WiX Alternatives

Making an easy-to-use and easy to understand installer for the most popular family of operating systems sounds daunting, but there are plenty of options to make just that happen. WiX just so happens to be one of those options.

Windows Installer XML (WiX) is a toolset that builds Windows installation packages from XML source code.

Though it is a handy way to easily create msi installers, it lacks customization to allow your app's installer reflect the user interface experience your software may otherwise provide. There are alternatives to WiX that can provide you support for this customization.

The list of alternatives was last updated on Oct 16, 2020
Alternatives to WiXWiX info, screenshots and reviews
  • 37 alternatives

  • Inno Setup

    Inno Setup is a free installer for Windows programs. First introduced in 1997, Inno Setup today rivals and even surpasses many commercial installers in feature set and stability.
    • Free • Open Source
    • Windows
    • Wine

  • NSIS

    NSIS (Nullsoft Scriptable Install System) is a professional open source system to create Windows installers.
    • Free • Open Source
    • Windows
    • PortableApps.com

  • Advanced Installer

    Advanced Installer is a powerful and easy to use setup authoring tool which offers full Windows Installer support and more.
    • Windows

    • IzPack

      IzPack is a one-stop solution for packaging, distributing and deploying applications.
      • Free • Open Source
      • Mac
      • Windows
      • Linux
      • Java

      • InstallForge

        InstallForge is a very easy-to-use and flexible tool for creating fast installation packages for Windows.
        • Free
        • Windows
        • Wine

      • Wix#

        WixSharp enables creating MSI files or WiX source code by using C# source code. Upon execution, the C# code is transformed into a MSI file or WiX source code. Thanks to C# features such as inheritance, it becomes easy to create installers.
        No screenshots yet
        • Free • Open Source
        • Windows

        • Makeself

          makeself.sh is a small shell script that generates a self-extractable tar.gz archive from a directory. The resulting file appears as a shell script (many of those have a .
          No screenshots yet
          • Free • Open Source
          • Mac
          • Linux
          • BSD

          • CreateInstall

            Professional installer software is an essential component for any software developer. The ideology behind the CreateInstall installer is based on two main principles.
            • Freemium
            • Windows

            • Venis GUI for NSIS

              Venis is a, NOW 100% FREE, Visual Environment for Nullsoft Install System (NSIS). The Venis IX environment makes creating and maintaining NSIS install scripts quick and easy.
              show more
              • Free
              • Windows

            • DCP Setup Maker

              Powerful simple-to-use application to generate stable and multi-platform installers.
              Its intuitive user interface and exceptional ease of use makes it very easy to build complex desktop or web installers with large amounts of files.
              • Free • Open Source
              • Mac
              • Windows
              • Linux
              • Wine