Linux gaming no longer means choosing between one launcher and total silence from the rest of your library. Two open-source projects now dominate the conversation: Heroic Games Launcher, a polished front-end for Epic, GOG and Amazon Games, and Lutris, a sprawling universal manager that treats Steam, Battle.net, emulators and decades-old Windows executables as equally fair game. As of July 21, 2026, Heroic sits at 11,834 GitHub stars and Lutris at 10,102 — close enough that star count alone settles nothing. The real differences show up in architecture, store coverage, and what happens the moment you plug a Steam Deck into a TV. This comparison checks version numbers, release notes, and platform support directly against GitHub and each project’s official site to separate what’s actually true in mid-2026 from what forum threads assume.

What Is Heroic Games Launcher?

Heroic Games Launcher is a free, open-source game launcher for Linux, Windows and macOS that unifies the Epic Games Store, GOG and Amazon Games (Prime Gaming) in a single native-feeling app. It was created by developer Flavio Lima at the end of December 2020, originally as a graphical front-end for Legendary, a command-line tool for Epic’s store. The project is licensed under the GPLv3 and lives at github.com/Heroic-Games-Launcher/HeroicGamesLauncher, with an official site at heroicgameslauncher.com.

The current stable build is v2.22.0, codenamed “Hajrudin,” released May 16, 2026. It followed v2.21.0, released April 22, 2026, which introduced the console-style fullscreen mode that has become one of Heroic’s defining features. Checked live via the GitHub API on July 21, 2026, the repository shows 11,834 stars, 645 forks and 863 open issues, with commits landing the same day — this is an actively maintained project, not an abandoned side script.

Backend Architecture: Legendary, gogdl, and Nile

Heroic isn’t a monolithic app — it’s an Electron shell (Chromium plus TypeScript) that orchestrates three independent, open-source command-line tools, each maintained as its own GitHub project: Legendary handles Epic Games Store authentication, downloads and launches; gogdl does the same for GOG; and Nile covers Amazon Games. This modular split means a breaking API change at any one storefront only requires patching that specific backend, not rewriting the whole app. Heroic added experimental support for a fourth storefront, ZOOM Platform, in v2.19.1 (January 2026) — Linux-only at launch. Notably, Heroic does not support Steam; if your library is Valve-only, Heroic has nothing to offer you.

Version v2.22.0 added the ability to edit any library game’s name, card, and cover image — including sideloaded titles — plus improvements to the Deals screen (hide owned games, filter to wishlisted-only). The previous release, v2.21.0, is arguably more consequential: it shipped a brand-new “console-like” fullscreen mode built specifically for joystick and TV navigation, a Deals page surfacing current GOG promotions, GOG achievements support directly on the game page, and a native Windows ARM64 build for Copilot+ PCs. Both release notes are publicly readable on GitHub and neither mentions Lutris, but the fullscreen mode is a direct response to how people actually use Heroic — mostly on a Steam Deck or in a living room.

What Is Lutris?

Lutris is a free, open-source game manager built Linux-first, designed to unify essentially every way a game might reach a Linux desktop: native Linux ports, Windows titles through Wine or Proton, retro console emulation, browser games, and DRM-free installers. It’s licensed under GPL-3.0, maintained at github.com/lutris/lutris, with an official hub at lutris.net. Checked live on July 21, 2026, the repository shows 10,102 stars, 859 forks and 276 open issues, with a commit the same week — comparably active to Heroic, though with a smaller open-issue backlog.

From Oblivion Launcher to Universal Game Manager

Lutris has a much longer history than Heroic. French developer Mathieu Comandon started the project on Launchpad on May 5, 2009, under the name “Oblivion Launcher,” built to manage his own Wine-based game collection. The first public release, v0.1, shipped November 29, 2009, and development moved to GitHub in 2010. Steam integration — a defining feature today — wasn’t added until 2013, according to Comandon’s own account in an interview with It’s FOSS. That’s roughly 11 years of continuous development before Heroic even existed.

The current stable release is v0.5.22 (February 25, 2026), which per its GitHub release notes was a small maintenance update — Python 3.14 type-annotation compatibility and CI fixes, nothing user-facing. The substantial release is the one just before it, v0.5.20 (February 16, 2026), which made Proton-GE launched via umu the default runner, added native sources for ZOOM Platform and Steam Family, added an Azahar (3DS emulator) runner, and added a context-menu option to “Create Steam Big Picture shortcut” for any game. Lutris’s own GitHub description is refreshingly blunt: “Lutris desktop client.”

Heroic vs Lutris: Full Specs Comparison

The table below lines up both projects on the metrics that actually change day-to-day use — not just star counts, but license, platform reach, and how each one handles Windows compatibility.

SpecHeroic Games LauncherLutris
Latest versionv2.22.0 “Hajrudin” (May 16, 2026)v0.5.22 (Feb 25, 2026)
First releasedDecember 2020November 2009 (as Oblivion Launcher)
LicenseGPL-3.0GPL-3.0
GitHub stars (checked Jul 21, 2026)11,83410,102
GitHub forks645859
Open issues863276
Operating systemsLinux, Windows (x64 + ARM64), macOS (Apple Silicon + Intel)Linux only
App frameworkElectron (Chromium + TypeScript)GTK (Python)
Native store integrationsEpic (via Legendary), GOG (via gogdl), Amazon Games (via Nile), + experimental ZOOM PlatformSteam, GOG, Humble Bundle, Itch.io, EA App, ZOOM Platform, Steam Family
Community install-script databaseNot applicable — curated stores only346,853+ games catalogued across roughly 1,292 platforms (lutris.net)
Default Windows-compatibility runnerBuilt-in Wine Manager; GE-Proton recommendedProton-GE via umu, default since v0.5.20
Native fullscreen/handheld modeYes — Console Mode, joystick/TV navigation, since v2.21.0No native mode; can generate a Steam Big Picture shortcut instead
Steam integrationNoneFull — Steam is a native “source”
Package availabilityFlatpak, AppImage, .deb/.rpm/.pacman/.tar.xz, Windows installer, macOS dmg/HomebrewOfficial Arch/Fedora repos, Flatpak, Debian/Ubuntu packages, pre-installed on Nobara, tarball, source
Funding modelGitHub Sponsors + optional store-affiliate Deals pagePatreon

Store and Platform Support Compared

This is where the two projects diverge in philosophy, not just feature count. Heroic ships with exactly three fully supported storefronts — Epic Games Store, GOG, and Amazon Games — plus an experimental, Linux-only ZOOM Platform integration added in v2.19.1. Each storefront gets a dedicated, actively maintained backend (Legendary, gogdl, Nile), which is why store-specific bugs tend to get fixed quickly: the Heroic team doesn’t have to touch three other integrations to patch one.

Native Sources vs Community Install Scripts

Lutris takes the opposite approach. Its native “sources” — accounts you can link directly — include Steam, GOG, Humble Bundle, Itch.io, EA App, ZOOM Platform and, as of v0.5.20, Steam Family. But the real breadth comes from Lutris’s community-maintained installer database at lutris.net, which catalogues more than 346,000 games across roughly 1,292 platforms — everything from Battle.net and Ubisoft Connect titles run through Wine, to Commodore 64 and Atari 2600 software run through emulator “runners” built into the same interface. Not every entry ships a fully automated one-click installer; some are community scripts that still require manual steps. But no equivalent database exists on the Heroic side, because Heroic isn’t trying to be a universal front-end — it’s trying to be the best possible front-end for four specific stores.

The practical upshot: if your library is entirely Epic, GOG, and Amazon, Heroic’s native integrations will almost always feel more polished and less fragile than routing the same stores through a Lutris install script. If your library includes Battle.net (Diablo IV, Overwatch 2), Ubisoft Connect (Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry), or retro emulation, Lutris is the only one of the two that even attempts it.

Wine, Proton, and GE-Proton: How Each Handles Compatibility

Neither launcher runs Windows games itself — both hand execution off to Wine or a Proton build, and both now default to the same community fork for it. Heroic’s built-in Wine Manager (Tools → Manage Wine/Proton Versions) downloads and switches runtimes without touching a package manager, and the project’s own FAQ recommends GE-Proton, GloriousEggroll’s community fork that bundles DXVK, VKD3D and FAudio patches ahead of Valve’s official Proton releases. The latest build, GE-Proton11-1, was published June 24, 2026, confirmed live via the GitHub API.

Lutris reached the same conclusion from the opposite direction. As of v0.5.20 (February 2026), Proton-GE launched through umu — a community launcher shim that keeps Proton-GE updated automatically — became Lutris’s default runner. The same release notes clarify that Lutris no longer offers VKD3D, D3D Extras, or DXVK-NVAPI as separate toggles on Proton versions, since Proton now handles all of that internally. In practice, a game launched through Heroic and the same game launched through Lutris are frequently running on the exact same GE-Proton build underneath — the launcher just decides how you get there.

Where they genuinely differ is manual control. Lutris exposes Wine version, DXVK, VKD3D, environment variables and Wine prefix location per-game in a way that rewards tinkering — and punishes typos. Heroic’s Wine Manager, cleaned up in v2.21.0 with a dedicated settings screen, favors sane defaults over granular exposure. Heroic’s own FAQ includes a blunt disclaimer worth quoting directly: “Proton was not designed to run games outside of Steam, and the results may vary” — a fair warning that applies to both tools equally, since both are, at the end of the day, running Proton outside of Steam.

Steam Deck and Handheld Gaming

Both launchers install cleanly on SteamOS via Discover or Flatpak, and both can be added as non-Steam game shortcuts so they’re reachable from Steam’s own Game Mode with full controller input. Where they part ways is what happens once you’re actually inside the app with a controller in hand.

Heroic’s Console Mode vs Lutris’s Big Picture Shortcut

Heroic’s v2.21.0 release (April 2026) introduced a purpose-built fullscreen “console-like” mode designed around joystick and TV navigation — not a repurposed desktop UI, but a distinct interface. v2.22.0 (May 2026) extended it further, letting users install, update, or skip updates for games directly from that fullscreen mode. This is a native feature maintained by the Heroic team itself.

Lutris took a different, more pragmatic route in the same window. Rather than build its own fullscreen shell, v0.5.20 added a context-menu option to “Create Steam Big Picture shortcut” — generating a shortcut so Steam’s existing Big Picture Mode can present Lutris games, leaning on Valve’s own console-style UI instead of duplicating it. It works, and it’s arguably less maintenance for the Lutris team, but it means the fullscreen experience is Steam’s, not Lutris’s own. If a completely native, joystick-first browsing experience matters to you specifically inside the launcher (rather than through Steam), Heroic is the one actively building toward that; Lutris is betting that Steam’s Big Picture Mode already does that job well enough.

Interface and Day-to-Day Experience

Heroic’s Electron-based UI leans into large box art, a curated Deals page, and a layout that visually resembles a console storefront more than a file manager. That consistency is a direct result of scope: with only three-and-a-bit stores to represent, Heroic’s designers can polish every screen without worrying about an edge case from platform #1,292 breaking the layout.

Lutris’s GTK interface is denser and more utilitarian — a sortable, filterable list rather than a shelf of cover art, closer in spirit to a package manager than a storefront. That’s not a flaw so much as a tradeoff: Lutris’s v0.5.18 release (December 2024) added “fancy” search tags like installed:yes or source:gog, plus a filter button to help build them, which only really pays off once your library is large and mixed enough to need that kind of filtering. A ten-game Epic-and-GOG collection doesn’t need it; a 200-game library spanning six stores and four emulators does. Both apps ship a dark theme by default, and both let you pull cover art automatically — Heroic via SteamGridDB (when you supply your own API key), Lutris via whichever source (GOG, Itch.io) provides one natively. Neither forces a specific desktop environment: Heroic’s Electron shell renders identically whether you’re on GNOME, KDE Plasma, or a handheld’s stripped-down Game Mode session, and Lutris’s GTK interface follows your system theme automatically on GNOME-based setups, dark mode included since v0.5.18.

Where Bottles and Playnite Fit In

Neither Heroic nor Lutris exists in a vacuum, and two adjacent tools come up constantly in the same breath — worth placing correctly rather than folding into a false three-way tie. Bottles, sitting at 8,614 GitHub stars (checked live alongside the other figures in this piece), is not a competing store launcher at all — it’s a Wine-prefix manager, letting you create isolated sandboxes for individual Windows applications and games with their own DLL overrides and dependencies. You could run Bottles underneath either Heroic or Lutris, or entirely independently of both; comparing its star count to Heroic’s or Lutris’s is comparing a different category of tool.

Playnite is a different case again: a Windows-only meta-launcher that aggregates libraries from Steam, Epic, GOG — and Heroic itself — into a single unified view with its own theming and extension system. It doesn’t replace Heroic or Lutris so much as sit on top of one or both, which is why some Windows users running Heroic for Epic/GOG games still install Playnite as a front-end for everything at once. On Linux specifically, that layering option doesn’t exist in the same way, since Playnite has no native Linux build — another point in favor of Heroic or Lutris directly if Linux is your primary platform.

Does Your Launcher Choice Affect Game Performance?

This is worth stating plainly, because it’s the single most misunderstood part of this comparison: choosing Heroic over Lutris, or vice versa, does not change your in-game frame rate. Neither app is a rendering layer. Once a game is launched, both simply hand it off to the same underlying compatibility layer — in mid-2026, that’s usually GE-Proton, whether it arrived via Heroic’s built-in Wine Manager or Lutris’s umu-based default. A game running GE-Proton11-1 performs identically regardless of which icon you clicked to start it, because the launcher’s job ends the moment the process hands control to Proton.

Where launcher choice does matter is idle overhead and startup time — not gameplay. Independent comparisons, including a structural review at theserverhost.com, note that Heroic’s Electron/Chromium foundation carries a heavier idle memory footprint than Lutris’s GTK-and-Python stack, simply because Electron ships a bundled browser engine and GTK apps lean on system libraries already loaded by the desktop. Neither project publishes exact RAM figures for this, so treat it as a directional difference — the app you’re not actively using is a rounding error next to the game itself, which is doing the real work.

Release Cadence and Community Health

GitHub metrics are the closest thing to an objective benchmark two launcher projects can be measured against, since neither one has a performance number to chase. Both projects show real, ongoing activity rather than a slow fade — Heroic’s repository was pushed to the same day this was checked (July 21, 2026), and Lutris’s within the same week.

Community metricHeroic Games LauncherLutris
Stars11,83410,102
Forks645859
Open issues863276
Releases in the prior 6 months3 (v2.20.0, v2.21.0, v2.22.0)2 (v0.5.20, v0.5.22)
Most recent notable releasev2.22.0, May 16, 2026v0.5.20, Feb 16, 2026 (feature release; v0.5.22 was maintenance-only)

Heroic’s higher fork-to-issue ratio and more frequent releases point to a smaller, more tightly scoped codebase that’s easier to iterate on quickly. Lutris’s lower open-issue count, despite a longer history and broader scope, suggests either a smaller active bug surface or a maintainer team that’s aggressive about triage — its 1,292-platform reach makes a large issue backlog almost expected, so a number under 300 is notable. Independent write-ups agree on the general shape of this: a structural review at theserverhost.com and GamingOnLinux’s coverage of v2.22.0 both describe Heroic’s release cycle as fast and console-focused, while framing Lutris as the more deliberately maintained “Swiss Army knife” of the two.

That three-releases-in-six-months cadence from Heroic (v2.20.0 in February, v2.21.0 in April, v2.22.0 in May 2026) also means documentation and third-party guides age faster — a screenshot-based tutorial from late 2025 may already be showing a menu layout that’s since moved. Lutris’s slower, denser release notes (a single v0.5.20 in February 2026 carried more individual changes than Heroic shipped across two releases) mean less frequent but heavier update cycles, which is common in projects supporting a much larger surface area of runners and sources simultaneously.

Pricing and Total Cost of Ownership

Both launchers are entirely free, so a traditional pricing table doesn’t apply — but “free” isn’t quite the same as “identical cost,” once you account for funding models, minimum hardware, and what you’re still paying storefronts directly.

Cost factorHeroic Games LauncherLutris
App license fee$0 (GPL-3.0)$0 (GPL-3.0)
Underlying game pricesUnaffected — set by Epic/GOG/AmazonUnaffected — set by Steam/GOG/EA/Battle.net etc.
Official minimum specs~500MB disk, 2GB RAM, 1.8GHz dual-core CPU (published)No official minimum published
Paid tiersNoneNone
Funding channelGitHub Sponsors + optional GOG affiliate Deals pagePatreon
Compatibility layer costGE-Proton — freeProton-GE via umu — free

The only “hidden cost” either project has is your own time: Lutris’s flexibility means more knobs to misconfigure, and Heroic’s narrower scope means you may still need a second tool — Lutris, Bottles, or plain Wine — for anything outside its three-and-a-bit stores. Neither app monetizes users directly; Heroic’s Deals page nudges you toward buying GOG games through an affiliate link that funds development, and Lutris relies purely on voluntary Patreon support.

Installing Heroic and Lutris

Both projects support the major Linux distributions plus Flatpak, which is the recommended path on SteamOS and Steam Deck. Here’s how each installs on a typical Fedora- or Arch-based system, and via Flatpak, which works nearly anywhere.

# Heroic Games Launcher — Flatpak (recommended, works on SteamOS)
flatpak install flathub com.heroicgameslauncher.hgl

# Heroic on Fedora/RPM systems (via downloaded .rpm)
sudo rpm -i Heroic-2.22.0.rpm

# Heroic on Arch — AUR only, no official repo package
yay -S heroic-games-launcher-bin
# Lutris — Flatpak
flatpak install flathub --user -y net.lutris.Lutris

# Lutris on Fedora — official repo, no third-party step needed
sudo dnf install lutris

# Lutris on Arch/Manjaro — official Extra repo, no AUR required
sudo pacman -S lutris

Notice the asymmetry on Arch Linux specifically: Lutris is packaged in Arch’s official repositories, installable with a single pacman command, while Heroic is AUR-only and requires a helper like yay or manual PKGBUILD handling. Lutris is also pre-installed on the Nobara gaming distribution and available through the Discover store on SteamOS and the COSMIC Store on Pop!_OS. Heroic’s install story is broader across operating systems (it’s the only one of the two with native Windows and macOS builds), but narrower within Linux packaging specifically.

Real-World Examples: What Actually Happens With 7 Different Games

Specs and release notes only go so far. Here’s what the difference looks like against actual libraries.

  • Diablo IV (Battle.net): Playable through Lutris via a community install script that sets up a dedicated Wine prefix and the Battle.net client, then launches through GE-Proton. Heroic has no Battle.net integration at all — it’s simply outside scope.
  • Cyberpunk 2077 (GOG or Epic): Runs natively through either launcher’s GOG/Epic integration; Heroic specifically supports REDmod mod-management for this title, a feature called out in its own documentation.
  • League of Legends (Riot Client): Blocked on both launchers, for the same reason — Riot’s Vanguard kernel-level anti-cheat refuses to run under Linux/Wine/Proton at all. This isn’t a Heroic or Lutris limitation; it’s enforced below both of them.
  • Baldur’s Gate 3 (GOG): A clean example of the two tools converging — Heroic’s gogdl backend and Lutris’s native GOG source both handle the install and DRM-free download equally smoothly.
  • Fortnite (Epic Games Store): Still blocked on Linux as of 2026, and neither launcher can fix that. Easy Anti-Cheat has officially supported Linux and Proton since September 2021, per Epic’s own developer blog — but Epic has simply chosen not to flip that switch for Fortnite specifically. Titles like Rust and DayZ run fine on the same anti-cheat under Linux, which confirms this is a publisher policy decision, not a technical wall either launcher could climb.
  • Retro emulation (PS1, GameCube, 3DS): Lutris can add DuckStation, Dolphin, Azahar and dozens of other emulators as native “runners” inside the same interface used for modern games. Heroic has zero emulator integration — it is, deliberately, a storefront launcher only.
  • ZOOM Platform titles: Both projects raced to support this smaller DRM-free storefront within weeks of each other — Heroic added experimental, Linux-only ZOOM support in v2.19.1 (January 2026), and Lutris added a native ZOOM Platform source in v0.5.20 (February 2026). A rare case of near-identical timing between two otherwise differently-scoped projects.

Migration Guide: Moving Between Heroic and Lutris

You are not locked into one tool. Both store their configuration separately — Heroic under ~/.config/heroic, Lutris under ~/.config/lutris — and each manages its own Wine/Proton prefixes independently, so installing one doesn’t touch the other’s data. Here’s how to move a library, or run both side by side.

  1. Don’t uninstall anything yet. Install the second launcher alongside the first — Flatpak sandboxes both cleanly, so there’s no conflict between Heroic’s Electron runtime and Lutris’s GTK/Python stack.
  2. For Epic/GOG/Amazon libraries already in Lutris: Rather than re-downloading, use Heroic’s native “Import” feature (added prominently in v2.21.0) to point it at an existing game install folder, avoiding a multi-gigabyte re-download.
  3. For Battle.net, Ubisoft Connect, or EA titles you want to try in Lutris: Search the lutris.net installer database for the specific title first — most popular launchers already have a maintained community script that handles the Wine prefix setup automatically.
  4. Keep one Proton build as your baseline. Since both tools can default to GE-Proton (Heroic via its Wine Manager, Lutris via umu), pin the same GE-Proton version in both if you’re troubleshooting a specific game, so you’re not comparing two different compatibility layers by accident.
  5. On Steam Deck / SteamOS: Add each launcher as a non-Steam game via Steam’s own “Add a Non-Steam Game” dialog so both are reachable from Game Mode with full controller support, independent of which one has a native fullscreen mode.
  6. Clean removal, if you do decide to drop one: Uninstall the Flatpak or package, then manually remove its leftover config directory and any Wine prefixes it created under that config path — neither uninstaller touches the other tool’s data, by design.

Best Use Cases: Which Tool Fits Your Setup

Neither tool is objectively better — they’re scoped for different libraries and different patience levels for configuration. Here’s where each one wins.

  • Steam Deck user who wants a console-like experience: Heroic — its native fullscreen Console Mode is purpose-built for joystick navigation, and keeps improving release over release.
  • Desktop Linux user with Battle.net, Ubisoft Connect, or EA App games: Lutris — it’s the only one of the two with any path to those stores at all, via its install-script database.
  • Retro and emulation enthusiast: Lutris — native runner support for dozens of emulators inside the same library view Heroic simply doesn’t attempt to replicate.
  • New Linux convert who just wants Epic and GOG games to work: Heroic — three well-maintained backends and a polished UI, with none of Lutris’s per-game Wine configuration surface to worry about.
  • macOS gamer: Heroic, by default — Lutris is Linux-only, so it isn’t a choice on Mac at all.
  • Power user who wants maximum store coverage: Run both. Since their configs and prefixes don’t collide, there’s no real downside to installing Heroic for Epic/GOG/Amazon polish and Lutris for everything else.
  • Anyone chasing the single largest install-script database: Lutris — 346,853 catalogued games and roughly 1,292 platforms is not a number Heroic’s curated, three-store scope is trying to compete with.

Pros and Cons

Heroic Games Launcher: Pros and Cons

  • Pro: Native, purpose-built fullscreen Console Mode for handheld and TV use.
  • Pro: Cross-platform — the only one of the two with native Windows and macOS builds.
  • Pro: Three dedicated, actively maintained backends (Legendary, gogdl, Nile) mean fast fixes when a single store changes its API.
  • Con: No Steam integration, and no path to Battle.net, Ubisoft Connect, or EA titles.
  • Con: Zero emulator/retro support — it’s a storefront launcher, full stop.
  • Con: Arch Linux users are stuck with AUR-only packaging, no official repo entry.

Lutris: Pros and Cons

  • Pro: Broadest store and emulator coverage of any Linux launcher — 346,853+ catalogued games across roughly 1,292 platforms.
  • Pro: Officially packaged in Arch and Fedora repos, plus pre-installed on Nobara.
  • Pro: Granular per-game control over Wine version, DXVK, VKD3D, and environment variables.
  • Con: Linux-only — no Windows or macOS builds, ever, by design.
  • Con: No native fullscreen/handheld mode; leans on Steam’s Big Picture instead of building its own.
  • Con: That same granular control is a footgun for newcomers — a wrong Wine or DXVK setting can break a working game.

Security and Privacy Considerations

Both projects are fully open-source under GPL-3.0, which means their entire codebase — including how they store account tokens and handle Wine prefixes — is publicly auditable rather than a black box. That matters more here than in most software categories, because both tools necessarily hold API tokens for the storefronts they connect to.

Heroic’s narrower scope is arguably a security advantage: with only three core backends (Legendary, gogdl, Nile) to audit, the attack surface is smaller and each backend is a separately maintained open-source project with its own issue tracker. Lutris’s install-script model introduces a different consideration — community-submitted installers can run arbitrary commands as part of setup, since that’s how they configure Wine prefixes and dependencies automatically. Lutris’s own scripts are moderated before publication on lutris.net, but it’s still worth reading an unfamiliar install script before running it, the same way you’d review a shell script from any third party before executing it. Neither project has a documented history of a supply-chain compromise as of this writing — but the anti-cheat point from earlier in this piece cuts both ways on privacy, too: kernel-level anti-cheat like Riot Vanguard or Easy Anti-Cheat operates below both launchers regardless of which one you pick, and neither Heroic nor Lutris can add or remove that layer of system access.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Most day-to-day problems with either launcher trace back to the same handful of causes, and the fix usually lives one layer down, in Wine or Proton rather than the launcher itself.

  • Game won’t launch on either tool: Check the runner version first. Both Heroic’s Wine Manager and Lutris’s runner list let you switch to the latest GE-Proton build (GE-Proton11-1 as of this writing) — many launch failures on day-one releases are fixed within days by a GE-Proton update, not a launcher update.
  • Controller not detected in Heroic’s Console Mode: Confirm the controller is recognized at the OS level first (via a tool like jstest or Steam Input) before assuming Console Mode is at fault — a controller Linux itself can’t see won’t appear in any launcher’s fullscreen mode.
  • Lutris install script fails partway through: Community scripts sometimes reference a download mirror that’s gone stale. Check the script’s page on lutris.net for comments — popular installers are usually patched quickly, and the comment thread will confirm whether it’s a known, already-reported issue.
  • Epic login loop in Heroic: This is almost always a Legendary (the backend tool) authentication token issue rather than a Heroic UI bug, since Heroic delegates all Epic auth to Legendary directly.
  • Missing box art or icons: For sideloaded or manually added games, both tools need a manual nudge — Heroic added cover-art editing for sideloaded titles specifically in v2.22.0, while Lutris can pull cover art via SteamGridDB URLs entered directly in a game’s configuration.
  • Steam Deck battery draining faster than expected: Neither launcher manages power profiles — that’s a SteamOS/game-level setting in both cases, so check the per-game performance overlay rather than the launcher’s settings.

The Verdict: Heroic vs Lutris in 2026

There’s no single winner here, and the data doesn’t support pretending otherwise. Heroic Games Launcher is the better choice if your library lives in Epic, GOG, and Amazon Games, if you want a native fullscreen mode built specifically for Steam Deck and TV use, or if you need the same launcher on Windows or macOS. Its 11,834 GitHub stars, three dedicated backend tools, and a release cadence of three versions in six months reflect a small, focused project executing well within a narrow scope.

Lutris is the better choice the moment your library gets messy — Battle.net alongside Steam alongside a shelf of PS1 and GameCube ROMs. Its 346,853-game community database, official Arch and Fedora packaging, and 16-year head start (dating back to 2009’s Oblivion Launcher) reflect a project built to be the last launcher you’d ever need to install, at the cost of a denser interface and more manual configuration surface. Since both tools default to GE-Proton underneath and neither changes your actual frame rate, the honest answer for most Linux gamers with a mixed library is to run both — Heroic for the stores it covers beautifully, Lutris for everything else.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Heroic Games Launcher better than Lutris for Steam Deck?

For Epic, GOG, and Amazon libraries specifically, yes — Heroic’s native Console Mode, introduced in v2.21.0 and expanded in v2.22.0, is purpose-built for joystick and TV navigation. Lutris works fine on Steam Deck too, but relies on generating a Steam Big Picture shortcut rather than its own fullscreen interface.

Can I use Heroic and Lutris at the same time?

Yes. They store configuration in separate directories (~/.config/heroic and ~/.config/lutris) and manage independent Wine/Proton prefixes, so there’s no conflict running both on the same system.

Does Lutris support the Epic Games Store?

Not as a native source in the same way Heroic does. Epic titles can sometimes be added through community install scripts, but Heroic’s dedicated Legendary-based integration is the far more direct and better-maintained path for an Epic library.

Is Heroic Games Launcher available on Windows and macOS?

Yes — Heroic ships native builds for Windows (x64 and ARM64) and macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel), in addition to Linux. Lutris is Linux-only by design and has no Windows or macOS build.

Which launcher handles Battle.net and Ubisoft Connect games?

Lutris, via community install scripts from its lutris.net database that configure a Wine prefix for each launcher automatically. Heroic has no integration path to either storefront.

Do Heroic and Lutris cost anything?

No — both are entirely free and open-source under the GPL-3.0 license. Heroic funds development through GitHub Sponsors and an optional GOG affiliate link on its Deals page; Lutris relies on Patreon. Neither has a paid tier.

Which one is easier to install on Arch Linux?

Lutris — it’s in Arch’s official Extra repository, so sudo pacman -S lutris is all it takes. Heroic is AUR-only on Arch, requiring a helper like yay or manual PKGBUILD handling.

Will using Heroic or Lutris get games banned for cheating?

No — neither launcher modifies game files or injects anything into the game process. Anti-cheat decisions happen at a layer below both tools: kernel-level systems like Riot Vanguard or Easy Anti-Cheat either permit Linux/Proton for a given title or they don’t, and that decision is made by the game’s publisher, not by which launcher started the process.