It's FOSS

About Linux Linux Tutorials Top X Shop eBooks in $0 Linux Deals Article needs update? 

You are here: Home / Linux / Manjaro vs Arch Linux: What’s the Difference? Which one is Better?
184.8K Followers

Follow us on Facebook 115K

Manjaro vs Arch Linux: What’s the Difference?
Which one is Better? Follow us on YouTube 26K

Last updated August 1, 2020 By Dimitrios Savvopoulos — 29 Comments

Follow us on Twitter 22.3K

Manjaro or Arch Linux? If Manjaro is based on Arch, how come is it different from
Arch? Read how Arch and Manjaro are different in this comparison article. Follow us on Instagram 21K

Follow us on Reddit 480

Most of the beginner-friendly Linux distributions are based on Ubuntu. As Linux users
gains more experience, some try their hands on the more ‘advanced distributions’,
mostly in the ‘Arch domain’.

This Arch domain dominated by two distributions: Arch Linux itself and Manjaro. There Weekly Linux
are other Arch-based Linux distributions but none are as popular as these two.
Newsletter
Join 75,000 other Linux users and get the
If you are confused between Arch and Manjaro then this comparison should help you latest Linux news and tips in your inbox for
out. FREE.

Name
Manjaro and Arch Linux: How different or similar are they?
Email

I'm not a robot

reCAPTCHA
Privacy - Terms

Yes, let me in!

Don’t find what you are looking for?

 Search the website here

Still have questions? Clear your

doubt

I have tried to compare these two distributions on various points. Please keep in mind
that I have not exclusively focused on the differences. I have also pointed out where
they are similar.

Both are rolling release distributions but not of the same

kind
There are no “releases” every few months or years in Arch and Manjaro like Ubuntu or
Fedora. Just keep your Arch or Manjaro system updated and you’ll always have the
latest version of the operating system and the software packages. You don’t need to
worry about upgrading your installed version like ever.

If you are planning to do a fresh install at some point, keep in mind that both Manjaro
and Arch update the installation ISO regularly. It is called ISO refresh and it ensures that
newly installed systems don’t have to install all the new system updates made available
in last few months.

But there is a difference between the rolling release model of Arch and Manjaro.

Manjaro maintains its own independent repositories except for the community-
maintained Arch User Repository (AUR). These repositories also contain software
packages not provided by Arch. Popular software packages initially provided by the
official Arch repositories will first be thoroughly tested (and if necessary, patched), prior
to being released, usually about two weeks behind Arch, to Manjaro’s own Stable
Repositories for public use.

A consequence of accommodating this testing process is that Manjaro will never be

quite as bleeding-edge as Arch. But then, it makes Manjaro slightly more stable than
Arch and less susceptible to breaking your system.

Package Management – Pacman and Pamac

Both Arch and Manjaro ship with command-line based package management tool called
Pacman which was coded in C and uses tar to package applications. In other words,
you can use the same pacman commands for managing packages in both distributions.
In addition to the Pacman, Manjaro has also developed a GUI application called Pamac
for easily installing software on Manjaro. This makes using Manjaro easier than Arch.

Pamac GUI Package Manager by Manjaro

Do note that you may also install Pamac from AUR in Arch Linux but the tool is integral
part of Manjaro.

Manjaro Hardware Detection Tool (MHWD)

Pamac is not the only GUI tool developed by Manjaro team to help its users. Manjaro
also has a dedicated tool for detecting hardware and suggest drivers for them.

Manjaro hardware configuration GUI tool

This hardware detection tool is so useful that it can be one of the main reasons why
Manjaro is loved by the community. It is insanely easy to detect/install/use or switch from
one driver to another and makes the hardware compatibility an issue from the past.

Drivers support
Manjaro offers great support for GPU drivers. As we all know for many years Linux has
issues installing drivers (Specially Nvidia).

While installing Manjaro it gives options to start with open source (free) or non-open
source (non-free) graphics driver installation. When you choose “non-free” it
automatically detects your graphics card and install the most appropriate driver for it and
hence GPU works out of the box.

Installing graphics driver is easier even after installing Manjaro thanks to the hardware
detection tool you saw in the previous section.

And if you have a system with Nvidia Optimus card (Hybrid GPU) it works fine with
Manjaro. You will get plenty of options of get it working.

In Arch Linux, you have to install (if you could find) the appropriate drivers for your
machine.

Access to the Arch User Repository (AUR)

Arch User Repository (AUR) is a community-driven repository for Arch-based Linux
distributions users. The AUR was created to organize and share new packages from the
community and to help accelerate popular packages’ inclusion into the community
repository.

A good number of new packages that enter the official repositories start in the AUR. In
the AUR, users are able to contribute their own package builds (PKGBUILD and related
files).

You can use AUR in both Arch and Manjaro.

Desktop environments
Alright! You can use virtually any desktop environments on any Linux distribution. Arch
and Manjaro are no exceptions.

However, a dedicated desktop flavor or version makes it easier for users to have a
seamless experience of the said desktop environments.

The default Arch ISO doesn’t include any desktop environment. For example, you want
to install KDE on Arch Linux, you will have to either download and install it while
installing Arch Linux or after that.

Manjaro, on the other hand, provides different ISO for desktop environments like Xfce,
KDE and GNOME. Manjaro community also maintains ISO for MATE, Cinnamon, LXDE,
LXQt, OpenBox and more.

Installation procedure

Arch Live Boot

Manjaro is based on Arch Linux and it is Arch compatible, but it is not Arch. It’s not
even a pre-configured version of Arch with just a graphical installer. Arch doesn’t come
with the usual comfort out of the box, which is why most people prefer something easier.
Manjaro offers you the easy entry, but supports you on your way to becoming an
experienced user or power user.

Documentation and support

Both Arch and Manjaro have their own wiki pages and support forums to help their
respective users.

While Manjaro has a decent wiki for documentation, the Arch wiki is in a different league
altogether. You can find detailed information on every aspect of Arch Linux in the Arch
wiki.

Targeted audience
The key difference is that Arch is aimed to users with a do-it-yourself attitude who are
willing to read the documentation, and solve their own problems.

On the other hand Manjaro is targeted at Linux users who are not that experienced or
who don’t want to spend time assembling the operating system.

Conclusion
Some people often say that Manjaro is for those who can’t install Arch. But I think that’s
not true. Not everyone wants to configure Arch from scratch or doesn’t have much time.

Manjaro is definitely a beast, but a very different kind of beast than Arch. Fast,
powerful, and always up to date, Manjaro provides all the benefits of an Arch
operating system, but with an especial emphasis on stability, user-friendliness and
accessibility for newcomers and experienced users.

Manjaro doesn’t take its minimalism as far as Arch Linux does. With Arch, you start with
a blank canvas and adjust each setting manually. When the default Arch installation
completes, you have a running Linux instance at the command line. Want a graphical
desktop environment? Go right ahead—there’s plenty to choose from. Pick one, install,
and configure it. You learn so much doing that especially if you are new to Linux. You get
a superb understanding of how the system goes together and why things are installed
they way are.

I hope you have a better understanding of Arch and Manjaro now. You understand how
they are similar and yet different.

I have voiced my opinion. Don’t hesitate to share yours in the comment section.
Between Arch and Manjaro, which one do you prefer and why.

With additional inputs from Abhishek Prakash.

Like what you read? Please share it with others.

62
Shares

Filed Under: Linux

Tagged With: Arch Linux, Manjaro

About Dimitrios Savvopoulos

Dimitrios is an MSc Mechanical Engineer but a Linux enthusiast in
heart. His machines are powered by Arch Linux but curiosity drives
him to constantly test other distros. Challenge is part of his personality and his
hobby is to compete from 5k to the marathon distance.

29 comments Newest comments first

Enter your comment...

Taila
1 month ago

Other than using Arch itself I also prefer Arcolinux. The feel of Manjaro has
hasn’t set well with me, maybe I need to give it more time. I think the reason
Arco feels fine just like Arch is that it’s just a themed Arch with extra repositories.

Vote: 0 0 Share Reply to Taila

cezar
2 months ago

I had the ambition to switch from MS to Linux, straight to Arch. I’m not a
technical person, but documentation helped a lot!
I used Arch for 3~4 years: work, net, playing, multimedia, usual stuff.
One day I installed Manjaro on a brand new PC. I couldn’t use it at all. I couldn’t
even get used to it. I tried XFCE, than I tried KDE… Nope! After two weeks I
plugged in the Arch installation USB and… “Back to life, back to reality”!
Maybe Manjaro is not for me after all.

Vote: 1 4 Share Reply to cezar

Friar Tux

2 months ago

I tried to install Arch. It was a long, drawn out hellish thing that lead to – nothing.
Failed. Nada! Then I tried Manjaro. It was a snap, and work beautifully – until the
first update. Then nothing, nada! So I re-installed Manjaro, again, but with a
different DE. That lasted two days, and then – nothing. So I went back to Mint.
No issues, since. Enjoyed the article, though.

Vote: 2 2 Share
 Enter your comment...

OstroL

2 months ago

Manjaro is a different “distribution,” if we stress the word distribution, but if we

look at it as an operating system, it is not different from Arch — it is just Arch
Linux with certain extra applications (quite useful, just as those in the AUR). It
only distributes what Arch Linux developers create as an operating system.

The word distribution is wrong from the beginning, where that word came,
because the Linux based OSs started distributing other useful apps, so they
would be fully fledged for the user, against what Windows offered, a OS platform
for to be used to run useful apps for the user.

Arch, Debian, Gentoo, Crux, Suse, Fedora etc are a different way of using the
Linux kernel to run a system, a platform for other user-needed apps to run. They
give methods and tools to make those apps work on their Operating Systems.

So, Manjaro is a different distribution based on the Arch operating base. Arch
usually don’t break. Once in 2003, Arch changed it’s root folder system, so the
“Arch breaks with updates” had come up. Some used that to promote their
distributions, Manjaro was one of them.

Manjaro runs Arch, not Manjaro. :)

Vote: 9 1 Share Reply to OstroL

Dan
2 months ago

Manjaro has involved itself in so many controversies during its time that it’s now
very hard for me to recommend it to anyone as a daily driver. Before you
downvote me, please google “manjaro controversies” and you’ll see what I mean
(the list is so huge that I can’t include it in a comment), and those are only the
ones until May 2019. Be careful if you’re using Manjaro.

Vote: 6 6 Share Reply to Dan

Andrew Bernard

2 months ago

One of the big differences is that Arch refuses to support ARM whereas there is
an excellent Manjaro ARM distro which runs superbly on Raspberry Pi. This is a
big differentiator.

Vote: 2 1 Share Reply to Andrew Bernard

Mike Jones
1 month ago

Arch arm right here: https://archlinuxarm.org/

I’ve been using it on all my boards for quite some time,
It works great.

Vote: 0 0 Share Reply to Mike Jones

GSM
2 months ago

Great Article about arch Linux Vs Majaro, just 1 question?

Is Manjaro fully community based ? Just like Arch or Debian or is there a
commercial company behind it. If so, which one?
Thanks.

Vote: 0 0 Share Reply to GSM

Abhishek Prakash

2 months ago

Manjaro started as community project. The Manjaro project members

formed a company to make it a legal entity.
So though there is no major enterprise like IBM, Red Hat, SUSE or Canonical
behind Manjaro, Manjaro has its own company, a small one.

Vote: 2 0 Share Reply to Abhishek Prakash

macfanpl
2 months ago

Should be said that only genuine Arch is open-source. Manjaro is far from being
FOSS.

Vote: 4 4 Share Reply to macfanpl

FossBossxxx
2 months ago

Sometimes arch users need to lose the fedora and realise that not everyone
wants to tailor-make their system when an installer can do the same thing, just
faster and less error-prone.

Vote: 4 2 Share Reply to FossBossxxx

John Doe
2 months ago

You can use Anarchy Installer that basically allows you to install easily arch
linux (that saved me SO MUCH TIME)

Vote: 0 0 Share Reply to John Doe

Leslie Satenstein

2 months ago

I just chose arcoLinux — a pure arch distro, with extras from aur. Extras
you may choose to include or skip over. Calamara installer that is
ArcoLinux debugged and works A1

Vote: 0 0 Share Reply to Leslie Satenstein

Brad
2 months ago

I installed Manjaro on a pi4 after having stability issues with other flavours of
Linux

Runs like a dream

Vote: 2 1 Share Reply to Brad

Nicolas

2 months ago

I couldn’t agree with you more when you say: “Some people often say that
Manjaro is for those who can’t install Arch. But I think that’s not true. Not
everyone wants to configure Arch from scratch or doesn’t have much time.”

I think some open-source world folks can be pretentious and full of themselves.
Sometimes, you just don’t have the time, energy, and even resources to write a
driver from scratch :)

Vote: 11 2 Share Reply to Nicolas

OnikenX
2 months ago

bro, i don’t remember creating a driver from scratch, i’m not using arch
correctly?

Vote: 6 3 Share Reply to OnikenX

Arthur
2 months ago

So, the difference is what it has always been between two different distros of
Linux, ease of use or bleeding edge patches…?

Vote: 2 0 Share Reply to Arthur

Madmax

2 months ago

Manjaro is very good. More stable than my ubuntu and more software. Never
looked back.

Vote: 10 2 Share Reply to Madmax

Adam Worth

2 months ago

I have Manjaro Xfce & Gnome dual boot. I’m extremely impressed with both.
Especially, Gnome! I’m using it as I have just been brought onto a job that
requires Mac. To keep things simple, I have installed Manjaro Gnome 20.X and
I’m using a Mac based theme and icons. Everything is very fluid, and even if it
does take a little more RAM than the Xfce, it’s a beautiful incarnation! I would
love to spend the time putting together an Arch system from scratch, but I simply
don’t have time for it. Maybe one day. I will say, Manjaro has really done a great
job with their distro!

Vote: 18 0 Share Reply to Adam Worth

rahil khan
2 months ago

i have installed manjaro kde 2 weeks ago. until now i have not solved the
bluetooth headset microphone not working. hsp/hpf profile is not available.

i searched everywhere but same problem

unable to use zoom for class in manjaro thats why i use windows instead

anybody who knows how to solve this problem

plzzz help me

Vote: 3 1 Share Reply to rahil khan

dodgypast
2 months ago

Try:
pactl load-module module-bluetooth-discover

That’s the command that got my bluetooth headset working with KDE on
Endeavour OS

Vote: 4 0 Share Reply to dodgypast

OnikenX
2 months ago

for zoom i use the flatpak version, i also removed some permissions with
flatseal, like some restrictions for filesystem usage

Vote: 1 0 Share Reply to OnikenX

Francisco Rojas
2 months ago

Solo decir que ,las dos son muy buenas distribuciones quien quiera probar la
madre Arch hay muchos tutoriales muy bien explicados solo se requiere de
práctica y si no en medio gráfico manjaro, insisto son las excelentes distros el
resto captar los comentarios de este analisis de Dimitrios.

Vote: 2 3 Share Reply to Francisco Rojas

EvilDen
2 months ago

Arch is more stable

Vote: 8 18 Share Reply to EvilDen

Kanwar

2 months ago

Thanks for the article.

Manjaro KDE made me try, love and keep Arch as my distro “type”. Also, rolling
release fits in with my live “near” the edge but not too close to the edge :)
I also use KaOS which is similar to Arch Linux (and Manjaro) but almost always
there’s an app that I find I’m unable to install (without going full source code).
So Manjaro is the absolute sweet spot for me.
Funnily, even with all the ppa’s Ubuntu feels lacking in several apps as compared
to Arch ecosystem, snap and Flatpak notwithstanding!
Cheers.

Vote: 6 0 Share Reply to Kanwar

Steve Guesshow

2 months ago

Manjaro to Arch is imo like Ubuntu to Debian

 Vote: 16 0 Share Reply to Steve Guesshow

Jim

2 months ago

Manjaro is definitely the more stable, friendlier flavor of Arch, but I wonder how
that compares to something like Ubuntu or OpenSUSE Tumbleweed?

Vote: 7 1 Share Reply to Jim

Load more comments

Add your comment...

Subscribe to comments

About Pages Stay in Touch with It's FOSS Communities

About It's FOSS Follow us on Facebook Exclusive Telegram Channel

Meet the team Follow us on Instagram It's FOSS Forum

We Donate to FOSS Projects Follow us on LBRY Join LinkedIn Community

Follow us on Mastodon Linux Users Group on Facebook

Contact Pages
Follow us on Pinterest Linux Users Group on Reddit
Contact Us Follow us on Twitter
Get Featured on It's FOSS Policies
Follow us via RSS Feed
Request a tutorial Subscribe to Newsletter Affiliate Policy

Subscribe to YouTube Channel Privacy Policy

It's F.O.S.S is Part of chmod777 Media Tech (OPC) Pvt Ltd· Built on Genesis Framework and Powered by UpCloud