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Irori vs Heroic Games Launcher
Irori and Heroic Games Launcher compared: the same stores, built-in protocols instead of legendary, gogdl and nile, plus Steam, emulators and a fifth of the memory.
2 min read
At a glance
| Feature | Irori | Heroic |
|---|---|---|
| Systems | Linux, macOS, Windows | Linux, macOS 14 or newer, Windows |
| Built with | Rust and GPUI, one native process | Electron |
| Epic Games, GOG, Amazon Games | Built-in Rust protocols | Through legendary, gogdl and nile |
| ZOOM Platform | Yes, opt-in | Yes |
| itch.io | Yes, opt-in | No |
| Steam library | Installed games without a login; owned and Family games with one | No |
| Battle.net, EA app, Ubisoft Connect, Rockstar | Set up in their own prefix; games listed and started | No |
| Several accounts per store | Epic Games, GOG, Amazon Games, ZOOM, itch.io | No |
| Cloud saves | Epic Games and GOG, asks on conflict | Epic Games and GOG |
| Wine and Proton | Linux builds, plus GPTK, Wine-Crossover and Wine-Staging on macOS | Linux builds, plus GPTK, Wine-Crossover and Wine-Staging on macOS |
| Emulators and ROM library | Yes, installed and updated by Irori | No |
| Big Picture for controllers | Yes | Controller navigation |
| Languages | 19 | About 40 |
| Memory, window open, empty profile | About 88 MiB, 1 process | About 478 MiB, 7 processes |
| Licence | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
Checked against each project’s documentation in November 2026. Spotted something out of date? Tell us on GitHub
Heroic Games Launcher is the launcher most Linux players reach for first, and for good reason: it is mature, well translated and widely used. Irori was built to match what Heroic 2.22.4 does, then go further, without copying its code.
Where they are the same
Both launchers install, update and play Epic Games, GOG and Amazon Games libraries, sync Epic and GOG cloud saves, run Windows games through Wine or Proton on Linux and through Game Porting Toolkit, Wine-Crossover or Wine-Staging on macOS, and run on Linux, macOS and Windows. Both add games you bring yourself and both support ZOOM Platform.
Irori even reads Heroic’s settings with Heroic’s own names, which is why moving from Heroic is one click.
Where Irori differs
- No helper tools. Heroic drives legendary, gogdl and nile, separate programs, for its stores. Irori’s store support is a Rust port of the parts of those tools it needs, built into the launcher.
- No Electron. Irori is one native process drawn on your graphics card. On the same Linux PC, with the window open and an empty profile, Irori 0.2.0 used about 88 MiB of memory in one process and Heroic 2.22.4 about 478 MiB across seven.
- More in one library. Your installed Steam games (and, with a login, your owned and Family games), itch.io, the games from Battle.net, the EA app, Ubisoft Connect and Rockstar, and a ROM library with emulators Irori installs and updates.
- Several accounts per store. Epic Games, GOG, Amazon Games, ZOOM Platform and itch.io each take more than one account, in one library.
- Big Picture. A full controller interface that opens by itself in the Steam Deck’s Game Mode.
- MIT licence, where Heroic is GPL-3.0.
Where Heroic is ahead
- Languages. Heroic is translated into about 40 languages; Irori into 19.
- Track record. Heroic has years of releases and a large community. Irori is new: its first release was in October 2026.
Which to choose
If you rely on a language Irori doesn’t have yet, Heroic is the better fit today. If you want Steam, itch.io and emulators in the same library, several accounts per store, or a lighter launcher, try Irori: it imports your Heroic setup without changing Heroic, so trying costs nothing.
Keep reading
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Irori is free, open source and installs from the package manager you already use.
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