无非【wúfēi】

无非 says that something is no more than the obvious, unremarkable thing that follows: "simply", "nothing but", "it all comes down to". It usually takes 是, and what follows can be a noun, a verb phrase or a whole clause.

The tone is dismissive or matter-of-fact: whatever it seemed, it's only this. 罢了 or 而已 at the end makes that stronger.

Explaining someone's motive

无非是想… is the most common use: the speaker cuts through to the plain reason behind what someone did or said.

无非 or 只有

无非 reduces a situation to its ordinary content. It doesn't count how many people or things there were – that is 只有 or 只.

• × 无非三个人来了 → 只有三个人来了
• × 我无非有十块钱 → 我只有十块钱

不外乎 is close in meaning but more written and takes a list rather than a motive; it has its own point.