Is Modrinth better than CurseForge? For most players in 2026, yes: Modrinth publishes its code, hands launchers and scripts a direct download link for every file without an API key, and gives creators 75% of its ad revenue. CurseForge is the bigger library, though, with 300,000 Minecraft mods by its own count and big packs such as All the Mods 10 that are not on Modrinth at all, so use Modrinth by default and CurseForge for whatever only lives there.
Server owners have a second choice to make, because both sites now sell servers: Modrinth since its beta of 3 November 2024, CurseForge since its beta of 8 September 2026. This comparison covers the two platforms for players and for server owners, with every number dated and linked. If you came for the launcher question (Prism Launcher, the CurseForge app or the Modrinth App), our three-way launcher comparison answers it.
Quick answer: Modrinth vs CurseForge comes down to where your mods and modpacks live. Modrinth is the better platform: open source, an API that needs no key for most requests, 75% of ad revenue for creators, and its own server hosting from $5 a month on quarterly billing (checked 31 October 2026). CurseForge is the bigger one: 300,000 Minecraft mods against 77,942 in Modrinth's search, the big NeoForge and Forge packs, Bedrock add-ons, and since 8 September 2026 CurseForge Servers, a beta run by Shockbyte inside the CurseForge app, from $12 a month in its launch post. Both are free to download from, and both have had a well-known malware case, so safety does not decide it. Pick the platform your pack is on, or use Prism Launcher, which installs from both.
Reading in Portuguese? CurseForge ou Modrinth: qual é melhor e tem vírus? covers the same choice and the malware question in Brazilian Portuguese. Reading in Spanish? ¿CurseForge es seguro? Modrinth o CurseForge en 2026 answers both questions in Spanish.
Modrinth vs CurseForge at a Glance
Checked on 31 October 2026 unless a date says otherwise:
| Modrinth | CurseForge | |
|---|---|---|
| Mods | 77,942 in Modrinth's search | 300,000, by CurseForge's count in August 2026 |
| Big modpacks | All the Mods 10, FTB StoneBlock 4 and Vault Hunters are not on Modrinth | All three, All the Mods 10 with 22.7 million downloads |
| Minecraft editions | Java Edition only | Java mods and Bedrock add-ons |
| Source code | Public on GitHub: website, backend and app | Not public |
| Desktop app | Modrinth App, open source | CurseForge app, as an Overwolf or a standalone version |
| API | No key for most requests; every file has a direct link | Key required; some files are blocked for third-party tools |
| Creator pay | 75% of ad revenue, 50% of Modrinth+ subscriptions | Rewards Program points, 20% of CurseForge Servers net income |
| Server hosting | Modrinth Hosting, run by Modrinth, from $5 a month (2 GB, billed quarterly) | CurseForge Servers (beta), run by Shockbyte, from $12 a month (launch post, 8 September 2026) |
| Best-known malware case | Windows Borderless, May 2024 | fractureiser, June 2023 |
Is Modrinth Better Than CurseForge?
As a platform, yes. Modrinth wins on openness and on how it shares money:
- Open code. The code behind Modrinth, from the website and backend to the Modrinth App, sits in one public GitHub repository. CurseForge does not publish its code.
- An API anyone can use. Modrinth's API documentation says "You do not need a token for most requests". You get 300 requests a minute per IP address and must send a User-Agent that names your project, and every file in a version comes with a direct link on cdn.modrinth.com. CurseForge's API needs a key from its developer console, and its mod data carries a flag for whether a mod "is allowed to be distributed". When a CurseForge pack holds files without a download link that Prism Launcher cannot find on Modrinth either, Prism stops with "Blocked mods found" and asks you to download them by hand, as its source code shows.
- A published payout formula. Modrinth's Rewards Program page splits the ad revenue of its website and app 75% to creators and 25% to Modrinth, by page views and in-app downloads, and Modrinth+ sends half of each subscription to creators. CurseForge pays authors in Rewards Program points that they can cash out from 100 points, and since September 2026 also passes on 20% of the net income of CurseForge Servers.
CurseForge wins on size. It said in August 2026 that it had hit 300,000 Minecraft mods; Modrinth's search API listed 77,942 mods and 19,112 modpacks on 31 October 2026. The two sites count in their own ways, but the big packs make the gap concrete: All the Mods 10 (NeoForge, 22.7 million downloads), FTB StoneBlock 4 and Vault Hunters Third Edition are on CurseForge, and a search on Modrinth finds none of them. CurseForge also carries Bedrock add-ons, with its own guide to installing them, while Modrinth's list of game versions holds only Java Edition versions.
Overwolf is no longer a deciding point: the CurseForge app comes as an Overwolf version "with in-game features" or as a "lightweight standalone app", so you can skip Overwolf on either side.
Where Players Download the Same Mods
Many of the biggest mods are published on both sites, and their download counters show how the audience splits. Counts on 31 October 2026, rounded:
| Mod | Downloads on Modrinth | Downloads on CurseForge |
|---|---|---|
| Fabric API | 294 million | 241 million |
| Sodium | 258 million | 162 million |
| Just Enough Items (JEI) | 88 million | 642 million |
| Create | 29 million | 218 million |
Fabric API and Sodium, core mods for Fabric players, are downloaded more on Modrinth. JEI and Create, fixtures of Forge and NeoForge modding, show about seven times more downloads on CurseForge, where the big Forge and NeoForge packs are published. So if you play Fabric with performance mods, Modrinth has what you need, and if you play the big packs, you end up on CurseForge.
For Server Owners: Modrinth Hosting vs CurseForge Servers
Modrinth has sold servers since its beta of 3 November 2024, and has run them fully in-house since 13 March 2025. Since 12 April 2026 you can also buy and manage one in the Modrinth App. CurseForge started a gradual rollout of CurseForge Servers, a beta in the Servers tab of the CurseForge app, on 8 September 2026. Both start from the same idea: pick a modpack and get a server with it installed.
| Modrinth Hosting | CurseForge Servers | |
|---|---|---|
| Run by | Modrinth | Shockbyte, under Shockbyte's terms and policies |
| Status | Marked "Beta Release" on the hosting page | Beta, rolled out gradually |
| Where you buy | modrinth.com/hosting or the Modrinth App | The Servers tab in the CurseForge app; the website is planned |
| Packs | Anything on Modrinth; a CurseForge pack from its version URL or an upload, without panel updates | Packs with a server pack on CurseForge; any pack is planned |
| Plans | Small 4 GB, Medium 6 GB, Large 8 GB, custom sizes from 2 to 48 GB | Iron 4 GB, Gold 8 GB, Diamond 12 GB |
| Price | $12, $18 or $24 a month; $10, $15 or $20 a month billed quarterly; custom from $5 a month (2 GB, quarterly) | $12, $24 or $36 a month |
| CPU | 2, 3 or 4 shared CPUs that burst to twice that | 2, 3 or 4 shared CPUs |
| Money for mod authors | Promised in the 2024 beta post, not mentioned on the hosting page | 20% of net income, through the Rewards Program |
Modrinth's prices come from its hosting page and the product list the page reads, checked 31 October 2026. CurseForge's come from the plan screen in its launch post of 8 September 2026. Both are in US dollars.
Per GB the two cost the same on monthly billing: $3. Modrinth is cheaper on quarterly billing, at $2.50 per GB, and gives more CPU at 8 GB: its Large plan has 4 shared CPUs where CurseForge's Gold has 3, both at $24 a month. CurseForge's beta offers three sizes and cannot change a server's plan yet; custom plans and discounted longer terms are listed as coming. Modrinth runs its servers in North America, Europe, Southeast Asia and Australia, on AMD Ryzen CPUs with DDR5 memory.
Getting friends in works on both. A CurseForge server comes with a share link: a friend who clicks it gets the pack downloaded, Minecraft launched and the connection made by the CurseForge app. On Modrinth, a server listed as a server project does the same in the Modrinth App: joining downloads the required content and launches you into the server. For the full picture of Modrinth's offer, read our Modrinth Hosting review.
Running the Pack on Any Other Host
Any host can run packs from both sites; where the pack lives only changes how you install it. CurseForge pack authors upload a server pack as an extra file, "a specially prepared version of your modpack that allows it to be run on a multiplayer server", as CurseForge's server pack tutorial puts it. A Modrinth pack comes as one .mrpack file: the Cobblemon Official Modpack 1.8.4 of 27 October 2026, for example, has no other file. Without an installer that reads it, you set up the loader, copy in the mods and leave the client-only ones out, or the server won't start.
Our modded Minecraft server hosting installs listed CurseForge and Modrinth packs with the panel's modpack installer and takes any other pack's server files over SFTP. In the Netherlands, Germany and Poland, Standard runs on an AMD EPYC 7443 and Premium on a Ryzen 9 9950X, with the CPU shared on every plan.
If you script mod downloads for a server, Modrinth's API is the easier of the two, because its file links work without a key. CurseForge announced in June 2026 that downloads straight from its file CDN need an API key from 16 July 2026, so a script that fetches CurseForge files should send one. Whichever platform you use, pin one install link for your players, so everyone runs the same pack version.
Which One Should You Use?
- Fabric with performance mods or shaders: Modrinth.
- A big NeoForge or Forge pack such as All the Mods 10: CurseForge, because that is where the pack is published.
- Bedrock add-ons: CurseForge. Modrinth is Java Edition only.
- Mods from both sites: Prism Launcher, which "interfaces directly with Modrinth and CurseForge".
- A server for friends: the platform the pack lives on, or a host that installs from both.
- Scripts and server tools: Modrinth's API.
FAQ
Does Modrinth have more mods than CurseForge? No. CurseForge said in August 2026 that it had hit 300,000 Minecraft mods, and Modrinth's search listed 77,942 mods on 31 October 2026. Many of the most downloaded mods, such as Sodium, JEI and Create, are on both, but big packs such as All the Mods 10 are only on CurseForge.
Is Modrinth safer than CurseForge? Not in a way that should decide your choice. Both have had a well-known malware case: fractureiser was found in projects on CurseForge and BukkitDev in June 2023, and the Windows Borderless mod on Modrinth was downloaded from about 372 distinct IP addresses in May 2024. How each site checks uploads is in our guides Is Modrinth Safe? and Is CurseForge Safe?.
Can I use Modrinth and CurseForge mods together? Yes. Minecraft does not care which site a mod came from, so mods from both run side by side as long as they are built for the same loader and Minecraft version. Install each mod once, not a copy from each site. Prism Launcher can add mods from both into one instance.
Is Modrinth the same as Forge? No. Modrinth and CurseForge are sites where you download mods. Forge, NeoForge, Fabric and Quilt are mod loaders, the software that loads mods into Minecraft, and both sites carry mods for all four. Filter by your loader before you download; our NeoForge vs Forge guide explains how the two Forge loaders differ.
Does Modrinth use Overwolf? No. The Modrinth App is Modrinth's own open-source launcher. Only the CurseForge app has an Overwolf version, and it also comes as a standalone app without Overwolf.
Can Modrinth Hosting run a CurseForge modpack? Yes, with less help from the panel. Since 8 May 2025 it can extract a pack from a CurseForge modpack version URL, but the buttons to change or reinstall the pack version are hidden for packs that are not on Modrinth. CurseForge Servers works the other way round: it takes packs that have a server pack on CurseForge.
Sources
All opened on 31 October 2026:
- Modrinth: Modrinth Hosting and the product list behind its prices; news posts Modrinth Servers beta (3 November 2024), A New Chapter for Modrinth Servers (13 March 2025), Introducing Server Projects (4 March 2026), Modrinth Hosting in the App (12 April 2026) and the Windows Borderless disclosure (7 May 2024); hosting changelog of 8 May 2025 and 27 March 2026; Rewards Program information; Modrinth+; Modrinth App; API documentation; the API's mod search, project types and game versions; project pages for Fabric API, Sodium, JEI, Create and the Cobblemon Official Modpack; the Modrinth code repository
- CurseForge: CurseForge Servers launch post (8 September 2026), September 2026 newsletter, August 2026 newsletter, API key authentication for file downloads (10 June 2026), Server Packs Tutorial (22 May 2025), How to Add Minecraft Bedrock Mods (26 October 2026), app download page, REST API documentation, Rewards Program terms; project pages for All the Mods 10, FTB StoneBlock 4, Vault Hunters Third Edition, Fabric API, Sodium, JEI and Create
- Prism Launcher: website and FlameInstanceCreationTask.cpp, the "Blocked mods found" dialog
- fractureiser investigation: README
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