| Feature | Arctic Launcher | Prism Launcher |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, no ads, no premium tier | Free |
| Open source | Yes (GPL-3.0) | Yes (GPL-3.0) |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS and Linux | Windows, macOS and Linux |
| Mods and modpacks | Fabric, Quilt, NeoForge and Forge with Modrinth mods and modpacks (.mrpack too), plus resource packs and shaders | Installs and updates mods and modpacks from Modrinth and CurseForge, with multiple instances |
| Skins, capes and cosmetics | Free skins, capes (animated too), 3D cosmetics and emotes that other Arctic players see in game | Skin and cape selection for your account |
| In-game client features | Arctic Client built in: over thirty HUD widgets, Zoom, Freelook, waypoints, minimap, replays, four menu styles | None built in; HUD and other in-game features come from mods you add yourself |
| Friends and chat | Friends, chat, screenshots and proximity voice chat | Not a Prism feature |
| Built with | A small native app written in Rust, no Electron | Qt, light on resources, with custom themes |
Checked October 2026 against each project’s own website and repository. Something out of date? Tell us and we’ll fix it.
Why Arctic over Prism Launcher
- Instances, Modrinth mods, modpacks and Java handling, all there, with nothing extra to set up.
- Free cosmetics, emotes and capes that other Arctic players see in game, which Prism doesn't offer.
- HUD widgets, Zoom, Freelook, replays and a minimap built in, instead of hunting for mods.
- Friends, chat and proximity voice chat in the launcher and in game.
- One import brings your Prism instances over and leaves the originals alone.
Switching takes a minute: Arctic imports your Prism Launcher instances and leaves the originals untouched.
Where Prism Launcher still fits: Prism is the long-established, community-run option, and the one with packages for many Linux distributions.