Free VirtualBox Alternatives

The best free alternative to VirtualBox is QEMU, which is also Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to VirtualBox and loads of them is free so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting free alternatives to VirtualBox are VMware Workstation Pro, VMware Workstation Player, WinBoat and virt-manager.

filter to find the best alternatives

VirtualBox alternatives are mainly Virtualization Tools, but if you're looking for Compatibility Layer Tools or Operating Systems you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Linux, Free, Windows, Mac, Android, Open Source and Windows + Open Source. You can also filter by region, for example EU-based alternatives if you prefer software developed in the European Union. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to VirtualBox.
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Alternatives list

  1. Microsoft Hyper-V Server is a free product that delivers enterprise-class virtualization for your datacenter and hybrid cloud.

    57 Microsoft Hyper-V Server alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
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    1
    Microsoft Hyper-V Server vs VirtualBox Comments
    Guest
    Negative
    3

    hyper-v server is a complete os in command line with a virtualisation tool (hyper-v)

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    • Microsoft Hyper-V Server is Free and ProprietaryVirtualBox is Free and Open Source
  2. Xen icon
     74 likes

    Xen.org, home of the Xen hypervisor, the powerful open source industry standard for virtualization. It is a native (bare-metal) hypervisor providing services that allow multiple computer operating systems to execute on the same computer hardware concurrently.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
     
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    5
    Xen vs VirtualBox Comments
    Top Negative Comment
    Guest
    8

    xen appears to be a hypervisor, which is quite different than basic virtualization software...

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Guest
    Negative
    2

    Xen is hypervisor that isn't emulate but isolate.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Guest
    Negative
    1

    This is a hypervisor, not a virtual machine.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    3 of 5 comments
    • Xen is Free and Open SourceVirtualBox is also Free and Open Source
  3. XCP-ng icon
     46 likes

    XCP-ng is a high-performance, enterprise-level hypervisor with a rich ecosystem and is the result of massive cooperation between individuals and companies. All commercial features are enabled with no commitment required to a support agreement.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • NVIDIA vGPU
    • AMD MxGPU
     
  4. Lima icon
     3 likes

    Lima launches Linux virtual machines on macOS, with automatic file sharing, port forwarding, and containerd.

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
     
  5. RVVM icon
     3 likes

    RVVM is a virtual machine / emulator for RISC-V guests, which emphasizes on performance, security, lean code and portability. It already runs a lot of guest operating systems, including Linux, Haiku, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, etc.

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Windows
    • Mac
     
  6. OpenVZ icon
     13 likes

    OpenVZ is container-based virtualization for Linux.

    OpenVZ creates multiple secure, isolated Linux containers (otherwise known as VEs or VPSs) on a single physical server enabling better server utilization and ensuring that applications do not conflict.

    Each container performs.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
     
  7. Bochs icon
     16 likes

    Bochs is a highly portable open source IA-32 (x86) PC emulator written in C++, that runs on most popular platforms. It includes emulation of the Intel x86 CPU, common I/O devices, and a custom BIOS. Currently, Bochs can be compiled to emulate a 386, 486...

    40 Bochs alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
     
  8. bhyve icon
     11 likes

    bhyve (pronounced "bee hive", formerly written as BHyVe) is a type-2 hypervisor that runs FreeBSD 9+, OpenBSD, Linux and MS Window desktop (versions Vista, 7, 8/8.1/8.2 and 10), as well as MS Windows Server (versions 2008/2008R2, 2012/2012R2 and 2016 Technical Preview...

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • BSD
    • FreeBSD
     
  9. VirtualBuddy icon
     1 like

    VirtualBuddy can virtualize macOS 12 and later on Apple Silicon, with the goal of offering features that are useful to developers who need to test their apps on multiple versions of macOS, especially betas.

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
     
  10. CheerpX icon
     1 like

    CheerpX is an x86 virtualization technology for running executables and operating systems entirely client-side. It’s an always available, zero-cost virtual machine with guaranteed data privacy, powered by a WebAssembly JIT engine.

    Cost / License

    • Free Personal
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Self-Hosted
    • WebAssembly
     
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