VirtualBox Alternatives for Mac

There are many alternatives to VirtualBox for Mac if you are looking for a replacement. The best Mac alternative is QEMU, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to VirtualBox and many of them are available for Mac so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Mac alternatives to VirtualBox are Parallels Desktop, UTM, SwiftVM and VMware Fusion.

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Most VirtualBox alternatives are Virtualization Tools, but you can also narrow the list to Compatibility Layer Tools. 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. 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
  2. Virtualization software for running Windows, Linux, and other OSes on Mac. Supports Windows 11 on Apple Silicon, resource adjustments, and seamless app access and file sharing between OS environments.

    62 Parallels Desktop alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Since

    • Since 2009

    Platforms

    • Mac
    Good alternative?
     
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    1
  3. 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
  4. 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?
     
  5. VMware Fusion icon
     121 likes

    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...

    47 VMware Fusion alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Since

    • Since 2009

    Platforms

    • Mac
    Good alternative?
     
  6. VMPal icon
     7 likes

    Fast macOS, Windows and Linux virtual machines for Apple Silicon. VMPal downloads and installs each system for you, in minutes, in the VM's own window.

    41 VMPal alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Since

    • New

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • US flagUnited States
    VMPal screenshot 1
    Good alternative?
     
  7. 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?
     
  8. VirtualBuddy icon
     2 likes

    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

    Since

    • Since 2022

    Platforms

    • Mac
    Good alternative?
     
  9. RVVM icon
     5 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

    Since

    • Since 2024

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Windows
    • Mac
    Good alternative?
     
  10. Multipass icon
     9 likes

    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.

    68 Multipass alternatives

    Cost / License

    Since

    • Since 2020

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Snapcraft
    Good alternative?
     
  11. Veertu icon
     1 like

    Run Windows and Linux on your Mac alongside OS X. Veertu is simple, light, secure virtualization software designed for Mac.

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Since

    • Since 2016

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    Good alternative?
     
  12. Vmtek icon
     1 like

    VMTek is the Mac virtualization platform you've been waiting for. Run multiple instances and versions of macOS*, Linux and other operating systems side-by-side on your Mac with ease. High performance Mac-native virtualization designed from the ground up to take advantage of...

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Since

    • Since 2024

    Platforms

    • Mac
    Good alternative?
     
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