Skyrim: 5 Best Mod Managers in 2024
Mods are an integral part of every Skyrim playthrough. No matter whether you’re installing immersion mods, graphics mods or simply adding more items to the game it’s going to take a lot of time. The first few hours (if not more) are going to be spent searching mods, updating them, and making sure that everything works as intended.
Since players tend to hoard mods, organizing them is no easy task, luckily we have third-party applications created specifically to make your modded Skyrim setup easier. With everything said, it’s obvious what today’s post is going to be about – Mod organizers. We decided to take a look at some of the most popular apps for managing mods in Skyrim and make a list with the pros and cons of every single one of them. So, without further ado, let’s take a look at our 5 best Skyrim mod managers.
5. BMO-Basic Mod Organization
This mod managing tool for Skyrim does exactly what it says, it manages mods and that’s pretty much it. If you’re looking for a rudimentary way to manage your mods this is the perfect tool for you. BMO excels at gathering all your mods in one place, it allows you to enable and disable desired mods and create separate “modded” profiles. If you decide to invest a bit of manual work, this tool can help you sort your load order as well.
Even though I’ve put this mod fifth on the list, it doesn’t mean it’s bad. It simply offers the least functions when it comes to such tools. That lack of extra features makes BMO extremely fast and lightweight. It’s not cluttered with some features that, if you’re just starting with Skyrim modding, you’re not going to use anyway.
The downside is, that if you’re looking for something that will maintain your mods and keep them up to date, BMO doesn’t do that. You can download BMO- Basic Mod Organization by following this link.
4. Nexus Mod Manager – Community Edition
Do not mistake Nexus Mod Manager – Community Edition for the old Nexus Mod Manager this is an entirely new project developed by a dedicated community that just can’t seem to let go of the defunct Nexus Mod Manager.
Nexus Mod Manager – CE has support for numerous other games besides Skyrim, and it inherited a lot of its features from the old mod manager. Such as installing mods, organizing them, and sorting your load order. However, it also inherited the tendency to mess up your game badly due to not using the virtual installing method for mods.
For nostalgic players, and the ones that don’t mind the ancient user interface, however, this is a perfect fit. It’s not wise to use the older version of Nexus Mod Manager due to being severely outdated, but if you’re having a hard time moving on to something else, I recommend you give the Community Edition a try. You can Download Nexus Mod Manager – Community Edition from this link.
3. Wrye Bash
Wrye Bash is a multipurpose tool with just about any advanced feature that you can imagine. It’s one of the oldest tools on this list since it has a long history with Elder Scrolls games. Wrye Bash is most commonly used to create bashed patches so two (or more) conflicting mods can work together without messing up your game.
This tool has numerous features, primarily you can use it to install and organize your mods. Once you’re done with that, it will sort your load order, which is extremely important in order for everything to run smoothly. Wrye bash also makes managing screenshots and .ini tweaks easier.
You must be wondering why it’s number 3 on the list. It’s simple, but it’s not as user-friendly as some other tools on this list. Even though it has great advanced features, most of the people freshly introduced to modding will have no use for them and will have trouble navigating through its interface.
The instructions are very detailed, but you can easily be overwhelmed. With everything taken into account, it’s still one of the best modding tools out there that I personally rely on every time I think about modding Skyrim again with conflicting mods. You can download Wrye Bash by following this link.
2. Vortex
Speaking of the old Nexus Mod Manager, it was replaced by Vortex. A completely new modding tool that brought the latest modern modding standard to the Nexus platform. This is an in-house solution for managing mods for games that can be found on the Nexus platform, and due to that, it supports by far the largest number of games.
Not only does Vortex look wonderful, but it also has new features that the community wanted for ages. You can download mods or discover them depending on what you prefer, you can sort your mods into various profiles, and once you’re done it allows you to sort your load order. Vortex also supports a variety of plug-ins. The biggest advantage over other mod organizers is that it’s extremely user-friendly- until you attempt to do something more sophisticated with it.
That does not mean that Vortex is without issues, it’s still a work in progress and some of the features have a tendency to act weird. You can download Vortex from this link.
1. Mod Organizer 2
Mod Organizer 2 is the most commonly used mod management tool for Skyrim, at least when it comes to the Nexus community. The tool was developed by Tannin, who eventually abandoned the project due to being hired to work on the aforementioned Vortex mod manager. But don’t worry it’s still supported by its loyal community.
A lot of people noticed Tannin’s influence in Vortex and for that reason decided to switch. The reason why Mod Organizer is still a better alternative to Vortex is the fact that it can’t mess up your original installation of the game. It uses separate folders to install mods and separate sets of .ini files so it won’t mess up the original Skyrim .ini file.
The only downside is (depending on who you ask) it’s not as user-friendly and noob friendly as Vortex Manager is. Still, when everything is considered it’s the safest bet when it comes to mod managers. And that’s about it. No matter have frustrating modding Skyrim can sometimes be, these tools are bound to make it easier!
Have something to add? Let us know in the comments below!