VMware Workstation Player Alternatives for Linux

There are many alternatives to VMware Workstation Player for Linux and since it's discontinued a lot of people are looking for a replacement. The best Linux alternative is VirtualBox, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 25 alternatives to VMware Workstation Player and many of them are available for Linux so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Linux alternatives to VMware Workstation Player are WinBoat, QEMU, VMware Workstation Pro and KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine).

filter to find the best alternatives

VMware Workstation Player alternatives are mainly Virtualization Tools, but if you're looking for Compatibility Layer Tools you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Linux, Open Source, Free and Mac. You can also filter by region, for example EU-based alternatives if you prefer software developed in the European Union. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to VMware Workstation Player.
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VMware Workstation Player alternatives page was last updated

Alternatives list

  1. VirtualBox icon

    VirtualBox

     2926 likes
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    Open source VirtualBox offers powerful x86/AMD64 virtualization available freely under GNU GPL v2. Runs on Windows, Linux, Mac, Solaris hosts. Supports a vast array of guest OS like Windows, Linux, Solaris. Portable, lightweight, ad-free, with dark mode.

    63 VirtualBox alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Oracle Solaris
    VirtualBox Manager
     
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    3
    27
    Comments about VirtualBox as an Alternative to VMware Workstation Player
    ph soft
    Positive
    0

    Open source but problems with 3D accelerations (works better in VMWare for me).

    Felippe Henrique Diniz de Castro
    Positive
    -1

    Way better than VMware and Open Source.

    Guest
    Negative
    -10

    Windows guest sound are crackle.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    VMware Workstation Player Icon
    VirtualBox icon

    • Most users think VirtualBox is a great VMware Workstation Player alternative.

    • 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.

    • VirtualBox is Free and Open SourceVMware Workstation Player is Free Personal and Proprietary
    • VirtualBox is Lightweight and Privacy focusedVMware Workstation Player is not according to our users
  2. WinBoat icon

    WinBoat

     60 likes
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    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.

    50 WinBoat alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Docker
    WinBoat screenshot 1
     
  4. QEMU icon

    QEMU

     296 likes
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    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.

    44 QEMU alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    QEMU with the free OS ReactOS
     
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    6
  5. VMware Workstation Pro icon

    VMware Workstation Pro

     393 likes
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    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...

    35 VMware Workstation Pro alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    VMware Workstation Pro screenshot 1
     
  6. KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) icon

    KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine)

     118 likes
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    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.

    40 KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Android
    KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) screenshot 1
     

    • KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) is the most popular Android alternative to VMware Workstation Player.

    • KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) is Free and Open SourceVMware Workstation Player is Free Personal and Proprietary
    • KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) is Security-focused, Lightweight and Privacy focusedVMware Workstation Player is not according to our users
  7. virt-manager icon

    virt-manager

     82 likes
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    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.

    32 virt-manager alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    virt-manager screenshot 1
     
  9. Boxes icon

    Boxes

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

    26 Boxes alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Flathub
    • GNOME
    Boxes screenshot 1
     
  10. AQEMU icon

    AQEMU

     14 likes
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    Cross-platform GUI virtual machine manager using QEMU as backend. Support Linux/BSD/Windows 8/10/11

    21 AQEMU alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    AQEMU screenshot 1
     
  11. RVVM icon

    RVVM

     3 likes
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    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

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Windows
    • Mac
    RVVM screenshot 1
     
  12. Multipass icon

    Multipass

     7 likes
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    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.

    57 Multipass alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Snapcraft
    Multipass screenshot 1
     
  13. Bochs icon

    Bochs

     15 likes
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    Bochs is a highly portable open source IA-32 (x86) PC emulator written in C++, that runs on most popular platforms. It includes emulation of the Intel x86 CPU, common I/O devices, and a custom BIOS. Currently, Bochs can be compiled to emulate a 386, 486...

    38 Bochs alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    Bochs screenshot 1
     
  14. QtEmu icon

    QtEmu

     7 likes
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    QtEmu is a graphical user interface for QEMU.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    QtEmu screenshot 1
     
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