rEFInd vs systemd-boot

rEFInd is a free boot manager, forked from rEFIt, that scans for boot loaders and lets users select an operating system or utility at startup. It is intended for EFI-based computers, not older BIOS-based machines, and works with EFI 1.1 and UEFI 2.x. It can find EFI loaders, BIOS/CSM/legacy loaders, and boot options saved in firmware NVRAM. For Linux, rEFInd can detect kernels with EFI stub support, locate initrd files, and read kernel options from a refind_linux.conf file. It supports text and graphical operation, with configurable resolution, backgrounds, icons, and fonts. It can communicate with Shim to authenticate boot loaders using valid UEFI Secure Boot keys, Shim keys, or Machine Owner Keys. Included filesystem drivers cover ext2/3, ext4, Btrfs, ReiserFS, HFS+, and ISO-9660; the NTFS driver is not compiled by default. Downloads include ZIP, RPM, Debian, CD-R image, and USB flash drive image packages. Installation scripts and manual procedures cover Linux, macOS, and Windows. The maker describes it as beta-quality, with uneven testing across architectures.

systemd-boot is a UEFI boot manager that runs configured EFI images. Its menu displays configured entries, and a default can be selected through a pattern or the on-screen menu. If no timeout is set and no key is pressed, it starts the default entry immediately. Configuration files, kernels, initrds, and other EFI images must be on the EFI System Partition. Linux kernels need CONFIG_EFI_STUB to run directly as EFI images. Entry files can specify a title, version, machine ID, EFI image, kernel options, Linux kernel, and initrd. Hotkeys can select Linux, Windows, macOS, the EFI Shell, or entries numbered 1 through 9. EFI variables store settings such as the default, preferred, one-shot entry, and menu timeout. The systemd project says bootctl can install systemd-boot to the EFI System Partition. The project is free and open source, with GPL-2.0 and LGPL-2.1 licenses listed in its public repository. Its stated firmware support is UEFI, not BIOS, and it supports multiboot.