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    Open Source VirtualBox Alternatives

    The best open source alternative to VirtualBox is QEMU. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to VirtualBox and many of them is open source so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting open source alternatives to VirtualBox are KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) (Free, Open Source), Portable Virtualbox (Free, Open Source), virt-manager (Free, Open Source) and Proxmox Virtual Environment (Freemium, Open Source).

    This page was last updated May 16, 2022
    VirtualBox
      2740
    • Free • Open Source
    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Solaris
    More ▼
    VirtualBox is a powerful x86 and AMD64/Intel64 virtualization product for enterprise as well as home use.
    Learn more about VirtualBox
    1. QEMU (short for "Quick EMUlator") is a free and open-source hosted hypervisor that performs hardware virtualization.
      QEMU vs VirtualBox opinions
      Almost everyone thinks QEMU is a great alternative to VirtualBox.
      It runs faster than virtualbox using KVM. Also is better suited for production level.
      Positive comment • over 5 years ago

      13
      arpeters It is supported by various frontends such as Virt Manager and AQEMU.
      Positive comment • over 2 years ago

      10
      It also performs hardware visualization
      Positive comment • over 5 years ago

      3
      It doesn't have a GUI to manage like Virtualbox or VMware. That's problematic.
      Negative comment • over 2 years ago

      -9
    2. 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.
      Almost everyone thinks KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) is a great alternative to VirtualBox.
    4. 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.

      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 • about 4 years ago

      -19
    5. 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).
      virt-manager vs VirtualBox opinions
      Almost everyone thinks virt-manager is a great alternative to VirtualBox.
      virt-manager with kvm/libvirtd is as powerfull as virtualbox, but much much more faster.
      Positive comment • over 1 year ago

      0
      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 • over 2 years ago

      -1
      zinz this is not vm but a vm manager.
      Negative comment • about 5 years ago

      -10
    6. Proxmox Virtual Environment is a complete and easy to use Open Source virtualization platform for running Virtual Appliances and Virtual Machines.

    8. Boxes

      • Free • Open Source
      • Linux
      • BSD
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      A simple GNOME application to access virtual systems. It is based on a design from Jon McCann and Jakub Steiner.
      Boxes vs VirtualBox opinions
      Most users think Boxes is a great alternative to VirtualBox.
      This is a virtual machine manager, not virtualization software
      Negative comment • almost 3 years ago

      5

    9. Xen

      • Free • Open Source
      • Linux
      More ▼
      More ▼
      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.
      Xen vs VirtualBox opinions
      This alternative is disputed. Xen is still a legitimate alternative to VirtualBox, but it might have issues that some users think are important.
      This is a hypervisor, not a virtual machine.
      Top negative comment  almost 2 years ago

      0
      Xen is hypervisor that isn't emulate but isolate.
      Negative comment • almost 2 years ago

      1
      This is a bare-metal hypervisor, not a software virtualization platform.
      Negative comment • about 2 years ago

      2
      Hypervisor != Virtualization Desktop
      Negative comment • over 4 years ago

      3
      xen appears to be a hypervisor, which is quite different than basic virtualization software...
      Negative comment • about 5 years ago

      7
    10. 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.

    11. bhyve

      • Free • Open Source
      • BSD
      • FreeBSD
      More ▼
      More ▼
      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.
      No screenshots yet
    12. AQEMU is GUI to QEMU and KVM emulators, written in Qt4.
    Showing 10 of 31 alternatives