Open Source VMware Workstation Pro AlternativesTop Virtualization Tools and other similar apps like VMware Workstation Pro

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

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VMware Workstation Pro alternatives are mainly Virtualization Tools, but if you're looking for Compatibility Layer Tools or Operating Systems you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Linux and Free. 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 Pro.
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Alternatives list

  1. VirtualBox icon
     2996 likes

    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.

    70 VirtualBox alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Oracle Solaris
    Good alternative?
     
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  2. WinBoat icon
     85 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.

    53 WinBoat alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Docker
    Good alternative?
     
  3. QEMU icon
     313 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.

    47 QEMU alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    Good alternative?
     
  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

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Android
    Good alternative?
     
  5. UTM icon
     30 likes

    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.

    60 UTM alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • iPhone
    • iPad
    • visionOS
    Good alternative?
     
  6. Boxes icon
     34 likes

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

    29 Boxes alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Flathub
    • GNOME
    Good alternative?
     
  7. 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.

    64 Multipass alternatives

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Snapcraft
    Good alternative?
     
  8. 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.

    40 Portable Virtualbox alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Windows
    Good alternative?
     
  9. Lima icon
     4 likes

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

    64 Lima alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    Good alternative?
     
  10. 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

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Windows
    • Mac
    Good alternative?
     
  11. bhyve icon
     11 likes

    bhyve (pronounced "bee hive", formerly written as BHyVe) is a type-2 hypervisor that runs FreeBSD 9+, OpenBSD, Linux and MS Window desktop (versions Vista, 7, 8/8.1/8.2 and 10), as well as MS Windows Server (versions 2008/2008R2, 2012/2012R2 and 2016 Technical Preview...

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • BSD
    • FreeBSD
    Good alternative?
     
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