Our recommendation
On Windows, use Armoury Crate: it is ASUS's own app and does more than ByteKeys. On Linux, the established community tool for ASUS gaming laptops is asusctl with ROG Control Center. ByteKeys covers the main controls on ASUS and many other laptops: keyboard lighting, Silent, Balanced and Performance modes, fan curves on supported ASUS models, full fan speed and a battery charge limit.
We make ByteKeys. ByteKeys facts are from its official site; asusctl facts are from its own documentation; Armoury Crate is described from ASUS's product page. Checked on the date above.
At a glance
| ByteKeys | Armoury Crate | |
|---|---|---|
| Made by | ByteKnot Labs, open source (GPL-3.0-or-later) | ASUS |
| Runs on | Linux | Windows |
| Laptops | ASUS and many other brands; see the ByteKeys hardware list | ASUS |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Keyboard lighting | White, zoned and per-key RGB; ASUS TUF tested, ROG USB Aura experimental | ASUS Aura lighting |
| Performance modes | Silent, Balanced and Performance, in sync with the desktop's power settings | ASUS operating modes |
| Fan curves | Per fan and per mode on ASUS laptops with firmware fan curves (most TUF and ROG since 2021) | See ASUS's documentation for your model |
| Battery charge limit | 60, 80 or 100%, kept across reboots and sleep | See ASUS's documentation for your model |
| Launch key | The Armoury Crate key opens ByteKeys | Opens Armoury Crate |
| Source code | Public on GitHub | Closed |
Choose ByteKeys if…
- You run Linux on an ASUS TUF or ROG laptop and want one app for lighting, performance, fans and charging.
- Your laptop is from another brand whose vendor app only runs on Windows.
- You use Debian, Linux Mint or Pop!_OS, which asusctl does not support.
- You want open-source software you can read and audit.
Choose Armoury Crate if…
- You run Windows.
- You need ASUS features beyond lighting, performance, fans and charging.
- You want software made and supported by ASUS itself.
What carries over to Linux
ByteKeys switches Silent, Balanced and Performance modes in sync with your desktop's power settings, draws a fan curve for each fan and each mode on ASUS laptops with firmware fan curves, runs the fans at full speed on supported models, and stops charging at 60 or 80%. Keyboard lighting covers plain white backlights, zones and per-key RGB; on ASUS, TUF lighting is tested and ROG USB Aura is experimental. The Armoury Crate key opens ByteKeys instead.
asusctl, the established option
The asusctl project, with its asusd daemon and ROG Control Center, is the long-standing community tool for ASUS gaming laptops on Linux, with features such as GPU switching and AniMe Matrix control that ByteKeys does not offer. Its own documentation lists Arch, Fedora, openSUSE, NixOS and recent Ubuntu as supported, and Debian-based distributions such as Pop!_OS and Linux Mint as unsupported. ByteKeys ships a .deb for Debian and Ubuntu-based systems and also covers non-ASUS laptops. Run one of the two for fan curves, not both: asusd can keep rewriting the curves ByteKeys sets.
What it does not do
ByteKeys is not made by ASUS and does not try to replace everything Armoury Crate does. It focuses on lighting, performance, fans and charging. Check the hardware list on the ByteKeys site for your exact model; some keyboard families are marked experimental.
How it stays safe
The firmware runs the fans, never ByteKeys. It only uses controls the laptop's firmware already offers, so a crash or a stopped service cannot leave a fan off, and every curve must keep the fans at 50% or more from 80 °C and end at 70% or more. A small root service does the hardware work while the control centre runs as you.
Not only ASUS
Performance modes work on laptops whose firmware offers an ACPI platform profile, which includes ASUS, Lenovo, Dell, HP, Acer and others. The launch key also works on Acer Nitro and Predator, HP OMEN and Victus, MSI, Samsung Galaxy Book and Huawei MateBook laptops, in place of their Windows apps.
Questions
Does Armoury Crate work on Linux?
ASUS publishes Armoury Crate for Windows. On Linux, the established community tool for ASUS gaming laptops is asusctl with ROG Control Center, and ByteKeys is another option, which also covers other brands.
ByteKeys or asusctl?
asusctl if you want the deepest ASUS-specific control, such as GPU switching or AniMe Matrix, on a distribution it supports. ByteKeys if you are on Debian, Linux Mint or Pop!_OS, want one app across brands, or prefer its control centre. Use one of the two for fan curves.
Is ByteKeys made by ASUS?
No. ByteKeys is an independent open-source project by ByteKnot Labs and its contributors.
Does ByteKeys work on non-ASUS laptops?
Yes, with the controls each laptop's firmware offers. Performance modes need an ACPI platform profile, and keyboard lighting covers many brands through the kernel, built-in USB drivers and OpenRGB.
Can ByteKeys damage my laptop's fans?
It is designed not to. It never drives fan speeds directly; it only uses the firmware's own controls, and fan curves must stay above fixed safety limits.
Sources
The vendor pages behind the facts on this page, checked on the date above.