Best VirtualBox Alternatives

VirtualBox is described as 'powerful x86 and AMD64/Intel64 virtualization product for enterprise as well as home use. Not only is VirtualBox an extremely feature rich, high performance product for enterprise customers, it is also the only professional solution that is freely available as' and is a leading Virtualization tool in the network & admin category. There are more than 50 alternatives to VirtualBox for a variety of platforms, including Windows, Linux, BSD, Mac and AMD MxGPU. The best alternative is VMware Workstation Pro. It's not free, so if you're looking for a free alternative, you could try QEMU or KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine). Other great apps like VirtualBox are VMware Workstation Player, Portable Virtualbox, virt-manager and Proxmox Virtual Environment.

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VirtualBox

2796

Free • Open Source
Virtualization Tool

Mac
Windows
Linux
BSD
Solaris

VirtualBox is a powerful x86 and AMD64/Intel64 virtualization product for enterprise as well as home use. Not only is...

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VMware Workstation Pro
Do you think this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Paid • Proprietary
Virtualization Tool
Windows
Linux
39 alternatives to VMware Workstation Pro
VMware Workstation Pro Lets You Run Multiple Operating Systems as Virtual Machines (including Windows VMs) on a Single Windows or Linux PC. VMware Workstation Pro is the industry standard for running multiple operating systems as virtual machines (VMs) on a single Linux or...
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VMware Workstation Pro Features
1. Container VirtualizationVMware Workstation Pro can make use of isolated user spaces called "containers" to run applications.
Multiple languages
Support for Android Things
Bundled with macOS
VMware Workstation Pro vs VirtualBox opinions
Most users think VMware Workstation Pro is a great alternative to VirtualBox.
all • positive • negative relevance • date
Guest
Its much more user friendly and pleasant to work with.
Top positive comment•
9

Sunmaster
Easy to work with while it is an advanced software. I realy like it and have used it many times.
Top positive comment•
1

dvdvideo123
Virtual box is free, vmwre has 30 day trial.
Top negative comment•
1

Guest
Very good but very expensive. Instead i'd reccomend VMWare Workstation Player.
Negative comment•
6

Guest
Expensive. If you want the free version for personal use, go with VMware Workstation Player.
Negative comment•
14

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5 of 7 comments
QEMU
Do you think this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Virtualization Tool
Mac
Windows
Linux
BSD
42 alternatives to QEMU
QEMU (short for "Quick EMUlator") is a free and open-source hosted hypervisor that performs hardware virtualization.
Suggest and vote on features
QEMU Features
1. PortableQEMU can be used from a USB stick or similar with no prior installation.
2. LightweightQEMU consumes less device resources compared to similar apps.
3. Support for scriptingQEMU supports scripts and macros to automate or customize tasks.
4. Privacy focusedQEMU is considered a privacy friendly alternative.
5. Container VirtualizationQEMU can make use of isolated user spaces called "containers" to run applications.
6. Command line interfaceQEMU either have CLI support or is a CLI-only app.
GPU Acceleration
Security focused
User mode emulation
Emulation
QEMU vs VirtualBox opinions
Almost everyone thinks QEMU is a great alternative to VirtualBox.
Guest
It runs faster than virtualbox using KVM. Also is better suited for production level.
Positive comment•
13

Guest
It also performs hardware visualization
Positive comment•
3

arpeters
It is supported by various frontends such as Virt Manager and AQEMU.
Positive comment•
10

Guest
It doesn't have a GUI to manage like Virtualbox or VMware. That's problematic.
Negative comment•
-8
VMware Workstation Player
Do you think this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free Personal • Proprietary
Virtualization Tool
Windows
Linux
38 alternatives to VMware Workstation Player
VMware Workstation Player builds on the industry leading foundation of Workstation Pro, and delivers a streamlined user interface for creating and running operating systems and applications in a virtual machine.

VMware Workstation Player has no features, suggest some!

VMware Workstation Player vs VirtualBox opinions
Almost everyone thinks VMware Workstation Player is a great alternative to VirtualBox.
Guest
Free and slightly more advanced. Less user friendly than virtualbox but also much more feature rich.
Positive comment•
8
KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine)
Do you think this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Virtualization Tool
Linux
Android
40 alternatives to KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine)
KVM (for Kernel-based Virtual Machine) is a full virtualization solution for Linux on x86 hardware containing virtualization extensions (Intel VT or AMD-V). It consists of a loadable kernel module, kvm.
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KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) Features
1. Command line interfaceKVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) either have CLI support or is a CLI-only app.
2. Container VirtualizationKVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) can make use of isolated user spaces called "containers" to run applications.
3. LightweightKVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) consumes less device resources compared to similar apps.
4. PortableKVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) can be used from a USB stick or similar with no prior installation.
5. Privacy focusedKVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) is considered a privacy friendly alternative.
6. Extensible by Plugins/ExtensionsKVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) can be extended with add-ons, plugins and extensions.
Linux-based
Nt kernel
Security focused
Emulation
KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) vs VirtualBox opinions
Almost everyone thinks KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) is a great alternative to VirtualBox.
Portable Virtualbox
Do you think this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Virtualization Tool
Windows
40 alternatives to Portable Virtualbox
Portable-VirtualBox is a free and open source software tool that lets you run any operating system from a usb stick without separate installation. It unpacks and adjusts the paths and configuration of VirtualBox so it will run portably.
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Portable Virtualbox Features
1. PortablePortable Virtualbox can be used from a USB stick or similar with no prior installation.
GNU/linux-libre
Discontinued
It has not been updated since 2017 and does not work with any version of Virtualbox beyond v5.1.22.

Portable Virtualbox vs VirtualBox opinions
Some users think Portable Virtualbox is a great alternative to VirtualBox, some don't.
garnishgamer
It is basically VirtualBox for mobile.
Positive comment•
-19
virt-manager
Do you think this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Virtualization Tool
Linux
BSD
26 alternatives to virt-manager
The virt-manager application is a desktop user interface for managing virtual machines through libvirt. It primarily targets KVM VMs, but also manages Xen and LXC (linux containers). It presents a summary view of running domains, their live performance & resource utilization...
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virt-manager Features
1. Container Virtualizationvirt-manager can make use of isolated user spaces called "containers" to run applications.
2. Lightweightvirt-manager consumes less device resources compared to similar apps.
3. Command line interfacevirt-manager either have CLI support or is a CLI-only app.
4. Privacy focusedvirt-manager is considered a privacy friendly alternative.
VNC Viewer
SSH
Customizable
Security focused
Live migration
virt-manager vs VirtualBox opinions
Almost everyone thinks virt-manager is a great alternative to VirtualBox.
Guest
virt-manager with kvm/libvirtd is as powerfull as virtualbox, but much much more faster.
Positive comment•
1

arpeters
Fully open source alternative to VirtualBox available in Debian repository. I don't trust VirtualBox anymore since it was excluded from Debian main.
Positive comment•
-1

zinz
this is not vm but a vm manager.
Negative comment•
-10
Proxmox Virtual Environment
Do you think this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Freemium • Open Source
Virtualization Tool
Windows
Linux
Android
Android Tablet
40 alternatives to Proxmox Virtual Environment
Proxmox Virtual Environment is a complete and easy to use Open Source virtualization platform for running Virtual Appliances and Virtual Machines. Proxmox VE tightly integrates KVM hypervisor and LXC containers, software-defined storage and networking functionality on a single...
Suggest and vote on features
Proxmox Virtual Environment Features
1. LightweightProxmox Virtual Environment consumes less device resources compared to similar apps.
2. PortableProxmox Virtual Environment can be used from a USB stick or similar with no prior installation.
3. Two-factor AuthenticationProxmox Virtual Environment supports two-factor authentication (2FA).
4. Container VirtualizationProxmox Virtual Environment can make use of isolated user spaces called "containers" to run applications.
WebUI Management
High Availability
Clustering
Live migration
Boxes
Do you think this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Virtualization Tool
Linux
BSD
Flathub
21 alternatives to Boxes
A simple GNOME application to access virtual systems. It is based on a design from Jon McCann and Jakub Steiner.
Suggest and vote on features
Boxes Features
1. Privacy focusedBoxes is considered a privacy friendly alternative.
2. Container VirtualizationBoxes can make use of isolated user spaces called "containers" to run applications.
3. LightweightBoxes consumes less device resources compared to similar apps.
4. Command line interfaceBoxes either have CLI support or is a CLI-only app.
5. PortableBoxes can be used from a USB stick or similar with no prior installation.
VNC Viewer
Security focused
Boxes vs VirtualBox opinions
Most users think Boxes is a great alternative to VirtualBox.
Guest
This is a virtual machine manager, not virtualization software
Negative comment•
5
Parallels Desktop
Do you think this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Freemium • Proprietary
Virtualization Tool
Mac
47 alternatives to Parallels Desktop
Parallels Desktop gives Mac users the ability to run Windows, Linux or any other operating system and their critical applications at the same time as macOS. Parallels Desktop is optimized for Intel and Apple M1 chip.
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Parallels Desktop Features
1. Support for Multiple MonitorsParallels Desktop supports the use of multiple displays.
Run Windows software
Office 365 integration
Support for Apple M1
Parallels Desktop vs VirtualBox opinions
Most users think Parallels Desktop is a great alternative to VirtualBox.
VMware Fusion
Do you think this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free Personal • Proprietary
Virtualization Tool
Mac
39 alternatives to VMware Fusion
Seamlessly run your favorite Windows applications and devices, on any Intel-based Mac. Built from the ground up for the Mac, VMware Fusion is the easiest way to switch to Mac—letting you bring all of your Windows applications with you, making the most of your Windows software...

VMware Fusion has no features, suggest some!

VMware Fusion vs VirtualBox opinions
Most users think VMware Fusion is a great alternative to VirtualBox.