Arachnel is a Material 3 desktop launcher: browse catalogs, download via torrent, install through source plugins, and launch everything from one library.
The closest open-source project by feature set is Hydra Launcher — excellent software; use whichever fits you better. Arachnel takes a different route under the hood: each source is its own plugin (portable, installer, bundled fix, or separate patch), and the native Qt stack stays light on RAM.
| Hydra | Arachnel | |
|---|---|---|
| Sources | Shared download / install model | One plugin per source |
| Install | Mostly one pipeline | Portable / installer / fix — decided by the plugin |
| Catalogs | Built-in + community feeds | Plugins and Hydra-compatible games.json URLs |
| Stack | Electron | Native Qt / QML |
| RAM (Windows, idle-ish) | ~700 MB | ~200 MB |
- Library — installed games, “Playing now”, update badges, remove / move between drives
- Catalog — multi-source chips, search, sort, grid/list, Steam covers & descriptions (cached on disk)
- Downloads — magnet torrents (libtorrent): progress, speed, peers, ETA; pause / resume / cancel; HTTP add-ons when the feed provides them
- Install & Play — with a source plugin (e.g. FreeTP): download → auto-install → Play; optional DLC/add-on picker
- Updates — detect newer catalog builds; check / install game updates; optional auto-update on launch
- App updates — check GitHub Releases from Settings (download Setup.exe / AppImage in-app)
- Storage — several library folders/drives; pick where to install; separate downloads folder
- Appearance — dark/light, accent colors; English / Russian UI (Weblate)
- Linux — Proton-GE download & selection in Settings → Launch; Windows builds run through Proton
- Windows — custom title bar; Setup installer from Releases
| Mode | What you get |
|---|---|
Source plugin (.arach) |
Full cycle: catalog → download → install → Play |
| Hydra catalog (JSON URL only) | Browse + torrent, then manual install — same as in Hydra (open folder / run installer / point to the game) |
Official plugin today: FreeTP (arachnel-plugin-freetp) — auto install & Play. Online-Fix as a plugin is not ready yet; JSON feeds under Settings → Hydra catalogs still work with manual install like Hydra.
- Download the latest build from Releases:
- Windows:
Arachnel-<version>-Setup.exe - Linux:
Arachnel-<version>-x86_64.AppImage
- Windows:
- Install the FreeTP plugin: get
freetp.arachfrom the plugin repo, then in Arachnel open Settings → Plugins → Install .arach… - On Linux, open Settings → Launch and install Proton-GE if prompted.
- Open Catalog → pick a game → Install → wait for Downloads → Play from Library.
Optional: add extra Hydra-compatible games.json URLs under Settings → Hydra catalogs.
Build from source
# Linux
./run.sh
# Windows
.\run.ps1Needs Qt 6.8+, CMake 3.20+, C++20, and libtorrent (system package or fetched by CMake).
AppImage packaging: scripts/ci/package-appimage.sh — see docs/RELEASE.md.
| Catalog | Library | Downloads |
|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
- Online-Fix as a first-class source plugin
- Shipping popular plugins inside official releases
- More polish (notification center, portable integrity checks)
Roadmap for contributors: docs/ROADMAP.md
| Doc | For |
|---|---|
| VISION.md | Why the project exists |
| ARCHITECTURE.md | Layers & plugin contract |
| PLUGIN_SDK.md | Writing a source plugin |
| CATALOG_FORMAT.md | JSON catalog feed format |
| TRANSLATING.md | i18n / Weblate |
| RELEASE.md | GitHub Actions releases |
| plugins/README.md | Plugin status & FreeTP workflow |
Plugins live in separate repositories. This repo is the host + SDK only.
kirill.kif234@gmail.com — only for important matters.
Bugs, ideas, questions: GitHub Issues.