Rufus Alternatives: Bootable USB Creators for Linux

Rufus is not available for Linux but there are plenty of alternatives that runs on Linux with similar functionality. The best Linux Bootable USB Creator alternative is UNetbootin, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to Rufus 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 Rufus are balenaEtcher, Ventoy, dd and MultiBootUSB.

Rufus alternatives are mainly Bootable USB Creators but may also be Disc Burners or CD Burners. Filter by these if you want a narrower list of alternatives or looking for a specific functionality of Rufus.

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Rufus

1384

Free • Open Source
Bootable USB Creator

Windows
PortableApps.com

Rufus is a utility that helps format and create bootable USB flash drives, such as USB keys/pendrives, memory sticks, etc.

Learn more about Rufus

UNetbootin
Do you think this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Bootable USB Creator
Linux Distro
Mac
Windows
Linux
PortableApps.com
50 alternatives to UNetbootin
UNetbootin (Universal Netboot Installer) is a cross-platform utility that can load Linux and other distributions to a partition or USB drive. It loads distributions either by downloading listed Linux and BSD like distributions, a variety of system utilities and rescue disks ISO...
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UNetbootin Features
1. PortableUNetbootin can be used from a USB stick or similar with no prior installation.
2. Ad-freeUNetbootin doesn't contain any form of external advertising.
3. Privacy focusedUNetbootin is considered a privacy friendly alternative.
4. LightweightUNetbootin consumes less device resources compared to similar apps.
Persistent Linux
Automatic downloading
Download ISO Images
Windows To Go
Burn iso
Portable Linux
UNetbootin vs Rufus opinions
Most users think UNetbootin is a great alternative to Rufus.
all • positive • negative relevance • date
Kandi
Easy to use. Supports a huge variety of platforms
Top positive comment•
18

Guest
Fast, easy to use and in a few clicks you're good to go
Top positive comment•
12

cvanelli
Cannot write Windows ISOs
Top negative comment•
0

Guest
does not do UEFI mode does not recognize external hdd/ sdd does not do windows bootable drives and have issues even with some linux distros does not do multiple booting images on single drive
Negative comment•
10

Guest
UNetbootin is for Linux Distributions. Rufus is for creating bootable USBs in general, independant from the target OS.
Negative comment•
1

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5 of 14 comments
balenaEtcher
Do you think this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Bootable USB Creator
Mac
Windows
Linux
48 alternatives to balenaEtcher
balenaEtcher is a free and open-source image burner with support for Windows, macOS and GNU/Linux. It makes USB and SD card image burning as simple and fast as possible.
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balenaEtcher Features
1. PortablebalenaEtcher can be used from a USB stick or similar with no prior installation.
2. LightweightbalenaEtcher consumes less device resources compared to similar apps.
User friendly
Graphical User Interface
Write ISO to SD card
Burn iso
Create bootable Image
Validated Burning
Material design
Electron based
Persistent Storage
Support for S.M.A.R.T. data
balenaEtcher vs Rufus opinions
Most users think balenaEtcher is a great alternative to Rufus.
all • positive • negative relevance • date
Guest
Can make bootable usb for linux not windows.
Top positive comment•
1

espectalll
It's simple, it's easy, it's slick, and it's multiplatform, May not be for everyone, but surely is for most people.
Top positive comment•
9

Guest
Cannot select between gpt and mbr partition styles
Top negative comment•
56

VinayMalhotra
Stable secure less confusing Easy and Fast
Positive comment•
0

0DayExploit
Easy to use , User Friendly Interface
Positive comment•
0

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5 of 35 comments
Ventoy
Do you think this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Bootable USB Creator
Windows
Linux
41 alternatives to Ventoy
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.
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Ventoy Features
1. PortableVentoy can be used from a USB stick or similar with no prior installation.
2. LightweightVentoy consumes less device resources compared to similar apps.
Multi boot
Multiboot USB
Create Multiboot USB
UEFI Support
Persistent Storage
Multi-windows
VHD Boot
Ventoy vs Rufus opinions
Almost everyone thinks Ventoy is a great alternative to Rufus.
all • positive • negative relevance • date
onkoe
I have over 20 ISOs on one flash drive because of this utility. It's my favorite software for multiboot USBs. Keep in mind, however, that it doesn't work on any Mac hardware.
Top positive comment•
4

Guest
It allows simple drag & drop of ISO files to a USB drive and then offers a Grub-style menu to select which ISO to boot from, as opposed to having to outright "burn" the ISO to a drive.

Not 100% compatible, but 99.999%.
Top positive comment•
2

mblithium
Create a separate partition for booting and a special one for placing OS ".iso" files easily.
Positive comment•
2

umitseyhan
You don't need to reformat the stick every single time. Just a casual copy-paste operation of .iso files.
Positive comment•
2

Hau_Kai
It offers the option to multiboot, whilst retaining other files. Add multiple ISOs, remove or update them, all the while other files are unchanged so you can use your fastest and largest USB pendrives, without affecting their use for other tasks.
Positive comment•
3

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5 of 8 comments
dd
Do you think this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Bootable USB Creator
Mac
Linux
BSD
28 alternatives to dd
dd, that stands for ‘data duplicator’, is a command-line utility for Unix mainly used for copying and converting data.
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dd Features
1. Command line interfacedd either have CLI support or is a CLI-only app.
Burn iso
Write ISO to SD card
Create image
Add a screenshot

dd vs Rufus opinions
Almost everyone thinks dd is a great alternative to Rufus.
all • positive • negative relevance • date
Guest
It's the only one that seems to be able to create BSD flash drives
Top positive comment•
2

Guest
Considering this has been developed since 1974, it is very good at what it does.
Top positive comment•
0

cvanelli
crappy command line only program.
Negative comment•
-9

Guest
It works very well, only for the non Dufus.
Positive comment•
-4

Guest
allows use of the command line
Positive comment•
0

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5 of 6 comments
MultiBootUSB
Do you think this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Bootable USB Creator
Windows
Linux
39 alternatives to MultiBootUSB
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.
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MultiBootUSB Features
1. Command line interfaceMultiBootUSB either have CLI support or is a CLI-only app.
Multiboot USB
Multi OS
Create Multiboot USB
Install Syslinux
Boot HDD Partition
Discontinued
The project seems no longer developed and the official website is no longer available. Last version, 9.2.0, released in April 2018, can be still downloaded from GitHub.

MultiBootUSB vs Rufus opinions
Most users think MultiBootUSB is a great alternative to Rufus.
NickFreeman
support for multiple live linux distros
Positive comment•
-2
WoeUSB
Do you think this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Bootable USB Creator
Linux
22 alternatives to WoeUSB
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.
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WoeUSB Features
1. Command line interfaceWoeUSB either have CLI support or is a CLI-only app.
Bootable Windows Flashdrive's
Create UEFI bootable drive
Graphical User Interface
WoeUSB vs Rufus opinions
Almost everyone thinks WoeUSB is a great alternative to Rufus.
all • positive • negative relevance • date
shampuan
It is the best of windows iso writer on linux.
Top positive comment•
2

Guest
Only create Windows ISO bootable USB!
Top positive comment•
3

cvanelli
Does not have a GUI like Rufus
Top negative comment•
-3

Guest
Perfect! It is the only one on linux that make bootable usb for windows iso files. Simple and easy to use.
Positive comment•
2

Guest
Simple to use, even my grandma could figure it out, Not that she'd need to flash a iso to a USB.
Positive comment•
6

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5 of 6 comments
Easy2Boot
Do you think this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Proprietary
Bootable USB Creator
Windows
Linux
15 alternatives to Easy2Boot
Flexible and configurable USB drive multiboot solution which also supports UEFI booting.
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Easy2Boot Features
1. PortableEasy2Boot can be used from a USB stick or similar with no prior installation.
Multiboot USB
Highly costomizable
UEFI Support
USB to NTFS
USB to FAT
Multi boot
Easy2Boot vs Rufus opinions
Most users think Easy2Boot is a great alternative to Rufus.
MultiSystem
Do you think this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Bootable USB Creator
Linux
37 alternatives to MultiSystem
MultiSystem is an awesome Linux tool for creating multiboot USB drives, developed by François Fabre (http://liveusb.info/dotclear/). It uses Grub2 instead of Grub Legacy, and can be run from within any Linux distribution to create a Custom Multiboot USB containing your...
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MultiSystem Features
Create multiple OS boot
Linux-based
Create Multiboot USB
Mutli-image handling
Multiboot USB
Multiple languages
MultiSystem vs Rufus opinions
Most users think MultiSystem is a great alternative to Rufus.
Guest
Created a 32gb usb drive with 5-6 isos, awesome!
Positive comment•
5
SUSE Studio ImageWriter
Do you think this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Bootable USB Creator
Windows
Linux
37 alternatives to SUSE Studio ImageWriter
Utility for writing raw disk images & hybrid isos to USB keys.
Suggest and vote on features
SUSE Studio ImageWriter Features
Small-footprint
SUSE Studio ImageWriter vs Rufus opinions
Most users think SUSE Studio ImageWriter is a great alternative to Rufus.
cvanelli
cannot write Windows ISOs
Negative comment•
0

Guest
Excellent Image writer in USB
Positive comment•
1

Guest
Good but some cannot write some isos, including windows server
Positive comment•
1
ROSA Image Writer
Do you think this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Bootable USB Creator
Mac
Windows
Linux
40 alternatives to ROSA Image Writer
Optical drives are rapidly disappearing from our computers of all kinds, and consequently installing operating systems from USB flash disks is becoming increasingly popular. ISO images of the ROSA Linux distribution were originally intended for burning to DVD disks, but they can...
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ROSA Image Writer Features
Create bootable Image
Discontinued
Last update was in 2016.

ROSA Image Writer vs Rufus opinions
Most users think ROSA Image Writer is a great alternative to Rufus.
Guest
Easy to use, multi-platform
Positive comment•
0

Guest
its quick stable & versatile no errors on any I made
Positive comment•
-3