Upstream architecture
Good for newcomers Based onIndependent
Debian is the only independent distro here that made riscv64 an official release architecture; separately there are Debian-based riscv64 systems such as deepin and RevyOS (not verified one by one).
Versions13.7 (trixie, current stable; ISO is debian-13.7.0-riscv64-netinst.iso) · 14 (forky, in development/testing)
Boardsqemu（Official）、unmatched（Community）、visionfive2（Community）、licheepi-4a（Partial）、meles（Partial）、k3（Partial）、a210（Partial）、k230（Partial）、megrez（Community）、titan（Community）、pioneer（Community）、orangepi-rv2（Community）、bpi-f3（Community）
Upstream architecture
Good for newcomers Based onDebian
Ubuntu has the most detailed board support: it publishes preinstalled images per board, but 26.04 raised the bar to RVA23, leaving older boards stuck on 24.04 LTS.
Versions26.10 (current, RVA23) · 26.04.1 LTS (RVA23) · 24.04.5 LTS (RVA20, older hardware still supported)
Boardsqemu（Official）、unmatched（Official）、visionfive2（Official）、licheepi-4a（Partial）、meles（Partial）、k3（Official）、a210（Partial）、k230（Partial）、megrez（Partial）、titan（Partial）、pioneer（Partial）、orangepi-rv2（Partial）、bpi-f3（Partial）
Community port
Good for newcomers Based onIndependent
Fedora runs an official RISC-V SIG with continuous builds, but the project still labels riscv64 "not officially supported" and ships images through the alt channel. It works fine day to day; its support level is simply not the same as Debian or Ubuntu.
Versions44 (stable, RISC-V images available) · 45 (Beta/RC, RISC-V images labelled "non-official, community-contributed") · rawhide
Boardsqemu（Official）、unmatched（Partial）、visionfive2（Official）、licheepi-4a（Partial）、meles（Partial）、k3（Official）、a210（Partial）、k230（Partial）、megrez（Official）、titan（Official）、pioneer（Official）、orangepi-rv2（Official）、bpi-f3（Official）
Vendor derivative
Good for newcomers Based onFedora
FVF is a RISC-V image rebuilt from Fedora sources by a separate team, not an official Fedora release. It covers more boards than the official SIG images, so it is the practical pick when you want a Fedora userland that boots out of the box.
VersionsFedora 36 → rawhide (built independently, covering several Fedora releases)
Boardsqemu（Community）、unmatched（Community）、visionfive2（Community）、licheepi-4a（Community）、meles（Community）、k3（Community）、a210（Community）、k230（Community）、megrez（Community）、titan（Community）、pioneer（Community）、orangepi-rv2（Community）、bpi-f3（Community）
Vendor derivative
Good for newcomers Based onDebian 13 (trixie) rootfs + XuanTie-customized 6.6 kernel (TH1520/SG2042 BSP); the older 20240720 build is Debian 12 + 5.10 kernel
The de facto standard on TH1520 boards: LicheePi 4A and Milk-V Meles ship with RevyOS, and the official tutorials flash it too. The best first pick for newcomers, but note that the mirror is newer than the docs — take the latest date from the mirror directory.
Versions20260504 (2026-05-04, newest full image on the mirror) · 20251226 (2025-12-26, newest version listed in the official docs) · 20250729 (2025-07-29) · 20240720 (2024-07-20, 5.10 kernel / Debian 12 era)
Boardslicheepi-4a（Official）、meles（Official）、pioneer（Official）、k3（Partial）
Vendor derivative
Good for newcomers Based onUbuntu 24.04 LTS (Bianbu 2.x, K1) / Ubuntu 25.04 (Bianbu 3.x, K1) / Ubuntu 26.04 (Bianbu 4.x, K3; per vendor forum, not stated per release in official docs) + vendor BSP kernel 6.6 LTS / 6.18
The only system with an official desktop experience on K1/K3 boards (BPI-F3, Milk-V Jupiter, MUSE, Pico-ITX): GNOME/LXQt out of the box and complete documentation, making it the friendliest vendor distro for newcomers.
VersionsBianbu 2.3.5 (K1, Ubuntu 24.04 base, built 2026-06 / uploaded 2026-08-27) · Bianbu 3.0.1 (K1, Ubuntu 25.04 base, 2025-08-15) · Bianbu 4.0.8 (K3, Ubuntu 26.04 base, 2026-10-22)
Boardsbpi-f3（Official）、k3（Official）
Upstream architecture
Needs some effort Based onopenEuler 24.03 LTS (RPM/dnf, own repos) + RVCK 6.6 kernel; RISC-V ships as two separate builds, RVA20 and RVA23
An RISC-V base for server/enterprise use, moving fastest on RVA23 + Server Platform; unless you are validating server scenarios, RevyOS/Bianbu will save you trouble on a dev board.
Versions24.03 LTS SP4 (released 2026-06-30; RISC-V RVA23 ISO 2026-09-08) · 24.03 LTS SP3 (moved to long-term maintenance 2026-03-09; both RVA20 and RVA23 builds)
Boardsk3（Official）、k3-som260（Partial）、lichee-cluster-4a（Community）、licheepi-4a（Official）、milkv-duo（Community）、muse-pi-pro（Community）、pioneer（Official）、qemu（Official）、unmatched（Community）、visionfive（Community）、visionfive2（Community）
Upstream architecture
Needs some effort Based onIndependent build (deb/APT + own repos, UKUI desktop); 3.0 uses a Linux 7.0 kernel, 2.0 SP2 is the long-term stable release
The RISC-V branch of a domestic desktop OS, with board coverage split across versions (3.0 only knows K3/V100). Good for evaluating a domestic desktop stack, not as a daily driver on older TH1520/K1 boards.
VersionsopenKylin 3.0 (released 2026-08-31; download-page images 2026-09-18, RISC-V images 2026-08-28 / 2026-10-29) · openKylin 2.0 SP2 (2026-08-13 long-term stable; RISC-V images 2025-08-26)
Boardsbit-brick-k1（Community）、bpi-f3（Community）、k3（Official）、lichee-cluster-4a（Community）、licheepi-4a（Official）、mars（Community）、pioneer（Official）、qemu（Official）、unmatched（Community）、visionfive（Community）、visionfive2（Community）
Vendor derivative
Needs some effort Based onDebian-based + deepin's own repos (deepin 25 "crimson"); kernel 6.6/6.12/6.16 depending on board, mainline kernel on DP1000
The best-looking domestic desktop distro, but its RISC-V branch is a community preview shipped as per-board tar.xz files — fine for evaluation, not recommended as your only daily system.
Versionsdeepin 25.2.0 (generic RISC-V ISO, 2026-07-07) · deepin 25 crimson preview (per-board images, newest K3 build 2026-05-22) · deepin next-crimson preview (K3, 2026-09-14)
Boardsbpi-f3（Community）、k3（Community）、licheepi-4a（Community）、mars（Community）、megrez（Community）、meles（Community）、p550（Community）、pioneer（Community）、qemu（Community）、star64（Community）、titan（Community）、unmatched（Community）、visionfive（Community）、visionfive2（Community）
Upstream architecture
Good for newcomers Based onDebian/Ubuntu (Armbian build framework)
The main reason domestic RISC-V boards are usable out of the box; look here first for newer boards like K3/BPI-F3.
Versions26.8.9 (MusePi Pro) · 26.8.3 (BPI-F3 / K3 Pico-ITX)
Boardsk3（Official）、bpi-f3（Official）、orangepi-rv2（Community）、visionfive2（Community）
Upstream architecture
Good for newcomers Based onIndependent
Alpine's riscv64 is a real architecture, but board coverage is narrow — there are only those five u-boot packages, so anything outside them means porting it yourself.
Versions3.24.3 (current stable, alpine-standard-3.24.3-riscv64.iso) · edge (development branch)
Boardsqemu（Official）、unmatched（Official）、visionfive2（Official）、licheepi-4a（Partial）、meles（Partial）、k3（Community）、a210（Partial）、k230（Partial）、megrez（Partial）、titan（Partial）、pioneer（Partial）、orangepi-rv2（Partial）、bpi-f3（Partial）
Community port
Needs some effort Based onArch Linux
Arch's "official" here is only the port's own tested list, not official Arch support — the page should mark it as a community port.
Versionsrolling (ISO archlinux-2026.08.27-riscv64.iso, rootfs archriscv-2026-08-27.tar.zst)
Boardsqemu（Official）、unmatched（Official）、visionfive2（Official）、licheepi-4a（Partial）、meles（Partial）、k3（Partial）、a210（Partial）、k230（Partial）、megrez（Community）、titan（Partial）、pioneer（Partial）、orangepi-rv2（Partial）、bpi-f3（Community）
Community port
Good for newcomers Based onIndependent
MicroOS is a riscv64 variant of the same project (there is a kvm-and-xen qcow2 image), not a downstream derivative.
VersionsTumbleweed (rolling, current ISO Snapshot20260924) · MicroOS 16.0.0 (riscv64, Snapshot20260924)
Boardsqemu（Official）、unmatched（Community）、visionfive2（Community）、licheepi-4a（Partial）、meles（Partial）、k3（Partial）、a210（Partial）、k230（Partial）、megrez（Community）、titan（Community）、pioneer（Community）、orangepi-rv2（Community）、bpi-f3（Community）
Upstream architecture
Needs some effort Based onIndependent (built from source, OpenRC/systemd optional)
Friendly to veterans, discouraging for beginners: complete docs but a fully manual install, good for people who want deep customization or an embedded rootfs.
Versionsrolling (stage3 rv64_lp64d-openrc 20261026T164559Z)
Boardsqemu（Official）、unmatched（Community）、visionfive2（Community）、licheepi-4a（Community）、pioneer（Community）、orangepi-rv2（Community）、bpi-f3（Community）
Community port
Needs some effort Based onIndependent (Nix/nixpkgs, systemd)
Declarative config is nice, but riscv64 is in a "it runs, don't expect an easy ride" state.
Versions26.05 (official builds for x86_64/aarch64 only) · unstable (community riscv64 builds)
Boardsqemu（Community）、unmatched（Community）、visionfive2（Community）、licheepi-4a（Community）
Upstream architecture
Needs some effort Based onIndependent (BSD, FreeBSD kernel + pkg)
If you want a proper Unix-like system with official images, FreeBSD is the most solid non-Linux option on RISC-V.
Versions15.1-RELEASE (production, 2026-06-16) · 14.5-RELEASE (legacy)
Boardsqemu（Official）、unmatched（Official）、visionfive2（Official）
Upstream architecture
Needs some effort Based onIndependent (BSD, NetBSD kernel + pkgsrc)
Smooth under QEMU; on real hardware it depends on whether you already have a working U-Boot.
Versions11.0 (current release)
Boardsqemu（Official）、visionfive2（Official）
Upstream architecture
Needs some effort Based onIndependent (BSD, OpenBSD kernel + ports/packages)
Security-focused and minimal; the experience is most orthodox on an Unmatched, otherwise not a beginner's pick.
Versions8.0 (current release)
Boardsunmatched（Official）、visionfive2（Official）
Upstream architecture
Needs some effort Based onIndependent (RPM/apt-rpm, ALT's own toolchain)
The most complete RISC-V support among Russian distros, with images that work out of the box; suited to QEMU and Unmatched users.
VersionsSisyphus (rolling, riscv64 port) · p11 (stable branch; riscv64 exists only in Sisyphus)
Boardsqemu（Official）、unmatched（Official）
Upstream architecture
Vendor testing Based onIndependent, self-built (RPM + dnf, rolling release); kernel 7.2.6 / LTS 6.18.54, toolchain GCC 16.2 with its own glibc
Mostly for vendor/ecosystem testing: it is officially positioned as early validation — surfacing firmware, platform-semantics and kernel interop problems early so vendors fork less. Regular users normally don't need it; for daily use pick a vendor distro such as Bianbu / RevyOS / openKylin, and try its QEMU image if you just want a zero-cost look.
Versions2026.09 (built 2026-09-29) · 2026.08 (2026-08-26) · 2026.07 (2026-07-23)
Boardsqemu（Official）、k3（Community）
Community port
Needs some effort Based onIndependent (XBPS + runit + musl/glibc)
Not usable for any RISC-V scenario right now; listed only to show that "small and fast" does not mean "has RISC-V".
Versionsrolling (live/ROOTFS 20250202)
Community port
Needs some effort Based onIndependent (RPM + poldek, Polish community distro)
Treat it as "no RISC-V support"; mark it as unsupported on the portal rather than misleading readers.
VersionsTh 2025 snapshot (3.0 line)
Community port
Needs some effort Based onIndependent (pkgtools + slackpkg, BSD-style init)
Long-time Slackware users can try slarm64 to keep the habit alive on RISC-V; beginners should stay away.
Versions15.0 (official, x86_64) · slarm64-riscv64-current / slarm64-riscv64-15.0 (unofficial port)
Boardsvisionfive2（Community）、licheepi-4a（Community）
Upstream architecture
Needs some effort Based onAOSP (Linux kernel + Android framework)
Only for experiments that check whether the Android framework boots on RISC-V — don't treat it as a usable system.
VersionsAndroid 17 (AOSP, 2026-06) · main (trunk_staging)
Boardsqemu（Official）