Minecraft Launcher Comparison

This will give you an overview over the various Minecraft (Java Edition) launchers and their features.

Explanations:

Modloader support means a way to install the modloader through the launcher directly, without downloading it separately.
CurseForge blocked downloads: CurseForge offers creators on the platform the option to opt out of downloads from 3rd party platforms as a means to ensure ad revenue is generated when downloading content. Platforms need to work around that restriction to properly support CurseForge content.

Note: This list is maintained mostly by me and random contributions. Data will inevitably get outdated over time and I always welcome any updates and corrections.

Feature	Vanilla	Prism Launcher	MultiMC	ATLauncher	GDLauncher (Legacy)	GDLauncher Carbon	CurseForge App	FTB App	Modrinth App	Technic	PojavLauncher	Old Vanilla	QWERTZ Launcher
Download Link	minecraft.net	prismlauncher.org	multimc.org	atlauncher.com	github.com	gdlauncher.com	curseforge.com	feed-the-beast.com	modrinth.com	technicpack.net	Play Store	mojang.com	qwertz.app
Source Code		github.com	github.com	github.com	github.com	github.com		github.com	github.com	github.com	github.com		github.com
Operating Systems	Windows, Linux, macOS	Windows, Linux, macOS	Windows, Linux, macOS	Windows, Linux, macOS	Windows, Linux, macOS	Windows, Linux, macOS	Windows, macOS	Windows, Linux, macOS	Windows, Linux, macOS	Windows, Linux, macOS	Android, iOS	Windows, Linux, macOS	Windows, Linux
Open Source?	❌No	✅Yes, GPL3	🟠Partially[1]	✅Yes, GPL3	✅Yes, GPL3[2]	🟠Source-available	❌No	✅Yes, LGPL-2.1	✅Yes, GPL3	✅Yes, GPL3	✅Yes, GPL3	❌No	✅Yes, AGPL3
Programming Language / Frameworks	HTML, JS, CSS, (React), C++, (CEF)	C++ (Qt)	C++ (Qt)	Java	HTML, JS, CSS, (Preact), (Electron) 🚧 Solid.js, Rust	HTML, JS, CSS, Astro, Rust, TypeScript	HTML, JS, CSS, (React), (Next.js), Overwolf (Windows) or Electron (Windows, macOS, Linux)	HTML, JS, CSS, (Vue.js), (Tailwind), Java, Overwolf (Windows) Electron (macOS and Linux)	HTML, JS, CSS, (Vue.js), Rust, (Tauri)	Java	Java, C	Java (AWT, Swing)	Python (Qt)
Modpack Support	❌No	✅Yes	✅Yes	✅Yes	✅Yes	✅Yes	✅Yes	✅Yes	✅Yes	✅Yes	✅Yes	❌No	❌No
Modpack Updating	❌No	✅Yes (CF, MR)	❌No	✅Yes (CF, MR)	✅Yes (CF, 🚧MR)	✅Yes (CF, MR)	✅Yes (CF)	✅Yes (FTB, CF)	✅Yes (MR)			❌No	❌No
Custom Instance Support	✅Yes	✅Yes	✅Yes	✅Yes	✅Yes	✅Yes	✅Yes	✅Yes	✅Yes	❌No	✅Yes	🟠Unmanaged, only version switches	✅Yes
Modpack Providers
CurseForge Modpacks	❌No	✅Yes	❌No	✅Yes	✅Yes	✅Yes	✅Yes	✅Yes	❌No	❌No	✅Yes	❌No	❌No
Modrinth Modpacks	❌No	✅Yes	✅Yes	✅Yes	🚧WIP	✅Yes	❌No	❌No	✅Yes	❌No	✅Yes	❌No	❌No
ATLauncher Modpacks	❌No	✅Yes	✅Yes	✅Yes	❌No	❌No	❌No	❌No	❌No	❌No	❌No	❌No	❌No
FTB Modpacks	❌No	🟠Import from FTB Launcher	❌No	❌No	❌No	❌No		✅Yes	❌No	❌No	❌No	❌No	❌No
Legacy FTB Modpacks	❌No	✅Yes	✅Yes	❌No	❌No	❌No		✅Yes	❌No	❌No	❌No	❌No	❌No
Technic Modpacks	❌No	✅Yes	✅Yes	✅Yes	❌No	❌No	❌No	❌No	❌No	✅Yes	❌No	❌No	❌No
Mod Loaders
Fabric Loader	❌No	✅Yes	✅Yes	✅Yes	✅Yes	✅Yes	✅Yes	✅Yes	✅Yes		✅Yes	❌No	✅Yes
NeoForge Loader	❌No	✅Yes	✅Yes	✅Yes	🚧WIP	✅Yes	❔TODO	✅Yes	✅Yes	❔TODO	❌No	❌No	❌No
Forge Loader	❌No	✅Yes	✅Yes	✅Yes	✅Yes	✅Yes	✅Yes	✅Yes	✅Yes		✅Yes	❌No	✅Yes
Quilt Loader	❌No	✅Yes	✅Yes	✅Yes	🚧WIP	✅Yes	✅Yes	✅Yes	✅Yes		✅Yes	❌No	❌No
Legacy Fabric Loader	❌No	❌No	❌No	✅Yes	❌No	❌No	❌No	❌No	❌No	❌No	❌No	❌No	❌No
LiteLoader	❌No	✅Yes	✅Yes	❌No	❌No	✅Yes	❌No	❌No	❌No		❌No	❌No	❌No
Resource Download (Mods, Resourcepacks, Shaders, etc.)
Mod download [Modrinth\|CurseForge]	❌No	✅Yes (MR, CF)	❌No	✅Yes (MR, CF)	✅Yes (🚧MR, CF)	✅Yes (MR, CF)	✅Yes (CF)	✅Yes (CF)	✅Yes (MR)	❌No	❌No	❌No	❌No
Resourcepack download [Modrinth\|CurseForge]	❌No	✅Yes (MR, CF)	❌No	✅Yes (MR, CF)	❌No	❌No	✅Yes (CF)	❌No	✅Yes (MR)	❌No	❌No	❌No	❌No
Shaderpack download [Modrinth\|CurseForge]	❌No	✅Yes (MR)	❌No	✅Yes (MR, CF)	❌No	❌No	❌No	❌No	✅Yes (MR)	❌No	❌No	❌No	❌No
World download [CurseForge]	❌No	❌No	❌No	✅Yes (CF)		❌No			❌No	❌No			❌No
Datapack download [Modrinth]	❌No	❌No	❌No	❌No		❌No			✅Yes	❌No			❌No
Plugins Download [Modrinth\|CurseForge]	❌No	❌No	❌No	❌No	❌No	❌No	❌No	❌No	❌No	❌No	❌No	❌No	❌No
Misc
CurseForge Blocked Download Handling	❌No	✅Yes (via web browser, automatically copies mod)	❌No	✅Yes (via web browser, automatically moves mod)	✅Yes (by using standard browser user agent)	✅Yes (granted bypass by CurseForge)	✅Yes	✅Yes	❌No	❌No	❔	❌No	❌No
Mod Updating	❌No	✅Yes	❌No	✅Yes	✅Yes	⚠️Yes[3]	✅Yes	❌No	✅Yes	❔	❌No	❌No	❌No
Server Instances	❌No	❌No	❌No	✅Yes	❌No	❌No	❌No	❌No	❌No	❔	❌No	❌No	❌No
Automatic Java Setup	✅Yes	🚧WIP	❌No	✅Optional	✅Optional	✅Optional	✅Yes	✅Yes	✅Yes	❔	✅Yes	✅Yes	✅Yes
Full Launcher Sandboxing	❌No	🚧WIP	❔	❔	❔	❔	❌No	❌No	❔TODO	❔	❔	❌No	❔
Instance Export	❌No	CurseForge, Modrinth, MultiMC, TXT	Modrinth, MultiMC	CurseForge, Modrinth, MultiMC	CurseForge	CurseForge, Modrinth	CurseForge	FTB App Share Code	Modrinth	❌No	❌No	❌No	🚧WIP
Instance Import	❌No	CurseForge, Modrinth, MultiMC, Technic, FTB App	CurseForge, MultiMC, Technic, FTB App	CurseForge, Modrinth, MultiMC	CurseForge	See footnote [4]	CurseForge	CurseForge and FTB App Share Code	CurseForge, MultiMC, GDLauncher, ATLauncher	❌No	❌No	❌No	🚧WIP
Look and Feel	Minecraft Official	System (configurable)	System (configurable)	Custom (configurable)	Custom	Custom	Custom	Custom	Custom	Custom	Minecraft Inspired	System (mostly)	Custom
Advertisements	❌No	❌No	❌No	❌No	✅Yes	✅Yes	✅Yes	✅Yes	✅Yes	❔	❌No	❌No	❌No
In Game Overlay	❌No	❌No	❌No	❌No	❌No	❔	✅Optional (via Overwolf app)	✅Optional (via Overwolf app)	❌No	❌No	✅Yes, for controls → touch screen	❌No	❌No

Footnotes

Source code and licenses

1. MultiMC is proprietary but a debranded MS-PL licensed version which lacks many keys MultiMC uses is available on GitHub

2. GDLauncher has a CLA

3. GDLauncher Carbon mod updater appears to be slightly buggy at the time of writing

4. GDLauncher Legacy, CurseForge (ZIP, launcher), Modrinth (mrpack, 🚧launcher), 🚧ATLauncher, 🚧Technic, 🚧FTB, 🚧MultiMC, 🚧Prism

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