Both Manjaro and EndeavourOS are built on Arch Linux, and both promise the rolling release experience without making you install Arch the hard way. That’s where the similarities end. Under the hood, they take fundamentally different approaches to what “based on Arch” actually means, and picking the wrong one for your workflow will frustrate you within a week.
This comparison covers repositories, package freshness, installer experience, AUR integration, community support, and the practical differences you’ll notice daily. If you’re already familiar with pacman, our pacman cheat sheet covers the commands that work on both.
Verified working: March 2026 on Manjaro 24.x (Xfce), EndeavourOS Endeavour (latest ISO), kernel 6.12
How They Relate to Arch
This single difference shapes everything else.
Manjaro maintains its own repositories. Packages from Arch go into Manjaro’s unstable branch, move to testing after a few days, and reach the stable branch roughly two weeks later. Manjaro’s team also patches some packages, holds back others for compatibility, and occasionally diverges from Arch entirely. Manjaro is Arch-based, not Arch-compatible.
EndeavourOS uses Arch’s repositories directly. When Arch pushes an update, EndeavourOS users get it immediately. EndeavourOS adds a small overlay repository for its own tools (installer, welcome app, theming), but every other package comes straight from Arch. EndeavourOS is essentially Arch with a graphical installer and some convenience scripts bolted on.
| Aspect | Manjaro | EndeavourOS |
|---|---|---|
| Package source | Manjaro’s own repos (delayed from Arch) | Arch repos directly |
| Package delay | ~2 weeks behind Arch stable | None (same day as Arch) |
| Custom patches | Yes, Manjaro patches some packages | No (uses Arch packages as-is) |
| Relationship to Arch | Fork (diverges) | Thin wrapper (follows) |
| Can use Arch Wiki directly | Mostly, with caveats | Yes, nearly 100% |
The delay matters in both directions. Manjaro’s holding period gives their team time to catch breaking changes, which means fewer surprise breakages after updates. But it also means you’re running older versions of fast-moving software. If you need the latest Mesa driver for a new GPU or a critical security fix, Manjaro users wait while EndeavourOS (and pure Arch) users already have it.
There’s a subtler issue: mixing Manjaro’s repos with AUR packages that expect the latest Arch libraries can cause dependency mismatches. This happens occasionally when an AUR package is built against the current Arch version of a library, but Manjaro’s repos still have the older version. EndeavourOS avoids this problem entirely because its base packages are always in sync with the AUR’s expectations.
Installation
Both use Calamares, the same graphical installer used by many Linux distributions. The experience is nearly identical: boot the live USB, click through partitioning and user setup, wait for installation, reboot.
Manjaro’s installer is more opinionated. You choose a desktop edition before downloading the ISO (Xfce, KDE, or GNOME), and the installer sets everything up with Manjaro’s custom theming, default applications, and MHWD (Manjaro Hardware Detection) for driver management. You boot into a fully configured system.
EndeavourOS takes a different approach. The installer offers a choice: “Online” or “Offline” installation. Offline installs a pre-configured Xfce desktop. Online lets you choose from KDE, GNOME, Cinnamon, MATE, Xfce, Budgie, BSPWM, Sway, Hyprland, i3, or a bare-bones setup with no desktop at all. The online installer pulls packages directly from the repos during installation, so you get the latest versions from the start.
| Installer Feature | Manjaro | EndeavourOS |
|---|---|---|
| Installer | Calamares | Calamares |
| Desktop choice | Pick before downloading ISO | Choose during online install |
| Available desktops | Xfce, KDE, GNOME (official) + community | 10+ options including WMs |
| Driver setup | MHWD auto-detects | Manual (arch-wiki-guided) |
| Post-install experience | Fully themed and configured | Minimal, close to stock |
Manjaro’s MHWD is a genuine advantage for NVIDIA users. It detects your GPU and installs the correct proprietary driver automatically. On EndeavourOS, you install NVIDIA drivers manually following the Arch Wiki, which works but requires more effort and attention during kernel updates.
AUR Support
Both support the AUR (Arch User Repository), and both ship with or recommend AUR helpers.
Manjaro includes Pamac, a graphical package manager that integrates AUR, Flatpak, and Snap browsing into one interface. You can search and install AUR packages without touching the terminal. Pamac also handles dependency resolution and build processes automatically.
EndeavourOS ships with yay pre-installed, the most popular command-line AUR helper. It wraps pacman with AUR support, so yay -S package-name works for both repo and AUR packages. There’s no graphical AUR browser by default.
The practical difference: Pamac makes the AUR accessible to users who prefer a GUI, while yay is faster and gives more control for terminal-oriented users. Neither approach is better; they serve different preferences.
As mentioned earlier, AUR packages occasionally break on Manjaro due to the repository delay. On EndeavourOS, AUR compatibility is seamless because the base packages match what AUR maintainers build against.
Rolling Release: Same but Different
Both are rolling releases, meaning you never do a major version upgrade. Every pacman -Syu brings you the latest packages. But the experience of rolling updates differs.
Manjaro’s update cycle is batched. Because packages are held and tested, updates come in larger groups. You might go a week without updates, then get 200+ package updates at once. This “big batch” pattern occasionally causes more issues than frequent small updates would.
EndeavourOS receives updates continuously, just like Arch. Running pacman -Syu daily typically pulls 10 to 30 packages. Smaller, more frequent updates are generally safer because each individual change is easier to diagnose if something breaks.
Manjaro has one mitigation strategy: Timeshift is recommended during initial setup, and the Manjaro Settings Manager makes it easy to configure. EndeavourOS doesn’t push snapshot tools as aggressively, though their welcome app suggests setting up Btrfs snapshots if you chose Btrfs during installation.
System Management Tools
| Tool | Manjaro | EndeavourOS |
|---|---|---|
| Package manager GUI | Pamac | None (yay in terminal) |
| Hardware detection | MHWD | Manual |
| Kernel manager | Manjaro Settings Manager | Manual (pacman) |
| Welcome app | Manjaro Hello | EndeavourOS Welcome |
| System info | Manjaro Settings Manager | inxi, neofetch |
Manjaro provides more graphical tools for system management. The Manjaro Settings Manager lets you switch kernels, manage drivers, configure language packs, and adjust system settings without touching a config file. This is valuable for users who prefer a GUI.
EndeavourOS’s philosophy is closer to Arch: learn to manage your system with standard tools. The Welcome app provides quick links to update mirrors, install common packages, and access the Arch Wiki, but it doesn’t try to replace command-line system administration. EndeavourOS expects you to be comfortable editing config files and running pacman directly.
Community
Manjaro has a larger user base. The Manjaro Forum is active, well-moderated, and has years of accumulated troubleshooting threads. There’s a dedicated team of moderators and developers who respond to issues. The larger community means more YouTube tutorials, blog posts, and Reddit discussions specific to Manjaro.
EndeavourOS has a smaller but notably welcoming community. The EndeavourOS forum is often cited as one of the friendliest Linux forums. Because the user base skews more experienced, answers tend to be precise and helpful. The project’s Discord server is also active for real-time help.
Both communities benefit from the Arch Wiki and the broader Arch ecosystem. For EndeavourOS, the Arch Wiki is the primary documentation source, and it applies without modification. For Manjaro, the Arch Wiki is useful but occasionally misleading because package versions or configuration paths may differ due to Manjaro’s patches.
Target Audience
Manjaro targets users who want Arch’s package availability and rolling model with a curated, user-friendly experience. If you want pacman and the AUR but don’t want to install Arch manually or deal with raw Arch’s update pace, Manjaro is the gentler option.
EndeavourOS targets users who basically want Arch but with a graphical installer. If you’d install Arch yourself but appreciate not spending 45 minutes on the initial setup, EndeavourOS is exactly that. It doesn’t try to be its own distro. It’s a convenient on-ramp to a near-stock Arch system.
The distinction is real. Manjaro users sometimes hit issues that Arch or EndeavourOS users don’t, because Manjaro’s patches and delays create a unique environment. EndeavourOS users can follow Arch guides verbatim. Manjaro users sometimes can’t.
Full Comparison
| Category | Manjaro | EndeavourOS |
|---|---|---|
| Base | Arch (own repos, delayed) | Arch (direct repos) |
| Package delay | ~2 weeks | None |
| Installer | Calamares (per-edition ISOs) | Calamares (one ISO, many options) |
| NVIDIA drivers | Automatic (MHWD) | Manual |
| AUR compatibility | Occasional mismatches | Seamless |
| GUI tools | Extensive (Pamac, MSM) | Minimal (Welcome app) |
| Kernel management | GUI kernel switcher | Manual |
| Community size | Larger | Smaller, very friendly |
| Arch Wiki applicability | Mostly, with caveats | Fully applicable |
| Ideal user | Wants Arch convenience with guardrails | Wants Arch with a graphical installer |
| System closeness to Arch | Moderate (diverges) | Very close (thin wrapper) |
| Default AUR helper | Pamac (GUI + CLI) | yay (CLI) |
Which One Fits You?
Pick Manjaro if you want a polished out-of-the-box experience with graphical tools for system management, automatic driver setup, and a curated update schedule that reduces the chance of breakage. Manjaro works well for users who want rolling updates but prefer someone else to test packages before they land on their system.
Pick EndeavourOS if you want something as close to pure Arch as possible without the manual installation process. EndeavourOS is for users who are comfortable in the terminal, want packages the moment Arch releases them, and prefer the Arch Wiki as their primary reference. If you’d install Arch anyway, EndeavourOS just saves you the initial setup time.
One thing worth noting: if you start on EndeavourOS and later decide you want the full Arch experience, your system is already 95% there. If you start on Manjaro and want to switch to Arch repos, that’s a reinstall. The migration path from EndeavourOS to pure Arch is trivial because you’re already running Arch packages. The migration from Manjaro is not.
