diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b48047f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+.git
+.iso
+iso-output
+docs/_site
diff --git a/Containerfile b/Containerfile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3ca77b0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Containerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+# Antergos NeXT ISO build container
+#
+# Build an Antergos NeXT ISO inside an Artix Linux container. This is the
+# same path GitHub Actions uses, so anyone can produce a release ISO without
+# running an Artix/Arch system (works on Gentoo, Fedora, anything with podman).
+#
+# Usage:
+#   podman build -t antergos-build .
+#   podman run --rm --privileged \
+#     -v /var/lib/artools-buildiso:/var/lib/artools/buildiso \
+#     -v "$(pwd)/iso-output:/workspace/iso-output" \
+#     -e WORKSPACE_DIR=/workspace \
+#     antergos-build
+#
+# --privileged is required: artools' chroot (via basestrap) mounts devtmpfs,
+# proc and sysfs into the target, which rootless containers cannot do.
+#
+# The finished ISO is written to /workspace/iso-output (bind-mounted above).
+
+FROM docker.io/artixlinux/artixlinux:base
+
+ENV INITSYS=dinit \
+    WORKSPACE_DIR=/workspace \
+    CHROOTS_DIR=/var/lib/artools
+
+# Full dependency set for an ISO build: artools (base + iso tools), squashfs
+# for the .sfs layers, mkinitcpio for the initramfs, grub + xorriso for the
+# bootable image, git/python for CI tooling and the Internet Archive uploader.
+RUN pacman -Syu --noconfirm --needed --overwrite='*' \
+      artools \
+      git \
+      squashfs-tools \
+      sudo \
+      python \
+      python-pip \
+      xorriso \
+      dosfstools \
+      syslinux \
+      gptfdisk \
+      mtools
+
+# This repo's buildiso and profiles become the default build payload. Mounting
+# a live checkout over /workspace at runtime replaces these with the user's copy.
+WORKDIR /workspace
+COPY . .
+
+# Point artools at the Antergos package repository. CI copies the profile's
+# pacman.conf into both the user config dir (first match) and artools' defaults.
+RUN mkdir -p /root/.config/artools/pacman.conf.d \
+    && cp pacman.conf.d/iso-x86_64.conf /root/.config/artools/pacman.conf.d/iso-x86_64.conf \
+    && cp pacman.conf.d/iso-x86_64.conf /usr/share/artools/pacman.conf.d/iso-x86_64.conf
+
+# The modified buildiso lives in this repo and must be used instead of
+# /usr/bin/buildiso (which lacks --overwrite='*').
+ENTRYPOINT ["/workspace/buildiso"]
+CMD ["-p", "antergos"]
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 79b2cf4..eae4297 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -31,13 +31,57 @@ The Antergos NeXT project prefers init system flexibility over systemd lock-in.
 
 ## Building
 
-Requires an **Artix-based** system:
+### Option A: Build in a container (non-pacman distros — recommended)
+
+No Artix/Arch needed. Works on Gentoo, Fedora, Debian — anything **without
+pacman** that has podman. This is the same path GitHub Actions CI uses.
 
 ```bash
-# Install build deps
+# Build the image (installs artools + deps inside an Artix container)
+podman build -t antergos-build .
+
+# Build the ISO (rootful podman required — artools chroots mount devtmpfs,
+# which rootless containers cannot do)
+sudo podman run --rm --privileged \
+  -v /var/lib/artools-buildiso:/var/lib/artools/buildiso \
+  -v "$(pwd)/iso-output:/workspace/iso-output" \
+  -e WORKSPACE_DIR=/workspace \
+  antergos-build
+```
+
+Or use the helper script:
+
+```bash
+./build-iso-podman.sh
+```
+
+The finished `.iso` lands in `iso-output/`.
+
+### Option B: Native build (just pacman + artools)
+
+You do **not** need an Artix-based system — `buildiso` is plain bash on top of
+`pacman`. You need:
+
+- `pacman` (native on Arch/Artix/**KaOS**; on other distros, install it or
+  extract the `.pkg.tar.zst` files)
+- the artools libraries from the Artix repo: `artools-base` (provides
+  `basestrap`, `artix-chroot`, `fstabgen`) and `artools-iso` (provides
+  `buildiso`) plus their deps
+- `squashfs-tools`, `grub`, `xorriso`/`libisoburn`, `dosfstools`, `mtools`
+
+```bash
+# On Arch/Artix:
 pacman -S artools squashfs-tools
 modprobe loop
 
+# On KaOS (pacman native, but artools not in KaOS repos — extract from Artix):
+pacman -S squashfs-tools
+# grab artools-base/artools-iso from the Artix repo and extract over /
+
+# On other distros: grab the packages from the Artix repo and extract
+# them over / (e.g. into /usr/share/artools and /usr/bin), then install
+# pacman and the deps listed above.
+
 # Clone and enter
 git clone https://github.com/Antergos-NeXT/antergos-iso.git
 cd antergos-iso
@@ -59,6 +103,11 @@ The `.iso` appears in `/var/lib/artools/buildiso/iso/antergos/`.
 
 First build pulls ~5 GB from the internet. Subsequent builds use pacman cache.
 
+> **Which option do I use?**
+>
+> - **Arch / Artix / KaOS / any pacman-based distro** → Option B (native).
+> - **Anything else** (Gentoo, Fedora, Debian, ...) → Option A (podman).
+
 ### Custom packages
 
 The ISO pulls custom packages (branding, Calamares config, wallpapers) from our repo. Add it to your system:
diff --git a/build-iso-podman.sh b/build-iso-podman.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..9a1ee7b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build-iso-podman.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+# Antergos NeXT ISO build inside the Artix container (see Containerfile).
+# Rootful podman is required: artools' chroot mounts devtmpfs, which rootless
+# containers cannot do.
+
+cd "$(dirname "$0")"
+
+# 1. Ensure the build image exists
+if ! podman image exists localhost/antergos-build:latest; then
+  podman build -t antergos-build .
+fi
+
+# 2. Run the build (privileged, workspace mounted, tmpfs workdir, ISO exported)
+sudo podman run --rm --privileged \
+  -v "$(pwd):/workspace" \
+  -e WORKSPACE_DIR=/workspace \
+  -e INITSYS=dinit \
+  antergos-build sh -c '
+    set -euo pipefail
+    mkdir -p /var/lib/artools/buildiso
+    mount -t tmpfs -o size=12G,exec,suid,dev tmpfs /var/lib/artools/buildiso
+    /workspace/buildiso -p antergos
+    echo "=== BUILD FINISHED ==="
+    mkdir -p /workspace/iso-output
+    cp -a /var/lib/artools/buildiso/iso/antergos/. /workspace/iso-output/ 2>/dev/null || true
+    ls -la /workspace/iso-output/ | head -20
+  '