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Very Good CLI alternative: Archipelago vs Very Good CLI ​

Short answer. You may not need an alternative. Very Good CLI is a strong default. Archipelago is the alternative when you want a modular monorepo with more wired in. Both tools generate Flutter projects from the command line. Very Good CLI is free, MIT licensed and made by Very Good Ventures, a Flutter app development agency. It gives you a clean, well-tested app with bloc, flavors and GitHub Actions. Archipelago generates a modular monorepo with dependency injection, feature registration, build_prepare and a devtools/ toolkit, and then adds features to that project one brick at a time.

Pick Very Good CLI if you want a free, single-app start with strong testing habits. Pick Archipelago if you want the structure of a large, multi-team app on day one and expect to add many features later.

At a glance ​

ArchipelagoVery Good CLI
What it isA CLI that generates a Flutter monorepo, then adds features to it from 76 versioned bricks[1]A CLI from Very Good Ventures, a Flutter app development agency. It creates Flutter apps, Flutter and Dart packages, plugins, Dart CLIs, Flame games and docs sites[2][3]
Price and licenceFree plan with 3 project scaffolds per month and the Free bricks. Pro and Enterprise are one-time purchases. The CLI is MIT[4][5]Free. MIT licence[6]
Account neededYes. A free account and an API token (archipelago auth login)[7]No sign-in step in the install docs[2]
Project structureA modular monorepo: app, feature packages, shared packages and a devtools/ toolkit[8]One Flutter app with a folder per feature (a counter example). Packages and plugins have their own templates[9]
State managementYour choice: bloc, cubit, riverpod or provider, per project and per feature[7]bloc ("layered architecture with bloc")[9]
Dependency injectionWired: get_it with one global container and one per feature (Dual-GetIt)[8]No DI package in the template docs. The flavor entry points are where you set up flavor-specific dependencies[9]
Add features laterarchipelago generate <brick> adds a feature or SDK; the feature registers its DI and routes[1]very_good create makes new projects, packages and plugins. The docs list no command that adds a feature to an existing app[2]
CI/CDGitHub Actions or GitLab CI, plus Fastlane for iOS and Android[10][7]GitHub Actions that format, lint and test, with a coverage check[9]
FlavorsYes, with a flavor manager and env files in devtools/[11]Development, staging and production[9]
Test toolingCoverage pipeline with thresholds (Pro); affected-package detection for CI (Enterprise)[12]very_good test: coverage, a minimum coverage gate and recursive runs over nested packages. Template ships with 100% line coverage[13][9]
Debug tools out of release buildsbuild_prepare swaps debug tools for no-op packages in pubspec.yaml before a release build[14]Not covered in the docs[2]
AI assistantsGenerates CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md, Cursor and Copilot files in the project[15]very_good mcp starts an MCP server for AI assistants (marked experimental)[2][6]

Sources (each one checked on the date shown):

  1. Archipelago: Brick Catalog, checked 2026-10-15
  2. Very Good CLI: Overview, checked 2026-10-15
  3. Very Good Ventures home page, checked 2026-10-15
  4. Archipelago: Account & Billing, checked 2026-10-15
  5. archipelago_cli on pub.dev, checked 2026-10-15
  6. very_good_cli on pub.dev, checked 2026-10-15
  7. Archipelago: Getting Started, checked 2026-10-15
  8. Archipelago: Architecture, checked 2026-10-15
  9. Very Good CLI: Very Good Core template, checked 2026-10-15
  10. Archipelago: GitHub Actions workflows, checked 2026-10-15
  11. Archipelago: Flavor Manager, checked 2026-10-15
  12. Archipelago pricing, checked 2026-10-15
  13. Very Good CLI: test command, checked 2026-10-15
  14. Archipelago: Build Prepare, checked 2026-10-15
  15. Archipelago: AI Agent Support, checked 2026-10-15

Topic by topic ​

Project structure ​

Very Good CLI's flutter_app template (Very Good Core) makes one Flutter app with a folder per feature. It comes with a counter feature as an example. Packages, plugins and Dart CLIs have their own templates.

Archipelago makes a monorepo. A monorepo is one Git repository that holds many Dart packages. You get an app, one package per feature, shared packages, and a toolkit in devtools/. Each feature is its own package, so teams can work on features without touching each other's code. See Architecture.

Dependency injection ​

Dependency injection (DI) is how a class gets the objects it needs, such as an API client, without creating them itself. The Very Good Core docs do not name a DI package. They say the flavor entry points are where you set up flavor-specific dependencies, so you choose and wire DI yourself.

Archipelago wires DI for you with get_it: one global container for shared services, and one container per feature. See Dual-GetIt.

Adding features later ​

very_good create makes new projects, packages and plugins. Its docs do not list a command that adds a feature to an app you already have.

With Archipelago, archipelago generate <brick> adds a feature or an SDK to your project. A new feature registers its own DI and routes, so you do not edit a central file for each one. The Brick Catalog lists all 76 bricks: 50 Free, 20 Pro and 6 Enterprise.

CI/CD and Fastlane ​

Very Good Core includes GitHub Actions that format, lint and test your code, and check test coverage.

Archipelago generates GitHub Actions or GitLab CI (you choose), plus Fastlane lanes to build and ship the iOS and Android apps. See GitHub Actions workflows and Fastlane Setup.

Release builds and debug tools ​

Archipelago's build_prepare swaps debug-only packages for empty (no-op) versions in pubspec.yaml before a release build, so debug tools are not in the release app. See Build Prepare. We found nothing like this in the Very Good CLI docs.

State management ​

Very Good Core uses bloc, which its docs describe as a "layered architecture with bloc for scalable, testable code".

Archipelago lets you choose bloc, cubit, riverpod or provider when you create the project, and again for each feature.

Testing ​

Very Good CLI is strong here. The template ships with 100% line coverage, and very_good test can collect coverage, fail below a minimum, and run tests in every nested package.

Archipelago has a coverage pipeline with thresholds in the Pro plan, and affected-package detection (run CI only for packages that changed) in the Enterprise plan.

Price and licence ​

Very Good CLI is free and MIT licensed. Its install docs have no sign-in step.

The Archipelago CLI is MIT licensed, but you need a free account to download bricks. The Free plan includes 3 project scaffolds per month and the Free bricks. Pro and Enterprise are one-time purchases. See pricing.

Who should pick Very Good CLI ​

  • You want one Flutter app, not a monorepo.
  • Your team already follows Very Good Ventures and bloc conventions.
  • You only want free tools with no sign-in.
  • You want strong test and coverage tooling more than prebuilt features.
  • You also make Dart packages, plugins, CLIs or Flame games, which Very Good CLI has templates for.

Who should pick Archipelago ​

  • You expect the app and the team to grow, and you want each feature in its own package.
  • You want DI, routing, flavors, CI and Fastlane wired before you write the first feature.
  • You want to add features such as auth, paywall or analytics later with one command.
  • You want debug tools in debug builds and none of that code in release builds.

When not to use Archipelago ​

  • You want one app and nothing else. Very Good CLI makes a smaller project that is easier to read and learn.
  • You want no sign-in. Archipelago needs a free account to download bricks.
  • Test discipline comes first. Very Good CLI ships a project at 100% line coverage and a test command that enforces a minimum. Archipelago's coverage tooling is part of Pro.
  • You also build packages, plugins or Dart CLIs. Very Good CLI has templates for them. Archipelago makes app monorepos.
  • You do not plan to grow. If the app will stay small, the monorepo's extra packages cost more than they save.

Using both ​

There is no tool that converts a Very Good CLI project into an Archipelago project. To move, create a new Archipelago project and move your feature code into feature packages. Bloc and cubit code moves over with the least change, because Archipelago supports both.

Some Very Good tools are not tied to their templates. For example, very_good test runs tests in nested packages. We have not tested it with Archipelago projects, so try it on a branch first.

FAQ ​

Is Archipelago a fork of Very Good CLI? ​

No. They are separate tools with different templates. Archipelago uses Mason bricks for code generation.

Is Very Good CLI better for beginners? ​

For a single app, often yes. It is free, has no sign-in step, and makes a small project that is easy to read. Archipelago makes more packages, which takes longer to learn.

Does Archipelago support bloc like Very Good CLI? ​

Yes. You can choose bloc or cubit, and also riverpod or provider.

Can I use Archipelago for free? ​

Yes. The Free plan gives you 3 project scaffolds per month and the Free bricks. You need a free account.

Which one has more users? ​

Very Good CLI, by a large margin. On 2026-10-15 its pub.dev page showed 726 likes. Archipelago is newer and has far fewer users.

Try Archipelago

Make a free account, install the CLI, and generate a project: 

dart pub global activate archipelago_cli
archipelago auth login --interactive
archipelago create --output ./my_app

The Free plan includes 3 project scaffolds per month and the Free bricks. See Getting Started for each step, and pricing for Pro and Enterprise.