Rufus Alternatives for Mac

Rufus is not available for Mac but there are plenty of alternatives that runs on macOS with similar functionality. The best Mac alternative is balenaEtcher, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to Rufus and 18 are available for Mac so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Mac alternatives to Rufus are UNetbootin, dd, Deepin Boot Maker and WinDiskWriter.

filter to find the best alternatives

Rufus alternatives are mainly Bootable USB Creators, but if you're looking for Disk Imaging Tools or ISO Creators you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Windows + Free and Windows + Free + Create bootable USB and Mac + Create bootable USB. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to Rufus.
Rufus iconRufus
  1513
  • ...

Formats USB drives to various file systems and creates bootable USBs from ISOs. Supports MS-DOS/FreeDOS bootable sticks and offers BIOS or UEFI options.

More about Rufus
More about Rufus
Rufus alternatives page was last updated Feb 13, 2025
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  1. balenaEtcher icon

    balenaEtcher

     636 likes
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    A free, open-source tool for burning images to USB and SD cards. Compatible with Windows, macOS, and Linux. Features validated burning, avoiding accidental wipes, offers a sleek interface, is lightweight and portable, making it ideal for users at any skill level.

    53 balenaEtcher alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • GB flagUnited Kingdom

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    balenaEtcher screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  User friendly
    2.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Create bootable USB
    2.  Graphical User Interface
    3.  Write ISO to SD card
    4.  Portable
    5.  Burn iso
    6.  Create bootable Image
    7.  Validated Burning
    8.  Material design
    9.  Electron based
    10.  Persistent Storage
    11.  Support for S.M.A.R.T. data
    12.  Convert installation CD/DVD to USB

    balenaEtcher VS Rufus

     
    Comments about balenaEtcher as an Alternative to Rufus
    Comment summary: Rufus is praised for its reliability and ability to create bootable USB drives for Windows and Linux, succeeding where balenaEtcher sometimes fails, especially with Windows ISOs. BalenaEtcher, despite its sleek interface and ease of use, struggles with Windows boot disks but is commended for its performance with Linux distros and other OS. Users appreciate its open-source nature, cross-platform capability, and speed, making it a preferred choice for many, though Rufus is favored for specific tasks like Windows installations.
    Top Positive Comment
    espectalll
    Feb 14, 2017
    9

    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 Negative Comment
    Guest
    Nov 21, 2016
    58

    Cannot select between gpt and mbr partition styles

    Most Recent Comment
    Sebastian
    Positive Dec 21, 2024
    0

    I love this software! Easy to use and works great.

    Show more comments
    3 of 36 comments
    Rufus Icon
    balenaEtcher icon

    • Most users think balenaEtcher is a great Rufus alternative.

    • balenaEtcher is the most popular Windows, Mac & Linux alternative to Rufus.

    • balenaEtcher is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to Rufus.

    • balenaEtcher is Free and Open SourceRufus is also Free and Open Source
    • balenaEtcher is LightweightRufus is not according to our users
  2. UNetbootin icon

    UNetbootin

     749 likes
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    Cross-platform tool for making bootable USB and Live USB drives, featuring a built-in downloader for Linux ISO images and rescue disks, supporting BSD and various utilities. No installation required, it runs directly and offers compatibility and community support for many distributions.

    54 UNetbootin alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • CA flagCanada

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • PortableApps.com
    Welcome screen
    Discontinued

    Last commit to the repository was on Jun 28, 2023, and latest version is from Feb 4, 2021.

    Properties

    1.  Privacy focused
    2.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Create bootable USB
    2.  Persistent Linux
    3.  Automatic downloading
    4.  Download ISO Images
    5.  Portable
    6.  Windows To Go
    7.  Ad-free
    8.  Portable Linux
    9.  Burn iso

    UNetbootin VS Rufus

     
    Comments about UNetbootin as an Alternative to Rufus
    Comment summary: Users note that UNetbootin is primarily for Linux distributions, whereas Rufus is more versatile in creating bootable USBs across different operating systems. Many find Rufus superior, especially for creating Windows bootable drives, as some highlight difficulties with UNetbootin for the same task. Additionally, while some users appreciate the ease of use and GUI of UNetbootin, limitations such as issues with UEFI mode, supporting only Linux, and compatibility problems are common criticisms.
    Top Positive Comment
    Kandi
    May 16, 2017
    18

    Easy to use. Supports a huge variety of platforms

    Top Negative Comment
    Guest
    Mar 15, 2020
    13

    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

    Most Recent Comment
    Guest
    Negative Feb 3, 2020
    1

    UNetbootin is for Linux Distributions. Rufus is for creating bootable USBs in general, independant from the target OS.

    Show more comments
    3 of 13 comments
    Rufus Icon
    UNetbootin icon

    • Most users think UNetbootin is a great Rufus alternative.

    • UNetbootin is Free and Open SourceRufus is also Free and Open Source
    • UNetbootin is Privacy focused and LightweightRufus is not according to our users
  4. dd icon

    dd

     98 likes
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    dd, that stands for ‘data duplicator’, is a command-line utility for Unix mainly used for copying and converting data.

    37 dd alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    • BSD

    dd Features

    1.  Command line interface
    2.  Burn iso
    3.  Write ISO to SD card
    4.  Create image

    dd VS Rufus

     
    Comments about dd as an Alternative to Rufus
    Top Positive Comment
    Guest
    Dec 10, 2019
    3

    It's the only one that seems to be able to create BSD flash drives

    Most Recent Comment
    cvanelli
    Negative Jun 26, 2021
    -15

    crappy command line only program.

    Guest
    Positive Aug 16, 2019
    1

    Considering this has been developed since 1974, it is very good at what it does.

    Show more comments
    3 of 6 comments
    Rufus Icon
    dd icon

    • Most users think dd is a great Rufus alternative.

    • dd is Free and Open SourceRufus is also Free and Open Source
  5. Deepin Boot Maker icon

    Deepin Boot Maker

     14 likes
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    Deepin Boot Maker is a boot maker developed by Deepin Technology Team. It is simple in interface and easy to operate. It helps users to easily make deepin boot disk.

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Deepin Boot Maker screenshot 1
    Deepin Boot Maker screenshot 2
    Deepin Boot Maker screenshot 3

    Deepin Boot Maker Features

    1.  Support for Windows Hello
    2.  Multiple languages

    Deepin Boot Maker VS Rufus

     
    Comments about Deepin Boot Maker as an Alternative to Rufus
    Guest
    Positive May 18, 2020
    1

    easy to use and run perfectly on mac

    Rufus Icon
    Deepin Boot Maker icon

    • Most users think Deepin Boot Maker is a great Rufus alternative.

    • Deepin Boot Maker is Free and Open SourceRufus is also Free and Open Source
  6. WinDiskWriter icon

    WinDiskWriter

     10 likes
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    A macOS app that creates bootable USB drives for Windows. Patches Windows 11 to bypass TPM and Secure Boot requirements.

    49 WinDiskWriter alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • International

    Platforms

    • Mac
    WinDiskWriter screenshot 1

    WinDiskWriter VS Rufus

     
  7. KDE ISO Image Writer icon

    KDE ISO Image Writer

     8 likes
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    Write an ISO Image to a USB Disk.

    50 KDE ISO Image Writer alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • DE flagGermany
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • KDE Plasma
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    KDE ISO Image Writer screenshot 1

    KDE ISO Image Writer VS Rufus

     
  9. Fedora Media Writer icon

    Fedora Media Writer

     4 likes
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    A tool to create a bootable live USB drive with an edition of Fedora. Not only can Fedora Media Writer write an image to your flash drive, it can also download it for you. It offers official editions (Server, Workstation), Fedora spins (KDE Plasma Desktop, Xfce Desktop, Cinnamon...

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Flathub
    Fedora Media Writer screenshot 1

    Fedora Media Writer Features

    1.  QT Based

    Fedora Media Writer VS Rufus

     
7 of 18 Rufus alternatives