Free Mame Alternatives for Windows

There are many alternatives to Mame for Windows if you are looking for a replacement. The best free Windows alternative is RetroArch, which is also Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 10 alternatives to Mame and 14 are free and available for Windows so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting free Windows alternatives to Mame are FB Alpha, Happy Chick, FinalBurn Neo and Kawaks.

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Alternatives list

  1. RetroArch icon
     339 likes

    A fast, modular emulator frontend offering portability and extensive support for systems from arcade consoles to mobile platforms, featuring game engines like Doom and Quake, and capabilities for real-time rewinding and shader support on a variety of devices.

    160 RetroArch alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • iPad
    • F-Droid
    • Steam
    • Raspberry Pi
    • Playstation
    • Xbox
    • Haiku
     
  2. FB Alpha icon
     12 likes

    FB Alpha or FBA as it is commonly known is an emulator of arcade games, that is, it takes the program code, graphics data, etc., from an original arcade game and emulates the hardware to make the game run in it's original form.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
  3. Happy Chick icon
     8 likes

    Happy Chick emulates more than 18 systems all in one APP, some of the included emulators are FAB/MAME/MAMEPLUS,PS,PSP,FC(NES),SFC(SNES),GBA,GBC,MD,NDS,DC,NGP,WS(WSC),PCE, ONS…etc. More games will be updated in the future...

    42 Happy Chick alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • iPad
     
  4. FinalBurn Neo icon
     2 likes

    FinalBurn Neo (FB Neo or FBN. Nee 'Alpha'.) is a source-available, multi-system emulator. Originally a multi-arcade emulator, it now additionally supports multiple home consoles and computers. It's also available as a libretro core. It's currently the only active FinalBurn fork.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Raspberry Pi
     
  5. Kawaks icon
     14 likes

    Kawaks is a streamlined Neo-Geo/Capcom (CPS1/2) emulator that works well even in low-end computers and is compatible with Kaillera Netplay. You can assign macros to specific keys to perform otherwise complicated supermoves!

    14 Kawaks alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
  6. Shmupmame icon
     4 likes

    Shmupmame is a variant of the MAME emulator optimized for Shoot-em-up games (Shmups). Based on Mameplus! '99, it includes improved drivers, audio and audio volumes to enhance these types of games.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
  7. RetriX icon
     7 likes

    RetriX is an emulator front end for UWP, on all the hardware platforms it supports: it serves the same purpose as RetroArch but is built from the ground up to integrate as well as possible with Windows.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Windows Mobile
    • Windows Phone
    • Xbox
     
  8. BigPEmu icon
     3 likes

    Welcome to the home of BigPEmu! BigPEmu is the first Atari Jaguar emulator to feature compatibility with the entire retail library, along with excellent performance and a wide variety of unique features.

    Cost / License

    • Free Personal
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    • iPad
    • iPhone
     
  9. Nostlan icon
     5 likes

    A front-end or user interface (UI) is the presentation and interaction layer of an app or website. Most modern emulator apps have basic game list UIs that you can interact with using a mouse/keyboard but not a game controller.

    117 Nostlan alternatives

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
     
  10. Utility that lets you preview a wide variety of retro games across many different platforms, serving to display graphics and gameplay showcases.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Google Chrome
     
  11. Spectral icon
     1 like

    Spectral is an experimental Sinclair ZX Spectrum emulator from the 80s, which has been randomly assembled since the pandemic days. Accuracy and performance are long-term goals, but the primary focus is just having fun with this thing.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
     
  12. ProSystem icon
     5 likes

    The ProSystem Emulator is an Atari 7800 emulator for the PC and Windows OS. The emulator was written in C++ using the Windows API and DirectX. It emulates the Atari 7800 NTSC and PAL TV standards.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
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