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.
It's an all-in-one ISO Burner tool that lets you burn ,extract, crate and edit ISO image file straightforwardly! It also was called as a best Windows bootable USB tool since it could escape the complexity of selecting multiple options and settings.
Mac Linux USB Loader is an application that allows you to create bootable USB drives containing a Linux distribution that can boot natively on Apple's Macintosh computers using their EFI system, regardless of whether or not the selected distribution has UEFI support.
Most users think Mac Linux USB Loader is a great Rufus alternative.
USB Image Tool can create images of USB flash drives and MP3 players, that are mounted as USB drives. It allows you switch between images with different music styles on your MP3 Player or to make an exact backup image of your USB Stick.
Utility QemuBootTester, at the base QEMU, from Ameda Buddha, with support for x86 / x64 UEFI mode. All possibilities, in general, are visible on the screen.
This utility creates a bootable FAT filesystem and populates it with files and boot tools. It is mainly designed to create bootable USB and Fixed disk for the AdvanceCD project.
An application to write .raw .iso or .img files to USB disks. Easy to use. No install is needed. Raspberry Pi sd cards or Hackintosh USBs can be made with this.
Automatically make a live bootable usb with ease with AutoBootDisk, a open-source program
Uses Windows Server setup to automate Windows 11 (24H2) installation on unsupported hardware, bypassing TPM, Secure Boot, and CPU checks, with built-in POPCNT compatibility checker, ISO automation, and support for older PCs to minimize hardware waste.
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This only makes USB drives bootable on mac.