VMware Workstation Pro Alternatives for Linux

There are many alternatives to VMware Workstation Pro for Linux if you 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 Pro and 14 are available for Linux so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Linux alternatives to VMware Workstation Pro are WinBoat, QEMU, KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) and VMware Workstation Player.

filter to find the best alternatives

VMware Workstation Pro alternatives are mainly Virtualization Tools, but if you're looking for Compatibility Layer Tools 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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VMware Workstation Pro alternatives page was last updated

Alternatives list

  1. VirtualBox icon
     2951 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.

    68 VirtualBox alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Oracle Solaris
     
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    5
    VirtualBox vs VMware Workstation Pro Comments
    Top Positive Comment
    ushabuntu
    0

    Free and works really well.

    Guest
    Positive
    0

    VMware cannot work well.Imay be love this

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Guest
    Positive
    5

    It works and crashes less then some of the virtualisation software I have used and it's free.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    3 of 5 comments
    • VirtualBox is Free and Open SourceVMware Workstation Pro is Free and Proprietary
    • VirtualBox is Lightweight and Privacy focusedVMware Workstation Pro is not according to our users
  2. WinBoat icon
     70 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)

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Docker
     
  3. QEMU icon
     303 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.

    45 QEMU alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
     
  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.

    42 KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Android
     
  5. VMware Workstation Player 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.

    41 VMware Workstation Player alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free Personal
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
     
  6. Boxes icon
     32 likes

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

    28 Boxes alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Flathub
    • GNOME
     
  7. Multipass icon
     7 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.

    62 Multipass alternatives

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Snapcraft
     
  8. RVVM icon
     3 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
     
  9. OpenVZ icon
     13 likes

    OpenVZ is container-based virtualization for Linux.

    OpenVZ creates multiple secure, isolated Linux containers (otherwise known as VEs or VPSs) on a single physical server enabling better server utilization and ensuring that applications do not conflict.

    Each container performs.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
     
  10. Virtualization solution for SME and freelancer. With Collax V-Cube you can run several servers, operating systems and applications virtually on only one hardware. Virtualization of hardware, network and storage. Collax V-Cube uses the KVM hypervisor.

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
     
  11. Bochs icon
     16 likes

    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...

    40 Bochs alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
     
  12. Xvisor® is an open-source type-1 hypervisor, which aims at providing a monolithic, light-weight, portable, and flexible virtualization solution.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
     
12 of 14 VMware Workstation Pro alternatives