VMware Workstation Player Alternatives

VMware Workstation Player is described as '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' and is a very popular Virtualization tool in the network & admin category. There are more than 25 alternatives to VMware Workstation Player for a variety of platforms, including Windows, Linux, Mac, BSD and Android apps. The best VMware Workstation Player alternative is VirtualBox, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like VMware Workstation Player are QEMU, VMware Workstation Pro, KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) and virt-manager.

VMware Workstation Player alternatives are mainly Virtualization Tools but may also be Web Browsers. Filter by these if you want a narrower list of alternatives or looking for a specific functionality of VMware Workstation Player.

VMware Workstation Player alternatives page was last updated

VMware Workstation Player

240

Free Personal • Proprietary
Virtualization Tool

VMware Workstation Player builds on the industry leading foundation of Workstation Pro, and delivers a streamlined user...

More about VMware Workstation Player

VirtualBox
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Virtualization Tool
Mac
Windows
Linux
BSD
Solaris
61 VirtualBox alternatives
VirtualBox is a powerful x86 and AMD64/Intel64 virtualization product for enterprise as well as home use. Not only is VirtualBox an extremely feature rich, high performance product for enterprise customers, it is also the only professional solution that is freely available as...
- - VirtualBox is the most popular Windows, Mac & Linux alternative to VMware Workstation Player.
- - VirtualBox is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to VMware Workstation Player.
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VirtualBox Features
1. LightweightVirtualBox consumes less device resources compared to similar apps.
2. Container VirtualizationVirtualBox can make use of isolated user spaces called "containers" to run applications.
3. PortableVirtualBox can be used from a USB stick or similar with no prior installation.
Multiple languages
Comments about VirtualBox as a Alternative to VMware Workstation Player
Most users think VirtualBox is a great VMware Workstation Player alternative.
ph soft
Open source but problems with 3D accelerations (works better in VMWare for me).
Positive comment•
0

Felippe Henrique Diniz de Castro
Way better than VMware and Open Source.
Positive comment•
-1

Guest
Windows guest sound are crackle.
Negative comment•
-9
QEMU
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Virtualization Tool
Mac
Windows
Linux
BSD
42 QEMU alternatives
QEMU (short for "Quick EMUlator") is a free and open-source hosted hypervisor that performs hardware virtualization.
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QEMU Features
1. LightweightQEMU consumes less device resources compared to similar apps.
2. PortableQEMU can be used from a USB stick or similar with no prior installation.
3. Privacy focusedQEMU is considered a privacy friendly alternative.
4. Support for scriptingQEMU supports scripts and macros to automate or customize tasks.
5. Container VirtualizationQEMU can make use of isolated user spaces called "containers" to run applications.
6. Command line interfaceQEMU either have CLI support or is a CLI-only app.
GPU Acceleration
Security focused
User mode emulation
Emulation
Opinions about QEMU as a Alternative to VMware Workstation Player
Most users think QEMU is a great VMware Workstation Player alternative.
VMware Workstation Pro
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Paid • Proprietary
Virtualization Tool
Windows
Linux
39 VMware Workstation Pro alternatives
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...
- - VMware Workstation Pro is the most popular commercial alternative to VMware Workstation Player.
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VMware Workstation Pro Features
1. Container VirtualizationVMware Workstation Pro can make use of isolated user spaces called "containers" to run applications.
Multiple languages
Support for Android Things
Bundled with macOS
KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine)
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Virtualization Tool
Linux
Android
40 KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) alternatives
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.
- - KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) is the most popular Android alternative to VMware Workstation Player.
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KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) Features
1. Command line interfaceKVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) either have CLI support or is a CLI-only app.
2. Container VirtualizationKVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) can make use of isolated user spaces called "containers" to run applications.
3. LightweightKVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) consumes less device resources compared to similar apps.
4. PortableKVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) can be used from a USB stick or similar with no prior installation.
5. Privacy focusedKVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) is considered a privacy friendly alternative.
6. Extensible by Plugins/ExtensionsKVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) can be extended with add-ons, plugins and extensions.
Linux-based
Nt kernel
Security focused
Emulation
virt-manager
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Virtualization Tool
Linux
BSD
26 virt-manager alternatives
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). It presents a summary view of running domains, their live performance & resource utilization...
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virt-manager Features
1. Container Virtualizationvirt-manager can make use of isolated user spaces called "containers" to run applications.
2. Lightweightvirt-manager consumes less device resources compared to similar apps.
3. Command line interfacevirt-manager either have CLI support or is a CLI-only app.
4. Privacy focusedvirt-manager is considered a privacy friendly alternative.
VNC Viewer
SSH
Customizable
Security focused
Live migration
Parallels Desktop
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Freemium • Proprietary
Virtualization Tool
Mac
47 Parallels Desktop alternatives
Parallels Desktop gives Mac users the ability to run Windows, Linux or any other operating system and their critical applications at the same time as macOS. Parallels Desktop is optimized for Intel and Apple M1 chip.
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Parallels Desktop Features
1. Support for Multiple MonitorsParallels Desktop supports the use of multiple displays.
Run Windows software
Support for Apple M1
Office 365 integration
VMware Fusion
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free Personal • Proprietary
Virtualization Tool
Mac
39 VMware Fusion alternatives
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...
VMware Fusion has no features, suggest some!
Boxes
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Virtualization Tool
Linux
BSD
Flathub
21 Boxes alternatives
A simple GNOME application to access virtual systems. It is based on a design from Jon McCann and Jakub Steiner.
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Boxes Features
1. Privacy focusedBoxes is considered a privacy friendly alternative.
2. Container VirtualizationBoxes can make use of isolated user spaces called "containers" to run applications.
3. LightweightBoxes consumes less device resources compared to similar apps.
4. Command line interfaceBoxes either have CLI support or is a CLI-only app.
5. PortableBoxes can be used from a USB stick or similar with no prior installation.
VNC Viewer
Security focused
Windows Sandbox
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Proprietary
Virtualization Tool
Windows
52 Windows Sandbox alternatives
a new lightweight desktop environment tailored for safely running applications in isolation.
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Windows Sandbox Features
1. Container VirtualizationWindows Sandbox can make use of isolated user spaces called "containers" to run applications.
2. LightweightWindows Sandbox consumes less device resources compared to similar apps.
Sandbox
Portable Virtualbox
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Virtualization Tool
Windows
40 Portable Virtualbox alternatives
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.
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Portable Virtualbox Features
1. PortablePortable Virtualbox can be used from a USB stick or similar with no prior installation.
GNU/linux-libre
Discontinued
It has not been updated since 2017 and does not work with any version of Virtualbox beyond v5.1.22.
MobaLiveCD
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Virtualization Tool
Windows
23 MobaLiveCD alternatives
MobaLiveCD is a freeware that will run your Linux LiveCD on Windows thanks to the excellent emulator called "Qemu".
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MobaLiveCD Features
1. PortableMobaLiveCD can be used from a USB stick or similar with no prior installation.
Comments about MobaLiveCD as a Alternative to VMware Workstation Player
pros, cons and recent comments
Guest
It Is An Accessory for QEMU
Negative comment•
0
UTM
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Virtualization Tool
Mac
iPhone
iPad
51 UTM alternatives
UTM is a full featured system emulator and virtual machine host for iOS and macOS. It is based off of QEMU. In short, it allows you to run Windows, Linux, and more on your Mac, iPhone, and iPad.
- - UTM is the most popular iPhone & iPad alternative to VMware Workstation Player.
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UTM Features
Multi System Emulator
Emulation