balenaEtcher AlternativesOnly apps categorised as Bootable USB Creators for Linux

There are many alternatives to balenaEtcher for Linux if you are looking for a replacement. The best Linux Bootable USB Creator alternative is Ventoy, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to balenaEtcher and many of them are Bootable USB Creators available for Linux so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Linux Bootable USB Creator alternatives to balenaEtcher are UNetbootin, dd, MultiBootUSB and USBImager.

filter to find the best alternatives

balenaEtcher alternatives are mainly Bootable USB Creators, but if you're looking for Disk Imaging Tools or Linux Distros you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Linux, Mac, Windows, Android Tablet, Android Tablet + Create bootable USB, Create bootable USB and Linux + Create bootable USB. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to balenaEtcher.
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Alternatives list

  1. Ventoy icon

    Ventoy

     377 likes
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    Ventoy is an open source tool to create bootable USB drive for ISO files. With ventoy, you don't need to format the disk again and again, you just need to copy the iso file to the USB drive and boot it.

    55 Ventoy alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    Ventoy screenshot 1
     
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    5
    16
    Comments about Ventoy as an Alternative to balenaEtcher
    Top Positive Comment
    Aas
    5

    balenaEtcher had some privacy issue in the past. Ventoy doesn't "phone home". Why an USB image creator needs to send some data out anyway?

    Guest
    Positive
    0

    Ventoy only needs a one time setup and all bootable ISOs are just placed in your USB drive. Also your USB drive keeps being a storage device when you're in your OS

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Jeremy Leik
    Positive
    2

    Ventoy is a great tool. I had used YUMI extensively before Ventoy came out. What is great about Ventoy is the cross-platform support and the fact that your ISO image stay intact on your USB stick. Being able to have a large 256GB USB stick with Ventoy on it also gives it an edge against tools like Balena Etcher (one image per USB) or Rufus (ISO images are not intact).

    As a bonus, Ventoy can create USB sticks that will work with BOTH UEFI and BIOS.

    Show more comments
    3 of 5 comments
    balenaEtcher Icon
    Ventoy icon

    • Almost everyone thinks Ventoy is a great balenaEtcher alternative.

    • Ventoy is the most popular Linux alternative to balenaEtcher.

    • Ventoy is Free and Open SourcebalenaEtcher is also Free and Open Source
  2. UNetbootin icon

    UNetbootin

     757 likes
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    Cross-platform tool for making bootable USB and Live USB drives, featuring a built-in downloader for Linux ISO images and rescue disks, supporting BSD and various utilities. No installation required, it runs directly and offers compatibility and community support for many distributions.

    57 UNetbootin alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • PortableApps.com
    Welcome screen
     
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    2
    43
    Comments about UNetbootin as an Alternative to balenaEtcher
    Guest
    Negative
    2

    I cannot choose Winshit 10

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Guest
    Negative
    0

    It doesn't appear to just write images to disk

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    balenaEtcher Icon
    UNetbootin icon

    • Most users think UNetbootin is a great balenaEtcher alternative.

    • UNetbootin is the most popular Mac alternative to balenaEtcher.

    • UNetbootin is Free and Open SourcebalenaEtcher is also Free and Open Source
    • UNetbootin is Privacy focusedbalenaEtcher is not according to our users
  4. dd icon

    dd

     99 likes
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    dd, that stands for ‘data duplicator’, is a command-line utility for Unix mainly used for copying and converting data.

    39 dd alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    • BSD
     
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    3
    20
    Comments about dd as an Alternative to balenaEtcher
    Paul
    Positive
    1

    A good command-line alternative that comes with Unix-based operating systems. It's what I use on my MacBook to burn Linux ISO images on my USB drive.

    Guest
    Positive
    0

    It's application free, and already, always installed in system !

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    sharmaganesha2
    Positive
    0

    It's command line. That means it does not have garbage inside the program. But it might freak some people out. But Literally, you have Git Bash so you can use DD on Windows.

    The usage:

    $ lsblk /dev/sdb 28G /dev/sda 931G $ dd if=popos.iso of=/dev/sdb bs=1M status=progress

    It's really nice.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    balenaEtcher Icon
    dd icon

    • Almost everyone thinks dd is a great balenaEtcher alternative.

    • dd is Free and Open SourcebalenaEtcher is also Free and Open Source
  5. MultiBootUSB icon

    MultiBootUSB

     73 likes
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    MultiBootUSB is a software to create multi boot live Linux on a removable media i.e USB disk. It is similar to UNetbootin but many distros can be installed, provided you have enough space on the disk.

    44 MultiBootUSB alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    MultiBootUSB screenshot 1
     
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    11
  6. USBImager icon

    USBImager

     23 likes
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    USBImager is a really really simple GUI application that writes compressed disk images to USB drives and creates backups.

    21 USBImager alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Raspberry Pi
    Linux
     
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    3
    9
    Comments about USBImager as an Alternative to balenaEtcher
    rescuezilla
    Positive
    1

    USBImager is a 300 kilobyte download compared to balenaEtcher's 80+ megabyte. They're both cross-platform (Windows/macOS/Linux). The reason is USBImager is a native app while balenaEtcher is an Electron app.

    balenaEtcher is still a bit more user-friendly, but USBImager is by far the best cross-platform alternative right now.

    docampoangel
    Positive
    1

    Is like etcher but installed occupies 508,43 KiB in disk, instead 500MB of spyware and electron crap.

    prog_uk
    Positive
    0

    Small, simple and does everything it needs to without any unnecessary bells and whistles.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    balenaEtcher Icon
    USBImager icon

    • Almost everyone thinks USBImager is a great balenaEtcher alternative.

    • USBImager is Free and Open SourcebalenaEtcher is also Free and Open Source
  11. WoeUSB icon

    WoeUSB

     27 likes
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    WoeUSB is a simple tool that enable you to create your own usb stick windows installer from an iso image or a real DVD. It is a fork of Congelli501 s WinUSB.

    32 WoeUSB alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    WoeUSB screenshot 1
     
  12. SARDU icon

    SARDU

     37 likes
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    SARDU (short for Shardana Antivirus Rescue Disk Utility) creates a multiboot all-in-one USB drive, CD or DVD for free (personal and non commercial use). Hard disks, external hard disks and all removable media are supported.

    Cost / License

    • Free Personal
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    SARDU screenshot 1
     
  13. Fedora Media Writer icon

    Fedora Media Writer

     4 likes
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    A tool to create a bootable live USB drive with an edition of Fedora. Not only can Fedora Media Writer write an image to your flash drive, it can also download it for you. It offers official editions (Server, Workstation), Fedora spins (KDE Plasma Desktop, Xfce Desktop, Cinnamon...

    48 Fedora Media Writer alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Flathub
    Fedora Media Writer screenshot 1
     
  14. Popsicle icon

    Popsicle

     3 likes
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    Write an ISO or other image to multiple USB devices all at once. Easily preparing a bunch of flash drives of your favorite OS with just a couple of clicks.

    51 Popsicle alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    Popsicle screenshot 1
     
12 of 23 balenaEtcher alternatives