CUPS
The Common Unix Print System uses Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) to support printing to local and network printers.
Maintained, but at a slower pace than the leaders in its category.
Commit activity more than 61% of tracked projects; popularity more than 46%. How this is calculated.
Commits, last 11 months
| Stars | 1.8k |
|---|---|
| Latest release | v2.4.19 · 27 Apr 2026 |
| Repo updated | 26 Sept 2026 |
| Licence | GPL-2.0 |
| Built with | C |
Is CUPS actively maintained?
Over the last 11 months the project absorbed 456 commits, of which 151 arrived in the most recent quarter — roughly 50 commits a month.
The most recent tagged release, v2.4.19, is about 5 months old.
CUPS ranks #29 of 77 in Miscellaneous, placing it mid-table for maintenance activity.
What CUPS actually does
CUPS is a print management system built in C that relies on the Internet Printing Protocol to handle output jobs. It acts as the underlying service on Unix-like environments to route documents between local machines and networked printing hardware.
Best fit: This is a suitable choice if you manage a traditional Unix-like network and need a standardised mechanism to queue and dispatch print jobs.
Worth knowing: Configuring the underlying driver rules and network queues can involve complex troubleshooting, and legacy endpoints can expose security vulnerabilities if left unpatched.
Deployment notes
As a compiled C application, it typically runs directly on the host system as a persistent background daemon without requiring a separate database.
Links
Alternatives to CUPS
Projects in the same categories, ordered by health score.
Platform for secrets, certificates, and privileged access management.
Web-based design and prototyping platform meant for cross-domain teams.
Certificate authority and access plane for SSH, Kubernetes, web applications, and databases.
One-of-a-kind resume builder that keeps your privacy in mind. Completely secure, customizable and portable.
User onboarding platform allowing you to create in-app product tours, checklists, and surveys in minutes effortlessly.
Fully-featured, zero trust, full mesh overlay network. Includes a 2FA support out of the box, clients for all major desktop/mobile OS'es.