What is Flatpak used for?

Flatpak is a framework for packaging and running sandboxed desktop applications on Linux, available in the repositories of most distributions. It is a good fit for distributing a Linux desktop app across distributions, running apps with limited access to the system and hosting your own Flatpak repository.

Is Flatpak open source?

Yes. Flatpak is open source under the LGPL-2.1 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at flatpak/flatpak and is written mainly in C.

Yes. Flatpak is open source, so the software itself is free to use.

What are some alternatives to Flatpak?

Similar open-source tools in the Developer Tools category include Ventoy, Termux and Distrobox. SaaS products in the same category include 1DevTool, 3 Pixel Grid and act101.

Is Flatpak actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Flatpak was on 29 September 2026, and the latest release is 1.18.4, published on 28 September 2026. The project has 5.1k stars on GitHub.

Flatpak: open-source developer tools

About Flatpak

Flatpak is a framework that lets developers package desktop applications for Linux and run them inside a sandbox, separate from the rest of the system. Applications can be built once and distributed across many Linux distributions, which makes it a common route for getting desktop software to users.

It is available in the package repositories of most Linux distributions, and the project's setup page gives quick instructions for many of them. Applications are usually obtained through Flathub, the community repository, where contributors add apps by writing a flatpak-builder manifest. Related tools include Flatseal for managing app permissions without the command line and flat-manager for running Flatpak repositories.

Flatpak is written in C and licensed under LGPL-2.1. It aims to run on a wide variety of systems, so it is conservative about dependencies, though the main branch currently needs a Linux kernel of at least version 5.8. Discussion happens on Matrix, a mailing list and the Flathub Discourse, and documentation is hosted at docs.flatpak.org.

Key features

Sandboxed execution of desktop applications
Build tooling via flatpak-builder manifests
Distribution through Flathub
Packages in most Linux distributions
Permission management with tools like Flatseal
Repository management with flat-manager

Good fit for

→Distributing a Linux desktop app across distributions
→Running apps with limited access to the system
→Hosting your own Flatpak repository

Built with: C
Tags: linux; sandboxing; application-distribution; flathub; desktop; packaging; lgpl

Flatpak: questions and answers

What is Flatpak used for?: Flatpak is a framework for packaging and running sandboxed desktop applications on Linux, available in the repositories of most distributions. It is a good fit for distributing a Linux desktop app across distributions, running apps with limited access to the system and hosting your own Flatpak repository.
Is Flatpak open source?: Yes. Flatpak is open source under the LGPL-2.1 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at flatpak/flatpak and is written mainly in C.
Is Flatpak free?: Yes. Flatpak is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
What are some alternatives to Flatpak?: Similar open-source tools in the Developer Tools category include Ventoy, Termux and Distrobox. SaaS products in the same category include 1DevTool, 3 Pixel Grid and act101.
Is Flatpak actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Flatpak was on 29 September 2026, and the latest release is 1.18.4, published on 28 September 2026. The project has 5.1k stars on GitHub.