Free VirtualBox Alternatives for Windows

There are many alternatives to VirtualBox for Windows if you are looking for a replacement. The best free Windows alternative is QEMU, which is also Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to VirtualBox and many of them are free and available for Windows so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting free Windows alternatives to VirtualBox are VMware Workstation Pro, VMware Workstation Player, Proxmox Virtual Environment and Portable Virtualbox.

filter to find the best alternatives

VirtualBox alternatives are mainly Virtualization Tools Other popular filters include Linux, Free, Mac, Windows, Open Source, Android and Windows + Free. 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. QEMU icon

    QEMU

     296 likes
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    QEMU, an open-source hypervisor, performs hardware virtualization, emulates CPUs using dynamic binary translation, and supports various architectures. It runs diverse unmodified guest OS, provides device models, and offers mixed translation modes for efficient execution.

    44 QEMU alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    QEMU with the free OS ReactOS
     
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    83
    Comments about QEMU as an Alternative to VirtualBox
    Top Positive Comment
    Guest
    14

    It runs faster than virtualbox using KVM. Also is better suited for production level.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Leonart
    Positive
    0

    Qemu on linux is perfect, but on windows, consider virtualbox or vmware as a better alternatives

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Nuncio Bitis
    Positive
    0

    If you want a GUI to manage QEMU machines, install AQEMU. It works like VirtualBox or VMware GUIs.

    Show more comments
    3 of 7 comments
    VirtualBox Icon
    QEMU icon

    • Most users think QEMU is a great VirtualBox alternative.

    • QEMU is the most popular Windows, Mac & Linux alternative to VirtualBox.

    • QEMU is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to VirtualBox.

    • QEMU is Free and Open SourceVirtualBox is also Free and Open Source
    • QEMU is Security-focusedVirtualBox is not according to our users
  2. VMware Workstation Pro icon

    VMware Workstation Pro

     393 likes
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    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...

    35 VMware Workstation Pro alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    VMware Workstation Pro screenshot 1
     
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    7
    96
    Comments about VMware Workstation Pro as an Alternative to VirtualBox
    Top Positive Comment
    Guest
    10

    Its much more user friendly and pleasant to work with.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Top Negative Comment
    Guest
    16

    Expensive. If you want the free version for personal use, go with VMware Workstation Player.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    dvdvideo123
    Negative
    3

    Virtual box is free, vmwre has 30 day trial.

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    3 of 7 comments
    VirtualBox Icon
    VMware Workstation Pro icon

    • Most users think VMware Workstation Pro is a great VirtualBox alternative.

    • VMware Workstation Pro is Free and ProprietaryVirtualBox is Free and Open Source
  4. VMware Workstation Player icon

    VMware Workstation Player

     247 likes
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    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.

    38 VMware Workstation Player alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free Personal
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    VMware Workstation Player screenshot 1
     
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    1
    54
    Comments about VMware Workstation Player as an Alternative to VirtualBox
    Guest
    Positive
    9

    Free and slightly more advanced. Less user friendly than virtualbox but also much more feature rich.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    VirtualBox Icon
    VMware Workstation Player icon

    • Almost everyone thinks VMware Workstation Player is a great VirtualBox alternative.

    • VMware Workstation Player is Free Personal and ProprietaryVirtualBox is Free and Open Source
  5. Proxmox Virtual Environment icon

    Proxmox Virtual Environment

     153 likes
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    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...

    45 Proxmox Virtual Environment alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium (Pay once)
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • Android Tablet
    Proxmox Virtual Environment screenshot 1
     
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    1
    7
    Comments about Proxmox Virtual Environment as an Alternative to VirtualBox
    Matt
    Positive
    0

    Proxmox VE is an excellent bare-metal/type I hypervisor. It has excellent features for creating and managing virtual machines on a dedicated virtualization server.

    If you are looking for a hosted/type II hypervisor, look elsewhere.

    VirtualBox Icon
    Proxmox Virtual Environment icon

    • Most users think Proxmox Virtual Environment is a great VirtualBox alternative.

    • Proxmox Virtual Environment is the most popular Android Tablet alternative to VirtualBox.

    • Proxmox Virtual Environment is Freemium and Open SourceVirtualBox is Free and Open Source
  6. Portable Virtualbox icon

    Portable Virtualbox

     45 likes
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    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.

    38 Portable Virtualbox alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Windows
    Portable Virtualbox screenshot 1
     
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    1
    38
    Comments about Portable Virtualbox as an Alternative to VirtualBox
    Evan Sercombe
    Positive
    -20

    It is basically VirtualBox for mobile.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    VirtualBox Icon
    Portable Virtualbox icon

    • Most users think Portable Virtualbox is a great VirtualBox alternative.

    • Portable Virtualbox is Free and Open SourceVirtualBox is also Free and Open Source
  7. Microsoft Hyper-V Server icon

    Microsoft Hyper-V Server

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

    53 Microsoft Hyper-V Server alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    sconfig
     
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    1
    12
    Comments about Microsoft Hyper-V Server as an Alternative to VirtualBox
    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.
    VirtualBox Icon
    Microsoft Hyper-V Server icon

    • Most users think Microsoft Hyper-V Server is a great VirtualBox alternative.

    • Microsoft Hyper-V Server is Free and ProprietaryVirtualBox is Free and Open Source
  9. Windows Sandbox icon

    Windows Sandbox

     20 likes
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    a new lightweight desktop environment tailored for safely running applications in isolation.

    55 Windows Sandbox alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    Windows Sandbox screenshot 1
     
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    1
    Comments about Windows Sandbox as an Alternative to VirtualBox
    Matt
    Negative
    0

    Windows Sandbox is great if you only need to run Windows guest containers. It does not support running Linux, UNIX, or other guest OSes and lacks many of the management and persistence features available in VirtualBox.

    VirtualBox Icon
    Windows Sandbox icon
    • Windows Sandbox is Free and ProprietaryVirtualBox is Free and Open Source
  10. RVVM icon

    RVVM

     3 likes
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    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

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Windows
    • Mac
    RVVM screenshot 1
     
  11. Bochs icon

    Bochs

     15 likes
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    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...

    38 Bochs alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    Bochs screenshot 1
     
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    9
  12. AQEMU icon

    AQEMU

     14 likes
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    Cross-platform GUI virtual machine manager using QEMU as backend. Support Linux/BSD/Windows 8/10/11

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    AQEMU screenshot 1
     
  13. QEMU Manager icon

    QEMU Manager

     8 likes
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    Qemu Manager is an easy to use management tool for the open-source QEMU emulator. It has a wealth of features for creating, managing and running multiple virtual machines.

    47 QEMU Manager alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Windows
    QEMU Manager screenshot 1
     
  14. Multipass icon

    Multipass

     7 likes
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    Multipass is a lightweight VM manager for Linux, Windows and macOS. It's designed for developers who want a fresh Ubuntu environment with a single command. It uses KVM on Linux, Hyper-V on Windows and HyperKit on macOS to run the VM with minimal overhead.

    57 Multipass alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Snapcraft
    Multipass screenshot 1
     
12 of 23 VirtualBox alternatives