KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) Alternatives for Linux

There are many alternatives to KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) for Linux if you are looking for a replacement. The best Linux alternative is VirtualBox, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 25 alternatives to KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) and many of them are available for Linux so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Linux alternatives to KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) are QEMU, VMware Workstation Pro, VMware Workstation Player and Distrobox.

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Alternatives list

  1. VirtualBox icon
     2969 likes

    Open source VirtualBox offers powerful x86/AMD64 virtualization available freely under GNU GPL v2. Runs on Windows, Linux, Mac, Solaris hosts. Supports a vast array of guest OS like Windows, Linux, Solaris. Portable, lightweight, ad-free, with dark mode.

    70 VirtualBox alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Oracle Solaris
     
  2. QEMU icon
     307 likes

    QEMU, an open-source hypervisor, performs hardware virtualization, emulates CPUs using dynamic binary translation, and supports various architectures. It runs diverse unmodified guest OS, provides device models, and offers mixed translation modes for efficient execution.

    46 QEMU alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
     
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  3. VMware Workstation Pro Lets You Run Multiple Operating Systems as Virtual Machines (including Windows VMs) on a Single Windows or Linux PC. VMware Workstation Pro is the industry standard for running multiple operating systems as virtual machines (VMs) on a single Linux or...

    37 VMware Workstation Pro alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
     
  4. VMware Workstation Player builds on the industry leading foundation of Workstation Pro, and delivers a streamlined user interface for creating and running operating systems and applications in a virtual machine.

    41 VMware Workstation Player alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free Personal
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
     
  5. Distrobox icon
     25 likes

    Use any Linux distribution inside your terminal. Enable both backward and forward compatibility with software and freedom to use whatever distribution you’re more comfortable with. Distrobox uses podman or docker to create containers using the Linux distribution of your choice.

    11 Distrobox alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
     
  6. Anbox icon
     66 likes

    Anbox puts Android into a container and every Android application will be integrated with your operating system. Any Android version is suitable for this approach and try to keep up with the latest version from the Android Open Source Project.

    34 Anbox alternatives

    Cost / License

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Linux
     
  7. Xen icon
     74 likes

    Xen.org, home of the Xen hypervisor, the powerful open source industry standard for virtualization. It is a native (bare-metal) hypervisor providing services that allow multiple computer operating systems to execute on the same computer hardware concurrently.

    35 Xen alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
     
  8. Containers which offer an environment as close as possible as the one you'd get from a VM but without the overhead that comes with running a separate kernel and simulating all the hardware.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
     
  9. VMware vSphere Hypervisor ( based on ESXi ) is a free bare-metal hypervisor that virtualizes servers so you can consolidate your applications on less hardware.

    44 VMware vSphere Hypervisor alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    • NVIDIA vGPU
    • AMD MxGPU
     
  10. (formerly XenServer) Citrix Hypervisor is a leading virtualization management platform optimized for application, desktop and server virtualization infrastructures.

    42 Citrix Hypervisor alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    • RadeonPro
    • NVIDIA vGPU
    • AMD MxGPU
     
  11. BoxBuddy icon
     6 likes

    An unofficial GUI for managing your Distroboxes. Written with GTK4 + Libadwaita.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    • Rust
     
  12. OpenVZ icon
     13 likes

    OpenVZ is container-based virtualization for Linux.

    OpenVZ creates multiple secure, isolated Linux containers (otherwise known as VEs or VPSs) on a single physical server enabling better server utilization and ensuring that applications do not conflict.

    Each container performs.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
     
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