diff --git a/CraftSettings.ini.template b/CraftSettings.ini.template
--- a/CraftSettings.ini.template
+++ b/CraftSettings.ini.template
@@ -190,6 +190,29 @@
 #SVN_SSH = plink
 
 
+# Make it easier on MacOS to use homebrew packages:
+[Homebrew]
+# Enabled defaults to true if the `brew` command was found otherwise false
+# Enabled = False
+
+# The following options default to true:
+# Whether to use bison from homebrew (system version is probably too old)
+# use-bison = True
+# Whether to use gettext from homebrew
+# use-gettext = True
+# Whether to use OpenSSL 1.1 from homebrew (instead of the system openssl 1.0)
+# use-openssl@1.1 = True
+# Whether to use libarchive from homebrew (system version usually doesn't include all headers)
+# use-libarchive = True
+
+# It is also possible to use Qt5 from homebrew (experimental)
+# If this setting is "latest" it defaults to the latest version of Qt5
+# installed by homebrew. However, it can also be set to a specific version
+# such as "5.10.1" to use the qt installation from /usr/local/Cellar/qt/5.10.1
+# The default here is "disabled"
+# qt = latest
+
+
 [QtSDK]
 ## For advanced users only
 ## Whether to use prebuild Qt binaries.
diff --git a/bin/CraftSetupHelper.py b/bin/CraftSetupHelper.py
--- a/bin/CraftSetupHelper.py
+++ b/bin/CraftSetupHelper.py
@@ -212,13 +212,57 @@
         self.prependEnvVar("LD_LIBRARY_PATH", [os.path.join(CraftStandardDirs.craftRoot(), "lib"),
                                              os.path.join(CraftStandardDirs.craftRoot(), "lib", "x86_64-linux-gnu")])
         if OsUtils.isMac():
-            self.prependEnvVar("DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH", [os.path.join(CraftStandardDirs.craftRoot(), "lib")])
+            self._setupMac()
+
+    def _setupMac(self):
+        self.prependEnvVar("DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH", [os.path.join(CraftStandardDirs.craftRoot(), "lib")])
+        brewPath = shutil.which("brew")
+        if brewPath:
+            log("Found brew: " + shutil.which("brew"))
+        if CraftCore.settings.getboolean("Homebrew", "Enabled", brewPath is not None):
+            log("Using homebrew packages. To disable set `Enabled = false` in the [Homebrew] group")
+            _, prefix = self._getOutput(["brew", "--prefix"])
+            if not prefix:
+                prefix = "/usr/local"
+            for lib in ("gettext", "libarchive", "openssl@1.1"):
+                if not CraftCore.settings.getboolean("Homebrew", "use-" + lib, True):
+                    continue
+                installDir = os.path.join(prefix, "opt", lib)
+                self.prependEnvVar("CMAKE_LIBRARY_PATH", os.path.join(installDir, "lib"))
+                self.prependEnvVar("CMAKE_INCLUDE_PATH", os.path.join(installDir, "include"))
+                self.prependEnvVar("PKG_CONFIG_PATH", os.path.join(installDir, "lib/pkgconfig"))
+                log("Using homebrew library " + lib + ": " + installDir)
+
+            if CraftCore.settings.getboolean("Homebrew", "use-bison", True):
+                bisonPath = os.path.join(prefix, "opt/bison/bin")
+                self.prependEnvVar("PATH", bisonPath)
+                log("Using bison from homebrew: " + bisonPath)
+
+            qtOption = CraftCore.settings.get("Homebrew", "qt", "disabled")
+            if qtOption != "disabled":
+                log("Using qt (" + qtOption + ") from homebrew packages. "
+                    " To disable set `qt = disabled` in the [Homebrew] group")
+                self.prependEnvVar("PATH", os.path.join(prefix, "opt/bison/bin"))
+                if qtOption == "latest":
+                    qtPath = os.path.join(prefix, "opt/qt5/")
+                else:
+                    _, cellar = self._getOutput(["brew", "--cellar", "qt5"])
+                    qtPath = os.path.join(cellar, qtOption)
+                if not os.path.isdir(qtPath):
+                    log("Error: Homebrew/qt = '" + qtOption + "' but " + qtPath + " does not exist")
+                    exit(1)
+                log("Found homebrew Qt5 in " + qtPath)
+                self.prependEnvVar("PATH", os.path.join(qtPath, "bin"))
+
+            else:
+                log("Not using qt from homebrew packages. "
+                    "To enable set `use-qt = <version>/latest` in the [Homebrew] group")
+            log("\n")
 
     def _setupWin(self):
         if not "HOME" in os.environ:
             self.addEnvVar("HOME", os.getenv("USERPROFILE"))
 
-
         if CraftCore.settings.getboolean("QtSDK", "Enabled", "false"):
             self.prependEnvVar("PATH",
                              os.path.join(CraftCore.settings.get("QtSDK", "Path"), CraftCore.settings.get("QtSDK", "Version"),
@@ -269,8 +313,8 @@
 
         if OsUtils.isWin():
             self._setupWin()
-        else:
-            self.setXDG()
+        elif OsUtils.isUnix():
+            self._setupUnix()
 
         self.prependEnvVar("PKG_CONFIG_PATH", os.path.join(CraftStandardDirs.craftRoot(), "lib", "pkgconfig"))