fastfetch

An actively maintained, feature-rich and performance oriented, neofetch like system information tool.

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pfetch

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🐧 A pretty system information tool written in POSIX sh.

screenFetch

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Fetches system/theme information in terminal for Linux desktop screenshots.

macchina

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A system information frontend with an emphasis on performance.

Quick Overview

Fastfetch is a fast, highly customizable system information tool for Linux, MacOS, and BSD systems. It provides a quick overview of system specs, hardware, and software information in a visually appealing format, similar to Neofetch but with improved performance and flexibility.

Pros

Extremely fast execution compared to similar tools
Highly customizable output and appearance
Supports a wide range of operating systems and hardware configurations
Written in C, resulting in minimal dependencies and efficient resource usage

Cons

May require compilation from source on some systems
Less widespread adoption compared to more established tools like Neofetch
Some advanced features may require additional configuration

Getting Started

To install Fastfetch on most Linux systems, you can use the following commands:

git clone https://github.com/fastfetch-cli/fastfetch.git
cd fastfetch
mkdir build && cd build
cmake ..
cmake --build . --target fastfetch
sudo cmake --install .

After installation, you can run Fastfetch by simply typing:

fastfetch

To customize the output, you can create a configuration file at ~/.config/fastfetch/config.conf. Here's a basic example:

--logo auto
--structure Host:OS:Kernel:Uptime:Packages:Shell:Resolution:DE:WM:Terminal:CPU:GPU:Memory:Disk:Battery
--color-keys magenta
--color-title cyan

For more advanced configuration options and usage, refer to the project's documentation on GitHub.

Competitor Comparisons

pfetch

2,041

🐧 A pretty system information tool written in POSIX sh.

Pros of pfetch

Extremely lightweight and minimal (written in POSIX sh)
Fast execution time due to simplicity
Easy to customize and modify

Cons of pfetch

Limited feature set compared to fastfetch
Less detailed system information
No configuration file support

Code Comparison

pfetch:

#!/bin/sh

# Minimal POSIX sh script to fetch system information
get_os() {
    os="$(uname -s)"
    case "$os" in
        Linux*)   os="Linux" ;;
        Darwin*)  os="macOS" ;;
        *)        os="Unknown" ;;
    esac
    echo "$os"
}

fastfetch:

// More feature-rich C implementation
#include "fastfetch.h"

const char* FF_GET_OS_NAME(FFinstance* instance) {
    #if defined(__APPLE__)
        return "macOS";
    #elif defined(__linux__)
        return "Linux";
    #else
        return "Unknown";
    #endif
}

fastfetch offers a more comprehensive system information tool with extensive customization options, while pfetch provides a minimalist approach focused on speed and simplicity. fastfetch is written in C, allowing for more advanced features and optimizations, whereas pfetch uses POSIX sh for maximum portability and ease of modification. fastfetch includes a configuration system and supports various output formats, while pfetch relies on environment variables for limited customization.

screenFetch

3,840

Fetches system/theme information in terminal for Linux desktop screenshots.

Pros of screenFetch

More established project with a longer history and larger user base
Supports a wider range of operating systems and distributions
Written in Bash, making it easier for users to modify and extend

Cons of screenFetch

Slower execution time compared to fastfetch
Less actively maintained, with fewer recent updates
Limited customization options without modifying the source code

Code Comparison

screenFetch (Bash):

#!/usr/bin/env bash

# Detect the operating system
detectos() {
    OS=$(uname -s)
    case "$OS" in
        Linux*)     OS=Linux ;;
        Darwin*)    OS=Mac ;;
        *)          OS="Unknown" ;;
    esac
}

fastfetch (C):

#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
#include "util/FFgetOSName.h"

const char* FFgetOSName(void) {
    #ifdef __APPLE__
        return "macOS";
    #elif defined(__linux__)
        return "Linux";
    #else
        return "Unknown";
    #endif
}

The code snippets demonstrate the different approaches to detecting the operating system. screenFetch uses a Bash script with a case statement, while fastfetch implements the detection in C using preprocessor directives. This illustrates the language difference and potential performance advantages of fastfetch's compiled approach.

macchina

1,310

A system information frontend with an emphasis on performance.

Pros of Macchina

Written in Rust, potentially offering better performance and memory safety
Highly customizable output with themes and custom formats
Supports a wide range of Unix-like systems, including macOS

Cons of Macchina

Fewer features compared to Fastfetch
Less frequent updates and smaller community
Limited support for non-Unix systems

Code Comparison

Macchina configuration example:

[themes]
custom = "{host} | {os} | {kernel} | {uptime}"

Fastfetch configuration example:

{
    "display": ["host", "os", "kernel", "uptime"],
    "separator": " | "
}

Both projects aim to provide system information in a fast and customizable manner. Fastfetch, written in C, offers more features and broader system support, while Macchina focuses on Unix-like systems with a Rust implementation. Fastfetch has a larger community and more frequent updates, potentially leading to better long-term support and feature additions. However, Macchina's Rust foundation may provide advantages in terms of memory safety and performance for supported systems. The choice between the two depends on specific needs, preferred language ecosystem, and target operating systems.

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README

Fastfetch

Fastfetch is a neofetch-like tool for fetching system information and displaying it prettily. It is written mainly in C, with performance and customizability in mind. Currently, Linux, Android, FreeBSD, macOS, SunOS and Windows 7+ are supported.

There are screenshots on different platforms.

Installation

Linux

Some distros packaged an outdated fastfetch version. Older version receive no support, so please try always to use the latest version.

Ubuntu: ppa:zhangsongcui3371/fastfetch (for Ubuntu 22.04 or newer)
Debian: apt install fastfetch (for Debian 13 or newer)
Debian / Ubuntu: Download fastfetch-linux-<proper architecture>.deb from Github release page and double-click it (for Ubuntu 20.04 or newer and Debian 11 or newer).
Arch Linux: pacman -S fastfetch
Fedora: dnf install fastfetch
Gentoo: emerge --ask app-misc/fastfetch
Alpine: apk add --upgrade fastfetch
NixOS: nix-shell -p fastfetch
openSUSE: zypper install fastfetch
ALT Linux: apt-get install fastfetch
Exherbo: cave resolve --execute app-misc/fastfetch
GNU Guix: guix install fastfetch
Solus: eopkg install fastfetch
Slackware: sbopkg -i fastfetch
Void Linux: xbps-install fastfetch
Venom Linux: scratch install fastfetch

You may need sudo, doas or sup to run these commands.

If fastfetch is not packaged for your distro or an outdated version is packaged, linuxbrew is a good alternative: brew install fastfetch

macOS

HomeBrew: brew install fastfetch
MacPorts: sudo port install fastfetch

Windows

scoop: scoop install fastfetch
Chocolatey: choco install fastfetch
winget: winget install fastfetch
MSYS2 MinGW: pacman -S mingw-w64-<subsystem>-<arch>-fastfetch

You may also download the program directly from the GitHub releases page in the form of an archive file.

FreeBSD

pkg install fastfetch

Android (Termux)

pkg install fastfetch

Build from source

See Wiki: https://github.com/fastfetch-cli/fastfetch/wiki/Building

Usage

Run it with default configuration: fastfetch
Run it with all supported modules and find what interests you: fastfetch -c all.jsonc
Find all data that fastfetch detects: fastfetch -s <module> --format json
Display help messages: fastfetch --help
Generate config file based on command line arguments: fastfetch --arg1 --arg2 --gen-config

Customization

Fastfetch uses the JSONC (or JSON with comments) for configuration. See Wiki for detail. There are some premade config files in presets, including the ones used for the screenshots above. You can load them using -c <filename>. Those files can serve as examples of the configuration syntax.

Logos can be heavily customized too; see the logo documentation for more information.

Packaging

Repositories

Manual

DEB / RPM package: cmake --build . --target package
Install directly: cmake --install . --prefix /usr/local

FAQ

Q: Neofetch is good enough. Why do I need fastfetch?

Fastfetch is actively maintained.
Fastfetch is faster. As the name suggests.
Fastfetch has a greater number of features, though by default fastfetch only has a few modules enabled; use fastfetch -c all to find what you want.
Fastfetch is more configurable. You can find more information in the Wiki: https://github.com/fastfetch-cli/fastfetch/wiki/Configuration.
Fastfetch is more polished. For example, neofetch prints 555MiB in Memory module and 23G in Disk module, whereas fastfetch prints 555.00 MiB and 22.97 GiB respectively.
Fastfetch is more accurate. For example, neofetch never actually supports the Wayland protocol.

Q: Fastfetch shows my local IP address. It leaks my privacy!

A local IP (10.x.x.x, 172.x.x.x, 192.168.x.x) has nothing to do with privacy. It only makes sense if you are on the same network, for example, if you connect to the same Wi-Fi network.

Actually the Local IP module is the most useful module for me personally. I (@CarterLi) have several VMs installed to test fastfetch and often need to SSH into them. I have fastfetch running on shell startup and I never need to type ip addr manually.

If you really don't like it, you can disable the Local IP module in config.jsonc.

Q: Where is the config file? I can't find it.

Fastfetch does not generate config file automatically. You can use fastfetch --gen-config to generate one. The config file will be saved in ~/.config/fastfetch/config.jsonc by default. See Wiki for detail.

Q: The configuration is so complex. Where is the documentation?

Fastfetch uses JSON (with comments) for configuration. I suggest you use an IDE with JSON schema support (like VSCode) to edit it.

Alternatively, you can refer to the presets in presets directory.

The correct way to edit the configuration:

This is an example that changes size prefix from MiB / GiB to MB / GB. Editor used: helix

Q: I WANT THE DOCUMENTATION!

Here is the documentation. It is generated from JSON schema but you won't like it.

Q: How can I customize the module output?

Fastfetch uses format to generate output. For example, to make the GPU module show only the GPU name (leaving other information undisplayed), you can use

{
    "modules": [
        {
            "type": "gpu",
            "format": "{2}" // See `fastfetch -h gpu-format` for detail
        }
    ]
}

. . which is equivalent to fastfetch -s gpu --gpu-format '{2}'

See fastfetch -h format for information on basic usage. For module specific formattion, see fastfetch -h <module>-format

Q: I have my own ascii-art / image file. How can I show it with fastfetch?

Try fastfetch -l /path/to/logo. See logo documentation for detail.

If you just want to display distro name in FIGlet text:

# install pyfiglet and jq first
pyfiglet -s -f small_slant $(fastfetch -s os --format json | jq -r '.[0].result.name') && fastfetch -l none

Q: Fastfetch runs in white and black on shell startup. Why?

This issue usually happens when using fastfetch with p10k. There are known incompatibility between fastfetch and p10k instant prompt. The p10k doc clearly states that you should NOT print anything to stdout after p10k-instant-prompt is initialized. You should either put fastfetch before initialization of p10k-instant-prompt (recommended)

You can always use fastfetch --pipe false to force fastfetch running in colorful mode.

Q: Why do fastfetch and neofetch show different memory usage result?

See #1096.

Q: I want feature A / B / C. Will fastfetch support it?

Fastfetch is a system information tool. We only accept hardware or system level software feature requests. For most personal uses, I recommend using Command module to detect it yourself, which can be used to grab output from a custom shell script:

// This module shows the default editor
{
    "modules": [
        {
            "type": "command",
            "text": "$EDITOR --version | head -1",
            "key": "Editor"
        }
    ]
}

Otherwise, open a feature request in GitHub Issues.

Q: I have questions. Where can I get help?

For usage questions, please start a discussion in GitHub Discussions.
For possible bugs, please open an issue in GitHub Issues. Be sure to fill the bug-report template carefully for developers to investigate.

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