Archinstall 4.4’s new color-coded preview is the friendliest the official installer has ever looked. It is also still a guided text menu, and there are still readers who want a GUI, more opinionated defaults, or a one-shot ISO that gives them a working desktop in fifteen minutes. Seven Archinstall alternatives below cover that gap, from drop-in TUI replacements to full distros that wrap Arch in a polished installer and call it a day.
These were tested on a mix of bare metal and VM installs. The picks span pure installer scripts, archinstall-compatible TUIs, the GUI workhorse Calamares, and the Arch-based distros that ship with their own installers. Each section explains who it is for and where it falls short, so you can pick by what your install actually needs.
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | Setup style | Cost | Standout |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| archfi | Pure script users | Bash script | Free | Tiny, transparent, easy to fork |
| Anarchy Linux | TUI with desktops | TUI | Free | Familiar TUI, multiple DE choices |
| ALCI | Arch + GUI installer | ISO with Calamares | Free | Arch base, Calamares front |
| Calamares | Distro-shipped GUI | GUI library | Free | Used by half the Arch derivatives |
| EndeavourOS | Beginner-friendly Arch | ISO with Calamares | Free | Welcome app and active community |
| Manjaro Architect | Manjaro power users | TUI | Free | Manjaro stack with TUI control |
| Athena OS | Security researchers | ISO with Calamares | Free | Pre-loaded security tools |
Why people skip Archinstall
A few real reasons keep coming up in /r/archlinux and the Arch forums:
- Text menus still feel like work, even with the new color coding. A GUI saves clicks.
- Opinionated defaults beat empty fields. Many users want disk, locale, and DE pre-picked, not a blank slate.
- Single-ISO desktops save time. A workstation up in fifteen minutes is more useful than a polished base.
- archinstall’s profile system has changed shape several times. Tools that lock in their layout are easier to script.
- Some users want Arch-style packaging plus an installer with a long memory. Archinstall is younger than several of the picks below.
The alternatives
1. archfi, the bash-script veteran
archfi is a single bash script that wraps the manual Arch install steps into a guided TUI without adding much else. It does what the wiki tells you to do, in order, with safer defaults. The script is easy to read, easy to fork, and easy to audit, which makes it a long-standing favorite among /r/archlinux scripters.
Where it falls short: still text-only, no GUI, and the maintainer cadence has slowed in some periods. Some niche disk configurations need manual edits.
Pricing: Free, open source.
Migrating from Archinstall: drop the script onto an Arch ISO and run it. No configuration carries over from archinstall.
Download: archfi on GitHub
Bottom line: The right pick if you trust the bash version of the wiki and want a smaller surface area than archinstall.
2. Anarchy Linux, the TUI with desktop choices
Anarchy Linux is an Arch-based installer ISO with a TUI that picks a desktop environment, bootloader, and graphics drivers without juggling pacstrap commands. It was forked and resurrected by the community after the original project paused, and the modern builds are stable.
Where it falls short: TUI rather than GUI, and the project has had naming and maintenance turbulence over the years. Latest builds are fine, but pin a specific build for reproducible installs.
Pricing: Free, open source.
Migrating from Archinstall: download the Anarchy ISO and use its installer end-to-end. Disk layout, DE, and packages are picked through the TUI rather than written into a config file.
Download: Anarchy Linux GitHub
Bottom line: A solid middle ground if you want TUI control plus desktop pre-picks.
3. ALCI (Arch Linux Calamares Installer), the GUI on top of Arch
ALCI ships an Arch ISO with the Calamares installer pre-wired. The result is a click-through GUI install (timezone, keyboard, disk, user) that ends in a clean Arch base, ready for whichever DE you add yourself. The maintainer ships multiple ISO variants (KDE, Xfce, Mate, i3, others) for fast desktop installs.
Where it falls short: the wider ALCI / ArcoLinux project has many ISOs and the documentation can be hard to navigate. Stick with the official downloads page.
Pricing: Free, open source.
Migrating from Archinstall: install from the ALCI ISO using Calamares. The result is upstream Arch with the standard repos.
Download: ALCI on arcolinuxiso.com
Bottom line: The right pick if you want a GUI install but a true Arch base (not a derivative distro).
4. Calamares, the GUI installer many derivatives use
Calamares is not a distro; it is the GUI installer library that EndeavourOS, ALCI, Athena, and many others ship. It is worth knowing on its own because most of the polish in the Arch-based distros comes from Calamares modules: partitioning, locale, user creation, and the post-install hooks. Building a custom Arch ISO with Calamares is a reasonable weekend project.
Where it falls short: it is not a standalone installer, you embed it in an ISO. Documentation assumes you are a distro builder, not an end user.
Pricing: Free, open source under GPL.
Migrating from Archinstall: use a distro that ships Calamares (EndeavourOS, ALCI, others) and let it run.
Download: Calamares GitHub
Bottom line: Indirectly the most-used Arch installer in 2026. You probably want it via one of the distros that includes it.
5. EndeavourOS, the beginner-friendly Arch
EndeavourOS is Arch with a Calamares installer, a Welcome app for post-install configuration, and a friendly community. It tracks upstream Arch closely and adds a small repo of its own utilities. Most users treat it as “Arch with the awkward parts smoothed off”.
Where it falls short: the EndeavourOS repo adds a few packages, which technically means you are running an Arch derivative rather than vanilla Arch. For purists this matters.
Pricing: Free, open source.
Migrating from Archinstall: use the EndeavourOS ISO. Post-install behavior is almost identical to vanilla Arch.
Download: EndeavourOS
Bottom line: The most beginner-friendly Arch install path that still gets you an Arch system. The community is a major plus.
6. Manjaro Architect, the Manjaro TUI
Manjaro Architect is the TUI installer for Manjaro that gives users the granular control normally available only in the GUI Calamares flow. The trade-off is that Manjaro itself sits behind upstream Arch by a few weeks, ships its own repos, and uses its own keyring. For a stable workstation that does not break on every kernel bump, that delay is the point.
Where it falls short: this is not vanilla Arch. Some AUR packages and rolling-release software expect the Arch repos directly.
Pricing: Free, open source.
Migrating from Archinstall: use the Manjaro Architect ISO. The result is Manjaro, not Arch.
Download: Manjaro
Bottom line: Worth the slot if you want Arch-style packaging with calmer release cadence and a TUI to install it.
7. Athena OS, the security-focused pick
Athena OS is an Arch-based distro tuned for security researchers and CTF players. It ships with Calamares for install, and the result is an Arch base preloaded with tooling (Nmap, Burp, Metasploit, Hashcat, others) plus a curated desktop layout for pen testing work.
Where it falls short: opinionated tooling means you carry packages you may not use. For a general desktop, the other picks are leaner.
Pricing: Free, open source.
Migrating from Archinstall: install from the Athena ISO. You can strip the security packages later if the workflow shifts.
Download: Athena OS
Bottom line: A niche pick that earns its slot for security-focused users who want Arch with the tools already installed.
How to choose
- Pick archfi if you trust the wiki and want a transparent script.
- Pick Anarchy Linux if you want TUI with desktop pre-picks.
- Pick ALCI if you want a GUI install onto upstream Arch.
- Pick EndeavourOS if you want the friendliest Arch experience.
- Pick Manjaro Architect if you want Arch packaging with a release-delay buffer.
- Pick Athena OS if you do security work.
- Stay on Archinstall if you want zero third-party dependencies and the official installer’s behavior is enough. The 4.4 preview rendering improvements made that an easier call.
FAQ
Is Archinstall safe to use?
Yes. It ships in the official Arch ISO and is maintained by the Arch project. Some power users still prefer the manual install for full transparency; both paths produce a supported Arch system.
Are EndeavourOS and ALCI the same thing?
No. Both wrap Arch with a Calamares installer, but EndeavourOS adds its own repo of utilities and a Welcome app, while ALCI keeps the post-install closer to vanilla Arch. EndeavourOS is friendlier; ALCI is closer to upstream.
Can I migrate an existing Arch system to Manjaro or EndeavourOS without reinstalling?
Not cleanly. The package keyrings and repos differ, and switching is more painful than reinstalling. Back up your /home, install fresh, restore your dotfiles.
Does Calamares support Btrfs and full-disk encryption out of the box?
Yes. The Calamares partitioning module handles ext4, Btrfs, XFS, and LUKS-encrypted layouts. The exact options depend on which distro packages Calamares (EndeavourOS, ALCI, and Athena all support these).
