The Best UNetbootin AlternativesTop Bootable USB Creators and other similar apps like UNetbootin

UNetbootin is described as 'Cross-platform utility to create bootable USB drives or Live USBs, with a built-in downloader for Linux ISO images and rescue disks' and is a leading bootable usb creator in the os & utilities category. There are more than 50 alternatives to UNetbootin for a variety of platforms, including Windows, Linux, Mac, Flathub and Flatpak apps. The best UNetbootin alternative is Rufus, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like UNetbootin are balenaEtcher, YUMI exFAT, dd and Universal USB Installer.

filter to find the best alternatives

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

Cross-platform utility to create bootable USB drives or Live USBs, with a built-in downloader for Linux ISO images and rescue disks.

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

    Rufus

     1513 likes
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    Formats USB drives to FAT, NTFS, exFAT, and more, while creating bootable USBs from diverse ISOs. Supports MS-DOS/FreeDOS with no external files and offers BIOS or UEFI mode, including bad block check. Ideal for systems lacking an OS or flashing BIOS and lightweight, ad-free.

    67 Rufus alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • FR flagFrance
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • PortableApps.com
    Rufus screenshot 1
    Rufus screenshot 2
    Rufus screenshot 3

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Optimal performance
    3.  User friendly

    Features

    1.  Create bootable USB
    2.  Portable
    3.  Burn iso
    4.  Windows To Go
    5.  UEFI Support
    6.  Write ISO to SD card
    7.  Create bootable Image
    8.  Create BIOS bootable drive
    9.  Create UEFI bootable drive
    10.  GNU/linux-libre
    11.  USB to FAT
    12.  USB to NTFS

    Rufus VS UNetbootin

     
    Comments about Rufus as an Alternative to UNetbootin
    Guest
    Positive Feb 18, 2017
    12

    Easy to use. I used it with tails 2.10 when unetbootin wouldn't work.

    UNetbootin Icon
    Rufus icon

    • Almost everyone thinks Rufus is a great UNetbootin alternative.

    • Rufus is the most popular Windows alternative to UNetbootin.

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

    • Rufus is Free and Open SourceUNetbootin is also Free and Open Source
    • Rufus is LightweightUNetbootin is not according to our users
  2. balenaEtcher icon

    balenaEtcher

     637 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 UNetbootin

     
    Comments about balenaEtcher as an Alternative to UNetbootin
    Top Positive Comment
    Guest
    Jul 7, 2016
    5

    Doing a Arch bootable key was a nightmare on a Mac with UNetbootin, no way to make it working. With Etcher one try and it was perfectly ok :)

    Most Recent Comment
    Guest
    Positive Jun 2, 2018
    0

    Very simple and effective, creates a bootable USB key almost in a single click (very unusual considering everyone is struggling with UNetbootin since many years!)

    Guest
    Positive Mar 8, 2018
    -1

    I have a 64GB USB key, and UNetbootin kept insisting on creating an odd FAT32 partition that always failed to boot properly. Also, Windows and Mac had trouble identifying and/or reading it. Etcher worked the first time. No confusing setup options, just select the .iso and burn. Simple like it should be!

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    3 of 7 comments
    UNetbootin Icon
    balenaEtcher icon

    • Almost everyone thinks balenaEtcher is a great UNetbootin alternative.

    • balenaEtcher is the most popular Mac & Linux alternative to UNetbootin.

    • balenaEtcher is Free and Open SourceUNetbootin is also Free and Open Source
    • balenaEtcher is LightweightUNetbootin is not according to our users
  4. YUMI exFAT icon

    YUMI exFAT

     282 likes
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    The YUMI exFAT (Your Universal Multiboot Installer) media creation tool can be used to automatically create an exFAT bootable USB flash drive containing multiple operating systems, antivirus utilities, disc cloning, diagnostic tools, and more.

    46 YUMI exFAT alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • PortableApps.com
    • Wine
    • WineBottler
    YUMI exFAT screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Create Multiboot USB
    2.  Multiboot USB
    3.  Create bootable USB
    4.  Can install to internal hard drives/ssds
    5.  Persistent Storage
    6.  Multi boot
    7.  UEFI Support
    8.  Portable
    9.  Multi-windows

    YUMI exFAT VS UNetbootin

     
    Comments about YUMI exFAT as an Alternative to UNetbootin
    Peter Mello
    Positive Dec 7, 2017
    6

    YUMI is the only app I've found that makes reliable USB installers for UEFI systems (GPT partition table, FAT32 partitions) and its multiboot features with persistence for the Ubuntu family of distributions is extremely useful.

    UNetbootin Icon
    YUMI exFAT icon

    • Most users think YUMI exFAT is a great UNetbootin alternative.

    • YUMI exFAT is Free and Open SourceUNetbootin is also Free and Open Source
    • YUMI exFAT is LightweightUNetbootin is not according to our users
  5. 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 UNetbootin

     
    Comments about dd as an Alternative to UNetbootin
    Top Positive Comment
    Guest
    May 27, 2017
    2

    It's easier than GUI if you won't deal with UEFI stuff

    Top Negative Comment
    Guest
    Jul 31, 2018
    -2

    There's more to creating a bootable USB drive than moving blocks of bits.

    Most Recent Comment
    PERCE_NEIGE
    Positive Feb 27, 2020
    0

    For the user who said that it's not for burning ISO, it's wrong.

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    3 of 5 comments
    UNetbootin Icon
    dd icon

    • Most users think dd is a great UNetbootin alternative.

    • dd is Free and Open SourceUNetbootin is also Free and Open Source
  6. Universal USB Installer icon

    Universal USB Installer

     179 likes
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    Universal USB Installer is a Live Linux USB Creator that allows you to choose from a selection of Linux Distributions to put on your USB Flash Drive. The Universal USB Installer is easy to use. Simply choose a Live Linux Distribution, the ISO file, your Flash Drive and, Click...

    44 Universal USB Installer alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Windows
    Universal USB Installer screenshot 1

    Universal USB Installer Features

    1.  Works Offline
    2.  Portable
    3.  No need to format
    4.  Persistent Linux
    5.  Multiple languages
    6.  Portable Linux

    Universal USB Installer VS UNetbootin

     
  7. LinuxLive USB Creator icon

    LinuxLive USB Creator

     125 likes
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    LiLi USB Creator is a free software for Windows that allows you to create a bootable Live USB key with a Linux on it.

    44 LinuxLive USB Creator alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • FR flagFrance
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Windows
    The GUI of the program
    Discontinued

    Site says app is no longer maintained.

    Properties

    1.  Privacy focused
    2.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Create UEFI bootable drive
    2.  Portable Linux
    3.  Dark Mode
    4.  Portable
    5.  Ad-free
    6.  No registration required
    7.  No Tracking
    8.  Works Offline
    9.  USB to FAT

    LinuxLive USB Creator VS UNetbootin

     
  9. MultiBootUSB icon

    MultiBootUSB

     72 likes
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    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.

    43 MultiBootUSB alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    MultiBootUSB screenshot 1
    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 Features

    1.  Command line interface
    2.  Multiboot USB
    3.  Multi OS
    4.  Create Multiboot USB
    5.  Install Syslinux
    6.  Boot HDD Partition

    MultiBootUSB VS UNetbootin

     
  10. iVentoy icon

    iVentoy

     8 likes
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    With iVentoy you can boot and install OS on multiple machines at the same time through the network. iVentoy is extremely easy to use, without complicated configuration, just put the ISO file in the specified location and select PXE boot in the client machine.

    15 iVentoy alternatives

    License model

    • Freemium • Proprietary

    Application type

    Country of Origin

    • CN flagChina

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    iVentoy screenshot 1

    iVentoy Features

    1.  Network Tools

    iVentoy VS UNetbootin

     
8 of 54 UNetbootin alternatives