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.

    This page was last updated Jul 15, 2021
    1. 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.
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    2. NSIS

      • Free • Open Source
      • Windows
      • PortableApps.com
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      NSIS (Nullsoft Scriptable Install System) is a professional open source system to create Windows installers. It is designed to be as small and flexible as possible and is therefore very suitable for internet distribution.
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    4. Advanced Installer

      • Freemium • Proprietary
      • Windows
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        Advanced Installer is a powerful and easy to use setup authoring tool which offers full Windows Installer support and more. You can configure every aspect of your installer through a simple graphical user interface or through its command line.
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      • install4j

        • Mac
        • Windows
        • Linux
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        install4j is a powerful multi-platform Java installer builder that generates native installers and application launchers for Java applications.
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      • IzPack

        • Free • Open Source
        • Mac
        • Windows
        • Linux
        • Java
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        IzPack is a one-stop solution for packaging, distributing and deploying applications. It is fully cross-platform and generates a single installer. As such, it is an alternative to native solutions such as platform-specific installers and package managers.
      • 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.
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      • A very simplistic and streamlined program for creating installation files.
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      • Wix#

        • Free • Open Source
        • Windows
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          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.
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        • Makeself

          • Free • Open Source
          • Mac
          • Linux
          • BSD
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          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 .run suffix), and can be launched as is.
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        • DeployMaster is the no-nonsense software installer builder from Just Great Software. Deliver your applications to customers and prospects with a good first impression. Easy to use for both the developer and the end user.
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        Showing 10 of 38 alternatives