If you’ve ever customized a Linux terminal, posted a desktop screenshot, or just wanted to show off your distro choice to a friend, you’ve almost certainly run Neofetch. With the original project now archived and no longer receiving updates, thousands of users are hunting for 7 Alternatives for Neofetch that match the charm, customization, and familiar feel of the original tool.

Neofetch was never just a system information tool. It was a ritual, a status symbol, and the first command most people ran after booting a fresh install. People spent hours tweaking config lines, editing ASCII logos, and testing color schemes just to get that perfect terminal opening screen. While nothing will ever be exactly the original, there are fantastic replacements that fix old bugs, add modern features, and run far faster.

In this guide, we break down every top option, explain what each does best, and help you pick the right fetch tool for your workflow. No obscure jargon, no cherry-picked features, just honest breakdowns for everyday terminal users.

1. Fastfetch: The Near-Perfect Drop-In Replacement

Fastfetch is currently the most popular Neofetch replacement, and for very good reason. Written entirely in C instead of Bash, this tool runs an order of magnitude faster than the original, with almost zero perceivable lag when you open a new terminal window. Independent speed tests show consistent results across every major operating system:

Tool	Cold Load Time	Warm Load Time
Neofetch	127ms	42ms
Fastfetch	11ms	3ms

You won’t have to rebuild your entire configuration from scratch either. Fastfetch natively reads most Neofetch config files, and will automatically import your color scheme, hidden fields, and logo preferences. It supports every single operating system logo that Neofetch ever had, plus over 100 new ones for niche distros and hardware devices.

Extra features are added on a regular basis, something that stopped for Neofetch back in 2023. Out of the box you get:

• Native image and GIF rendering for all modern terminals
• Real time GPU temperature and fan speed readouts
• Currently playing music from Spotify, MPD and browser players
• Wayland session and workspace information

Choose Fastfetch if you just want to stop using Neofetch and carry on exactly as you were. This is the default recommendation for 9 out of 10 former Neofetch users, and it’s the first option you should test. As of mid 2024, over 78% of respondents in the r/unixporn community poll had already switched to this tool.

2. Hyfetch: Built For Modern Wayland Desktops

Neofetch never got proper support for Wayland. It would misreport window managers, fail to detect screen resolutions, and break entirely on Hyprland setups. Hyfetch was built specifically to fix this gap, and it’s quickly become the go-to option for anyone running a modern Linux desktop.

Getting set up takes less than two minutes. You can be running your first fetch with working Hyprland data with these simple steps:

1. Install Hyfetch via your distro repository or Pip
2. Run `hyfetch` once to generate a default configuration file
3. Toggle the Hyprland workspace counter module on
4. Add the hyfetch command to your terminal startup file

Hyfetch is also famous for its viral pride flag color modes, which have been downloaded over half a million times. You can cycle between dozens of pre-made color schemes without editing a single config line, or build your own custom gradient with just three commands. It also supports animated ASCII logos, something no other fetch tool offers at this time.

This is not a one-to-one Neofetch clone, and that’s a good thing. The developers intentionally dropped support for outdated legacy systems to focus on speed and modern features. If you run Hyprland, Sway, or any other Wayland compositor, this will be the best fetch tool you have ever used.

3. Screenfetch: The Original Classic Fetch Tool

Long before Neofetch existed, Screenfetch was the standard terminal system info tool. It’s been around since 2009, is still actively maintained, and has the most battle tested codebase of any fetch tool on this list.

Screenfetch is intentionally simple. It doesn’t have image support, animated logos, or dozens of extra modules. What it does have is perfect reliability. This tool will run on every operating system, every terminal, every window manager, and every hardware device made in the last 20 years. It will never break after a system update.

Use Case	Recommended?
Old 32bit hardware	✅ Best choice
Modern Wayland desktop	❌ Avoid
Servers and headless machines	✅ Great fit

You won’t get fancy customization here, and that’s the point. Many long time Linux users still prefer Screenfetch exactly because it doesn’t change. You can install it today, and it will look and behave exactly the same way it did 10 years ago. No new features, no breaking changes, no surprises.

Pick Screenfetch if you value reliability over flashy features. This is also the best option for servers, headless machines, or old hardware that can’t run more modern tools. It’s tiny, uses almost no memory, and requires zero dependencies.

4. Nitch: The Tiny, Minimalist Fetch Option

If you hate bloat, Nitch was made for you. This entire fetch tool is written in under 1000 lines of Nim code, and compiles down to a single binary smaller than 100KB. That’s 30 times smaller than the Neofetch script file.

Nitch intentionally leaves out every feature that isn’t absolutely necessary. You won’t get album art, music detection, or 50 different extra info lines. What you get is clean, accurate system information that loads instantly, every single time. There are no external dependencies at all.

All configuration is done with simple command line flags:

• `nitch --small` for compact one line output
• `nitch --nologo` to hide the operating system ASCII art
• `nitch --mono` for plain black and white output
• `nitch --custom` to load your own ASCII logo

This tool is perfect for people who got tired of Neofetch getting slower and more bloated every update. If you just want to see your kernel version, uptime and memory usage without any extra nonsense, Nitch is exactly what you are looking for. It also runs perfectly on Raspberry Pi and other low power single board computers.

5. Archey 4: The Clean, Cross Platform Choice

Archey is another tool that predates Neofetch, and the modern Archey 4 version is one of the best cross platform fetch options available today. It runs natively on Linux, MacOS, BSD, and even Windows.

One of the biggest advantages of Archey 4 is consistent output. No matter what operating system you run it on, the layout, spacing and information lines will look identical. This is extremely useful if you work on multiple machines every day and want a consistent experience across all of them.

Setting up Archey 4 for consistent use is simple:

1. Install the official package for your operating system
2. Generate a global config file with `archey --save`
3. Copy this single config file to all your devices
4. Add the launch command to each terminal profile

Archey 4 also has the best default layout of any fetch tool. Most people never edit the config file at all, because the default output already looks clean, balanced and professional. It doesn’t have the overwhelming number of customization options that Neofetch had, but for most users that is a feature, not a bug.

This is the best option for anyone that uses more than one operating system. You will get the exact same familiar terminal opening screen on your work laptop, home desktop, and server, no matter what OS each one runs.

6. Fetchmaster: For Advanced Power Users

Fetchmaster is the most customizable fetch tool ever made. If you are the kind of person that spent 3 hours editing Neofetch config lines just to get one extra space aligned correctly, this tool was built for you.

Every single element of the output can be adjusted. You can move lines around, change spacing, add custom data fields, build your own color gradients, and even run external shell commands to pull in custom data. There is literally nothing you cannot change.

Customization Level	Supported By Fetchmaster
Per character color	✅ Yes
Custom external data fields	✅ Yes
Conditional output rules	✅ Yes

All this power comes with a tradeoff. Fetchmaster has a steep learning curve, and the default configuration is intentionally blank. You will need to spend time setting it up, and there is no one click import for Neofetch configs. For people that enjoy customizing their terminal, this is fun work. For everyone else, it will feel like a chore.

Only pick Fetchmaster if you actively enjoy tweaking and building your terminal setup. This is not a drop in replacement, it is a blank canvas for building exactly the fetch output you want. For power users, there is no better option available right now.

7. Macchina: Fast, Modern, And Lightweight

Macchina is written in Rust, and it balances speed, features and customization better than any other tool on this list. It’s almost as fast as Fastfetch, almost as customizable as Neofetch, and has none of the legacy bloat that slows down older tools.

This tool gets regular updates, and the developers actively take feedback from the community. Every request for a new module or feature gets a response within 48 hours, which is unheard of for most open source terminal tools.

Default modules included out of the box:

• Processor usage and temperature
• Battery health and charge cycles
• Package count for every major package manager
• Kernel version and build date
• Current network local and public IP

Macchina also has the best documentation of any fetch tool. Every config option is clearly explained, with examples, and there are hundreds of pre-made user configs available to download. You can go from installing the tool to having a perfect customized fetch screen in under 10 minutes.

This is the best all round option for people that don’t want to compromise. It’s fast enough for everyday use, customizable enough for most people, and works perfectly on both X11 and Wayland setups. If you don’t know which option to pick first, start with Macchina.

Every one of these 7 alternatives for Neofetch has its own strengths and ideal use case. Fastfetch is perfect for anyone that wants an exact replacement. Hyfetch is unbeatable for modern Wayland desktops. Screenfetch will never break on old hardware. Nitch is perfect for minimalists. Archey 4 works everywhere. Fetchmaster gives you unlimited customization, and Macchina balances everything perfectly.

You don’t have to pick just one. Install two or three, test them out for a week, and see which one feels right for your workflow. Once you find one you like, share your setup online, and help other former Neofetch users find their new favourite terminal tool. The original Neofetch may be gone, but the community that loved it is still very much alive.