RetroArch Alternatives

RetroArch is described as 'A portable, fast, and lightweight emulator frontend supporting classic and modern gaming systems with features like real-time rewinding and shader support' and is a very popular Game Emulator in the gaming software category. There are more than 100 alternatives to RetroArch for a variety of platforms, including Windows, Linux, Mac, Android and iPhone apps. The best RetroArch alternative is Lemuroid, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like RetroArch are DuckStation, OpenEmu, PlayOnLinux - PlayOnMac and VisualBoyAdvance.

filter to find the best alternatives

RetroArch alternatives are mainly Game Emulators, but if you're looking for Game Library Managers or Compatibility Layer Tools you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Android, Windows, Linux and iPhone. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to RetroArch.
Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard
RetroArch alternatives page was last updated

Alternatives list

  1. ZSNES icon
     198 likes

    ZSNES is a Super Nintendo Entertainment System emulator. Aside from emulation accuracy, many interface features first introduced in ZSNES have been adopted by other emulators. ZSNES interface features include: Smoothing and dynamic image scaling; screenshot capture; state...

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
     
  2. Snes9x icon
     150 likes

    Snes9x is a portable, Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) emulator. It allows you to play most games designed for the SNES and Super Famicom Nintendo game systems on your PC.

    28 Snes9x alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
     
    |
    1
    Snes9x vs RetroArch Comments
    Guest
    Negative
    9

    Retroarch is not an emulator. Retroarch is a frontend for Libretro, which is a backend in which "cores" can be implemented and then run through a frontend(RA in this case.) These cores are emulators, and are what do most of the work of emulating systems. The vast majority of Libretro cores are simply preexisting emulators (like Snes9x!) ported into the Libretro API.

    • Snes9x is Free and Open SourceRetroArch is also Free and Open Source
  3. Vita3K icon
     17 likes

    Vita3K is the world's first functional experimental open-source PlayStation Vita emulator for Windows, Linux and macOS.

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
     
  4. mGBA icon
     36 likes

    mGBA is an open source emulator of the Game Boy Advance. The goals are speed and accuracy.

    43 mGBA alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
     
    |
    1
    mGBA vs RetroArch Comments
    Douze
    Negative
    4

    mGBA is an emulator, whereas RetroArch is a front-end for multiple emulators and the games using them.

    • mGBA is Free and Open SourceRetroArch is also Free and Open Source
    • mGBA is LightweightRetroArch is not according to our users
  5. Mame icon
     97 likes

    MAME stands for Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator. When used in conjunction with images of the original arcade game's ROM and disk data, MAME attempts to reproduce that game as faithfully as possible on a more modern general-purpose computer.

    24 Mame alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • AmigaOS
    • MorphOS
     
    |
    2
    Mame vs RetroArch Comments
    Douze
    Negative
    2

    Mame is an emulator, whereas RetroArch is a front-end for multiple emulators and the games using them.

    Maxim Maxim
    Negative
    0

    Retroarch this is combine for emulation other platfrom. Mame is a only MAME emulator app

    • Mame is Free and Open SourceRetroArch is also Free and Open Source
  6. Citra icon
     30 likes

    An experimental open-source Nintendo 3DS emulator/debugger written in C++. At this time, it only emulates a very small subset of 3DS hardware, and therefore is only useful for booting/debugging very simple homebrew demos. Citra is licensed under the GPLv2. Refer to the license.

    18 Citra alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • Flathub
     
    |
    1
    Discontinued

    Citra has been officially discontinued and its source code removed from GitHub following a lawsuit settlement with Nintendo: Nintendo has won once again: Yuzu and Citra emulators are being discontinued immediately

    Citra vs RetroArch Comments
    Douze
    Negative
    3

    Citra is an emulator, whereas RetroArch is a front-end for multiple emulators and the games using them.

    • Citra is Free and Open SourceRetroArch is also Free and Open Source
  7. Project64 icon
     112 likes

    Project64 is a Nintendo 64 emulator for the Windows platform. It employs a plugin system that allows 3rd party developers to implement their own software. It is an emulator, meaning that the user has the option to run ROM files that can be extracted from a Nintendo 64 game...

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
    |
    1
    Project64 vs RetroArch Comments
    Douze
    Negative
    2

    Project64 is an emulator, whereas RetroArch is a front-end for multiple emulators and the games using them.

    • Project64 is Free and Open SourceRetroArch is also Free and Open Source
  8. ChimeraOS icon
     17 likes

    ChimeraOS (formerly GamerOS) is an operating system that provides an out of the box couch gaming experience. After installation, boot directly into Steam Big Picture and start playing your favorite games.

    19 ChimeraOS alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Platforms

    • Linux
     
  9. ePSXe icon
     131 likes

    ePSXe (enhanced PSX emulator) is an emulator of the PlayStation video game console for x86-based PC hardware. ePSXe makes use of a plugin system to emulate GPU, SPU, and CD drive functions, similar to the model first introduced in PSEmu Pro.

    25 ePSXe alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • Android Tablet
     
    |
    1
    ePSXe vs RetroArch Comments
    Douze
    Negative
    4

    ePSXe is a single emulator, whereas RetroArch is a front-end for multiple emulators and games using them !

    • ePSXe is Free and ProprietaryRetroArch is Free and Open Source
  10. LaunchBox icon
     49 likes

    LaunchBox was originally built as an attractive frontend to DOSBox, but has since expanded to support both modern PC games and emulated console platforms. LaunchBox aims to be the one-stop shop for gaming on your computer, for both modern and...

    64 LaunchBox alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Android
     
  11. Daijisho icon
     8 likes

    Daijisho is a retro launcher that let you manage your retro games libraries. Daijisho cares about integrated experience, expansibility, aesthetic and pragmatical usabilities let you focus on games itself.

    18 Daijisho alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Android
     
  12. Ares, which apparently replaced higan, was formerly known as bsnes. The project was renamed after becoming a multi-system emulator.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
     
You are at page 2 of RetroArch alternatives