Rufus creates bootable USB drives from ISO images with support for both BIOS and UEFI boot modes. This lightweight, portable Windows tool handles formatting and bootable media creation efficiently.
Ventoy leads as the top-ranked alternative, eliminating the need for reformatting by letting users copy ISOs directly onto USB drives and boot them without extraction. Users report keeping 20+ ISOs on a single flash drive with its multiboot approach. balenaEtcher ranks third with cross-platform support and a user-friendly interface that validates flashing, though some users note it struggles with Windows ISO files. UNetbootin ranks second with built-in Linux ISO downloads but focuses primarily on Linux distributions.
WoeUSB targets Linux users who need Windows installer USBs, while iVentoy enables network-based OS deployment to multiple machines via PXE boot selection.
Rufus is a bootable usb creator, and the alternatives landscape divides between simple image flashers and multiboot managers. For open source transparency, Ventoy, balenaEtcher, and UNetbootin are popular choices among the 42 open-source alternatives available.
Linux users have native options in Ventoy and balenaEtcher, while WoeUSB specializes in creating Windows installer USBs from ISO or DVD on Linux systems. Windows users can choose multiboot-focused tools like Ventoy, YUMI exFAT, and WinSetupFromUSB for building installer and utility collections. macOS users have UNetbootin and balenaEtcher support, with macUSB targeting legacy macOS bootable drives without Terminal knowledge.
Easy to use and makes usb bootable for bios/uefi systems simultaneously.