Which Build Should You Download? OS and CPU Architecture Guide

Open any download page for Clash Verge Rev, mihomo or a Clash-style Android client and you are met with a wall of files: x64, amd64, arm64, aarch64, armeabi-v7a, universal. None of them are labeled "this one, obviously". The reason for the variety is simple: every build targets one specific combination of operating system and CPU architecture, and only the matching build runs natively on your device.

Two questions answer everything before you download: what operating system are you on, and what CPU architecture does it use? This guide shows how to check both on every platform, decodes the file extensions, and finishes with a lookup table you can match your device against.

Why there are so many builds

A program compiled for one CPU architecture cannot natively run on another — machine code for an Intel chip means nothing to an ARM chip. Combine three or four operating systems with two or three architectures each and you get the long file lists you see on every release page. The naming is thankfully consistent: amd64 is the same thing as x86_64 (64-bit Intel and AMD desktop CPUs — the name works for Intel chips too), while arm64, aarch64 and Android's arm64-v8a all describe 64-bit ARM. armeabi-v7a is older 32-bit ARM, still relevant for aging Android phones.

How to check your OS and architecture

• Windows: open Settings → System → About and read the "System type" line — typically "64-bit operating system, x64-based processor", or ARM-based on Windows-on-ARM laptops.
• macOS: Apple menu → About This Mac. A "Chip: Apple M…" entry means Apple Silicon (arm64); an Intel processor entry means x86_64. The distinction is covered in detail in our Intel vs Apple Silicon guide.
• Linux: run uname -m in a terminal — x86_64 means you want amd64 builds, aarch64 means arm64.
• Android: most phones from recent years are arm64-v8a. If in doubt, check the device info screen or a hardware info app, or simply take the universal APK.

What the file extensions mean

• .zip — an archive, used for Windows core builds; extract it and run the executable inside.
• .gz — a single compressed binary, used for mihomo builds on Linux and macOS; unpack with gunzip.
• .dmg — a macOS disk image; open it and drag the app to Applications.
• .deb / .rpm — Linux packages for the Debian/Ubuntu family and the Fedora/RHEL family respectively.
• .apk — an Android app package, installed directly on the phone.
• .AppImage — a portable Linux app: make it executable with chmod +x and run it, no installation needed.

Match your device to the right build

For the full background on these architecture names, see ARM64 vs AMD64 vs ARMv7.

What happens if you pick the wrong build

The failure modes are at least predictable. A binary for the wrong architecture usually refuses to start at all — Linux reports something like "cannot execute binary file", Android may refuse to install the APK. One notable exception: an Apple Silicon Mac can usually run Intel builds through Rosetta 2 translation, at the cost of some performance, while an Intel Mac cannot run arm64 builds at all. Android's universal APKs bundle both ARM variants — they work on nearly any phone but the file is larger.

Ready to download

Once you know your OS and architecture, head to the download center — builds there are grouped by platform, so the lookup table above maps straight onto the page. If you are starting completely from scratch, the beginner guide walks you through everything that comes after the download.