Free VMware Workstation Pro AlternativesTop Virtualization Tools and other similar apps like VMware Workstation Pro

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

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Most VMware Workstation Pro alternatives are Virtualization Tools, but you can also narrow the list to Compatibility Layer Tools or Operating Systems. Other popular filters are Linux and Free. You can also filter for EU-based alternatives if you prefer software from the European Union.
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Alternatives
VMware Workstation Pro alternatives page was last updated

Alternatives list

  1. VirtualBox icon
     3013 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.

    75 VirtualBox alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Since

    • Since 2009

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Mac
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Oracle Solaris
    Good alternative?
     
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    5
  2. WinBoat icon
     93 likes

    Runs Windows applications, individual apps, or full desktops inside Linux with native OS-level integration, sleek interface, advanced filesystem sharing, smartcard passthrough, and resource monitoring while supporting simple installation and ongoing feature updates.

    56 WinBoat alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Since

    • Since 2025

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Docker
    Good alternative?
     
  3. QEMU icon
     317 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.

    50 QEMU alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Since

    • Since 2009

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Mac
    • Linux
    • BSD
    Good alternative?
     
  4. KVM (for Kernel-based Virtual Machine) is a full virtualization solution for Linux on x86 hardware containing virtualization extensions (Intel VT or AMD-V). It consists of a loadable kernel module, kvm.

    43 KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Since

    • Since 2012

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Android
    Good alternative?
     
  5. UTM icon
     36 likes

    An open-source QEMU-based host for creating, configuring, and running virtual machines on Macs, iOS, and visionOS. It supports full-system emulation across multiple processor architectures, plus hardware-assisted virtualization and macOS guests on ARM-based Macs.

    65 UTM alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Since

    • Since 2020

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • iPhone
    • iPad
    • visionOS
    • US flagUnited States
    UTM screenshot 1
    Good alternative?
     
  6. 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.

    45 VMware Workstation Player alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free Personal
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Since

    • Since 2009

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    Good alternative?
     
  7. VMware Fusion icon
     121 likes

    Seamlessly run your favorite Windows applications and devices, on any Intel-based Mac. Built from the ground up for the Mac, VMware Fusion is the easiest way to switch to Mac—letting you bring all of your Windows applications with you, making the most of your Windows software...

    47 VMware Fusion alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Since

    • Since 2009

    Platforms

    • Mac
    Good alternative?
     
  8. Boxes icon
     34 likes

    A simple GNOME application to access virtual systems. It is based on a design from Jon McCann and Jakub Steiner.

    32 Boxes alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Since

    • Since 2013

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD
    • GNOME
    • Flathub
    Good alternative?
     
  9. Multipass icon
     9 likes

    Multipass is a lightweight VM manager for Linux, Windows and macOS. It's designed for developers who want a fresh Ubuntu environment with a single command. It uses KVM on Linux, Hyper-V on Windows and HyperKit on macOS to run the VM with minimal overhead.

    Cost / License

    Since

    • Since 2020

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Mac
    • Linux
    • Snapcraft
    Good alternative?
     
  10. Portable-VirtualBox is a free and open source software tool that lets you run any operating system from a usb stick without separate installation. It unpacks and adjusts the paths and configuration of VirtualBox so it will run portably.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Since

    • Since 2012

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Windows
    Good alternative?
     
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