Windows Sandbox Alternatives

Windows Sandbox is described as 'a new lightweight desktop environment tailored for safely running applications in isolation' and is a Virtualization tool in the network & admin category. There are more than 50 alternatives to Windows Sandbox for a variety of platforms, including Windows, Linux, Mac, BSD and Android apps. The best Windows Sandbox alternative is VirtualBox, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like Windows Sandbox are QEMU, VMware Workstation Pro, VMware Workstation Player and KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine).

Windows Sandbox alternatives page was last updated

Windows Sandbox

Free • Proprietary
Virtualization Tool

a new lightweight desktop environment tailored for safely running applications in isolation.

More about Windows Sandbox

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 Windows Sandbox.
- - VirtualBox is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to Windows Sandbox.
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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 Windows Sandbox
pros, cons and recent comments
Guest
Windows Sandbox is a sandboxing tool, but VirtualBox is for virtual machines.
Negative comment•
6
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
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 Windows Sandbox.
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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
VMware Workstation Player
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free Personal • Proprietary
Virtualization Tool
Windows
Linux
38 VMware Workstation Player alternatives
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.
VMware Workstation Player has no features, suggest some!
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 Windows Sandbox.
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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!
Firejail
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Virtualization Tool
Linux
19 Firejail alternatives
Firejail is a SUID security sandbox program that reduces the risk of security breaches by restricting the running environment of untrusted applications using Linux namespaces and seccomp-bpf.
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Firejail Features
1. Command line interfaceFirejail either have CLI support or is a CLI-only app.
Sandbox
How Internet Works
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
Xen
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Virtualization Tool
Linux
30 Xen alternatives
Xen.org, home of the Xen hypervisor, the powerful open source industry standard for virtualization. It is a native (bare-metal) hypervisor providing services that allow multiple computer operating systems to execute on the same computer hardware concurrently.
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Xen Features
Hypervisor
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.