlsdr open source?

Yes — Homebrew distributes it under the GPL-2.0-or-later licence.

Does librtlsdr run on Apple silicon?

Homebrew publishes this formula for macOS. If upstream does not ship an Apple silicon build, Rosetta 2 handles the Intel binary.

How popular is librtlsdr?

It was installed 382 times in the last 30 days according to Homebrew analytics, ranking #1774 in this catalogue.

What version of librtlsdr is current?

The latest packaged version is 2.0.3.