Open Source VirtualBox AlternativesTop Virtualization Tools and other similar apps like VirtualBox

The best open source alternative to VirtualBox is WinBoat. 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 QEMU, Proxmox Virtual Environment, KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) and virt-manager.

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Most VirtualBox alternatives are Virtualization Tools, but you can also narrow the list to Compatibility Layer Tools or Operating Systems. Other popular filters are Free, Linux, Windows, Open Source and Mac. You can also filter for EU-based alternatives if you prefer software from the European Union.
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Alternatives
VirtualBox alternatives page was last updated

Alternatives list

  1. WinBoat icon
     93 likes

    Runs Windows applications, individual apps, or full desktops inside Linux with native OS-level integration, sleek interface, advanced filesystem sharing, smartcard passthrough, and resource monitoring while supporting simple installation and ongoing feature updates.

    56 WinBoat alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Since

    • Since 2025

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Docker
    Good alternative?
     
  2. QEMU icon
     317 likes

    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.

    50 QEMU alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Since

    • Since 2009

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    Good alternative?
     
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    8
  3. 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...

    53 Proxmox Virtual Environment alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Since

    • Since 2010

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Debian
    • Android
    • Android Tablet
    Good alternative?
     
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    1
  4. 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.

    43 KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Since

    • Since 2012

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Android
    Good alternative?
     
  5. virt-manager icon
     88 likes

    Comprehensive desktop tool for managing virtual machines using libvirt, supporting KVM, Xen, and Linux Containers. It offers performance stats, resource allocation and virtual hardware configuration with VNC and SPICE clients for graphical consoles.

    40 virt-manager alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Since

    • Since 2013

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    Good alternative?
     
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    3
  6. UTM icon
     36 likes

    An open-source QEMU-based host for creating, configuring, and running virtual machines on Macs, iOS, and visionOS. It supports full-system emulation across multiple processor architectures, plus hardware-assisted virtualization and macOS guests on ARM-based Macs.

    65 UTM alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Since

    • Since 2020

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • iPhone
    • iPad
    • visionOS
    • US flagUnited States
    UTM screenshot 1
    Good alternative?
     
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    1
  7. SwiftVM icon
     10 likes

    Native macOS app for running macOS and Linux virtual machines, built with Swift and Apple's Virtualization framework.

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Since

    • New

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Homebrew
    Good alternative?
     
  8. Boxes icon
     34 likes

    A simple GNOME application to access virtual systems. It is based on a design from Jon McCann and Jakub Steiner.

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Since

    • Since 2013

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Flathub
    • GNOME
    Good alternative?
     
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    1
  9. 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

    Since

    • Since 2012

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • US flagUnited States
    Xen screenshot 1
    Good alternative?
     
    |
    5
  10. Lima icon
     4 likes

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

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Since

    • Since 2021

    Platforms

    • Mac
    Good alternative?
     
  11. XCP-ng icon
     47 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

    Since

    • Since 2018

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • NVIDIA vGPU
    • AMD MxGPU
    Good alternative?
     
12 of 45 VirtualBox alternatives