Open Source VMware Workstation Player Alternatives

The best open source alternative to VMware Workstation Player is VirtualBox. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 25 alternatives to VMware Workstation Player and many of them is open source so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting open source alternatives to VMware Workstation Player are QEMU, KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine), virt-manager and Boxes.

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.

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VMware Workstation Player

239

Free Personal • Proprietary
Virtualization Tool

Windows
Linux

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

Learn more about VMware Workstation Player

VirtualBox
Do you think this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Virtualization Tool
Mac
Windows
Linux
BSD
Solaris
60 alternatives to VirtualBox
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...
Suggest and vote on features
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
VirtualBox vs VMware Workstation Player opinions
Most users think VirtualBox is a great alternative to VMware Workstation Player.
softph
Open source but problems with 3D accelerations (works better in VMWare for me).
Positive comment•
0

Guest
Windows guest sound are crackle.
Negative comment•
-9

programadorveg
Way better than VMware and Open Source.
Positive comment•
-1
QEMU
Do you think this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Virtualization Tool
Mac
Windows
Linux
BSD
42 alternatives to QEMU
QEMU (short for "Quick EMUlator") is a free and open-source hosted hypervisor that performs hardware virtualization.
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QEMU Features
1. PortableQEMU can be used from a USB stick or similar with no prior installation.
2. LightweightQEMU consumes less device resources compared to similar apps.
3. Support for scriptingQEMU supports scripts and macros to automate or customize tasks.
4. Privacy focusedQEMU is considered a privacy friendly alternative.
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
QEMU vs VMware Workstation Player opinions
Most users think QEMU is a great alternative to VMware Workstation Player.
KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine)
Do you think this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Virtualization Tool
Linux
Android
40 alternatives to KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine)
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.
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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
Do you think this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Virtualization Tool
Linux
BSD
26 alternatives to virt-manager
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
Boxes
Do you think this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Virtualization Tool
Linux
BSD
Flathub
21 alternatives to Boxes
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
Portable Virtualbox
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Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Virtualization Tool
Windows
40 alternatives to Portable Virtualbox
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.
UTM
Do you think this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Virtualization Tool
Mac
iPhone
iPad
51 alternatives to UTM
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.
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UTM Features
Multi System Emulator
Emulation
MobaLiveCD
Do you think this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Virtualization Tool
Windows
23 alternatives to MobaLiveCD
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.
MobaLiveCD vs VMware Workstation Player opinions
pros, cons and recent comments
Guest
It Is An Accessory for QEMU
Negative comment•
0
Multipass
Do you think this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Mac
Windows
Linux
55 alternatives to Multipass
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.

Multipass has no features, suggest some!
AQEMU
Do you think this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Virtualization Tool
Linux
BSD
17 alternatives to AQEMU
AQEMU is GUI to QEMU and KVM emulators, written in Qt4. The program have user-friendly interface and allows to set up the majority of QEMU and KVM …
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AQEMU Features
Graphical User Interface
GPLv3