dd-Etcher
A minimal image flasher for macOS (and soon Linux). Think Balena Etcher, but without the telemetry, the bloat, or the bundled Chromium. It wraps the reliable dd(1) shell tool directly under the hood.
Cost / License
- Free
- Open Source (GPL-3.0)
Platforms
- Mac
Features
- Create bootable USB
- Burn iso
- Rust
dd-Etcher News & Activities
Recent activities
- justarandom liked dd-Etcher
- justarandom commented on dd-Etcher
I vibe coded this for fun because balenaEtcher is a spyware and that the best image flasher for macOS is a shell CLI which is not intuitive for most people. I will try my best to keep this tool updated and reliable. V2 is in the making already.
- justarandom added dd-Etcher
justarandom added dd-Etcher as alternative to Rufus, Ventoy, UNetbootin and YUMI exFAT
dd-Etcher information
Developed by
Darlene Sonalder Licensing
Open Source (GPL-3.0) and Free product.Written in
Alternatives
51 alternatives listedSupported Languages
- English
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CD/DVD ToolsGitHub repository
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- Updated
What is dd-Etcher?
A minimal image flasher for macOS (and soon Linux). Think Balena Etcher, but without the telemetry, the bloat, or the bundled Chromium. It wraps the reliable dd(1) shell tool directly under the hood.
Disclaimer: dd-Etcher is in early development. Please use with caution and report bugs.
Why
Balena Etcher is the de-facto GUI image flasher on macOS but ships with aggressive telemetry and a heavy Electron bundle. For many users, the terminal is intimidating and dd has a reputation for being "Disk Destroyer". That's why I created a BS-free dd GUI with the help of Claude Code. dd-Etcher does the same four things as Balena Etcher:
- Pick an image
- Choose a drive
- Flash the image onto it
- Verify its integrity
It aims to be a simple, bloat-free, telemetry-free tool for people who are uncomfortable using dd in the terminal directly.
Features
- Select an image (.img, .iso, .dmg, .bin, .raw)
- Select an external drive (internal drives should be hidden automatically to avoid mistakes)
- Flash via dd (It will ask for your admin password to do so)
- Verify flash integrity via SHA-256 checksum with live progress
- Full Disk Access onboarding screen — blocks the UI and guides you through the one-time setup if FDA has not been granted yet
- Built with Rust and Tauri + WKWebView
- No telemetry, no network calls, no accounts, no BS
Comments and Reviews
I vibe coded this for fun because
balenaEtcher is a spyware and that the best image flasher for macOS is a shell CLI which is not intuitive for most people. I will try my best to keep this tool updated and reliable. V2 is in the making already.