Wine Alternatives for Mac

There are many alternatives to Wine for Mac if you are looking for a replacement. The best Mac alternative is PlayOnLinux - PlayOnMac, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 25 alternatives to Wine and 16 are available for Mac so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Mac alternatives to Wine are CrossOver, Parallels Desktop, Whisky and VMware Fusion.

filter to find the best alternatives

Wine alternatives are mainly Compatibility Layer Tools, but if you're looking for Virtualization Tools you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Linux, Mac, Android and Linux + Compatibility Layer. 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 Wine.
More about Wine
Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard
Wine alternatives page was last updated

Alternatives list

  1. PlayOnLinux - PlayOnMac icon

    PlayOnLinux - PlayOnMac

     247 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    PlayOnLinux is a graphical frontend for the Wine software compatibility layer which allows Linux and Mac users to install Windows-based video games, Microsoft Office (2000 to 2010), Microsoft Internet Explorer, as well as many other applications.

    44 PlayOnLinux - PlayOnMac alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Wine
    • FreeBSD
    PlayOnLinux - PlayOnMac screenshot 1
     
    |
    1
    42
    Comments about PlayOnLinux - PlayOnMac as an Alternative to Wine
    vXtreniusX
    Positive
    1

    PlayOnLinux uses wine technology in a simple, easy to use user interface.

    Wine Icon
    PlayOnLinux - PlayOnMac icon

    • Almost everyone thinks PlayOnLinux - PlayOnMac is a great Wine alternative.

    • PlayOnLinux - PlayOnMac is the most popular Mac alternative to Wine.

    • PlayOnLinux - PlayOnMac is Free and Open SourceWine is also Free and Open Source
  2. CrossOver icon

    CrossOver

     74 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Cross-platform utility enables seamless installation and execution of Windows applications on macOS, Linux, and Chrome OS. No Windows license required—facilitates easy app management with a few clicks, eliminates the need for virtual machines and reboots, delivering efficient compatibility layer operation.

    45 CrossOver alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Pay once
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    • Android
    • Chrome OS
    CrossOver screenshot 1
     
    |
    1
    26
    Comments about CrossOver as an Alternative to Wine
    Kelson V
    Positive
    1

    CrossOver is a commercial distribution of Wine that contributes to the upstream version - and it has much better install tools!

    Wine Icon
    CrossOver icon

    • Most users think CrossOver is a great Wine alternative.

    • CrossOver is the most popular Android alternative to Wine.

    • CrossOver is the most popular commercial alternative to Wine.

    • CrossOver is Paid and ProprietaryWine is Free and Open Source
  4. Parallels Desktop icon

    Parallels Desktop

     145 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Virtualization software for running Windows, Linux, and other OSes on Mac. Supports Windows 11 on Apple Silicon, resource adjustments, and seamless app access and file sharing between OS environments.

    56 Parallels Desktop alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Subscription
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Chrome OS
    Parallels Desktop screenshot 1
     
    |
    2
    8
    Comments about Parallels Desktop as an Alternative to Wine
    Guest
    Negative
    1

    Parallels Desktop is a virtualization software, Wine is a compatibility layer. They're not even remotely the same and do completely different things.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Guest
    Positive
    -1

    Putting on a price for something incredible like this is not a surprise. It runs perfectly well on Mac, unlike VirtualBox that requires a lot of space and Wine as well. There's a 14-day free trial so there is no harm trying it. No credit card info, nothing. Just a bit of clearing up space and finding your Windows OS and you're good to go. It's pretty incredible I must say. Anyone who gave Wine a shot MUST try this one!

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Wine Icon
    Parallels Desktop icon

    • Most users think Parallels Desktop is a great Wine alternative.

    • Parallels Desktop is Paid and ProprietaryWine is Free and Open Source
  5. Ad
    Screenshot
    CrossOver icon
    CrossOver

    Cross-platform utility enables seamless installation and execution of Windows applications on macOS, Linux, and Chrome OS. No Windows license required—facilitates easy app management with a few clicks, eliminates the need for vir...

    https://www.codeweavers.com
    Learn More
  6. Whisky icon

    Whisky

     21 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Whisky provides a clean and easy to use graphical wrapper for Wine built in native SwiftUI. You can make and manage bottles, install and run Windows apps and games, and unlock the full potential of your Mac with no technical knowledge required.

    33 Whisky alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Wine
    • Homebrew
    Whisky screenshot 1
     
  7. VMware Fusion icon

    VMware Fusion

     115 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    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...

    40 VMware Fusion alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    VMware Fusion screenshot 1
     
    |
    1
    6
    Comments about VMware Fusion as an Alternative to Wine
    gdwaynewarner
    Positive
    0

    What both Fusion and Parallels do is completely different than what Wine does. This is NOT a good alternative.

    Wine Icon
    VMware Fusion icon

    • Most users think VMware Fusion is a great Wine alternative.

    • VMware Fusion is Free and ProprietaryWine is Free and Open Source
  8. Mythic icon

    Mythic

     10 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    An open-source Epic Games Launcher alternative and normal game launcher for macOS written in Swift. We started this project to create a GUI frontend for Legendary and to play Windows games using game porting toolkit by Apple.

    48 Mythic alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    Mythic screenshot 1
     
  10. WineBottler icon

    WineBottler

     29 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    WineBottler is an App to manage and wrap your Windows apps into convenient OS X apps. WineBottler helps you with running Windows programs on OS X.

    35 WineBottler alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Wine
    WineBottler screenshot 1
     
    |
    1
    Comments about WineBottler as an Alternative to Wine
    Guest
    Positive
    0

    I've used it for many apps

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Wine Icon
    WineBottler icon

    • Most users think WineBottler is a great Wine alternative.

    • WineBottler is Free and Open SourceWine is also Free and Open Source
  11. Q4wine icon

    Q4wine

     19 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Q4Wine is a qt4 GUI for wine that will help you manage wine prefixes and installed applications

    38 Q4wine alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Wine
    Q4wine screenshot 1
     
    |
    10
  12. Phoenicis icon

    Phoenicis

     3 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Phoenicis is a graphical front-end for Wine, a tool to help Linux and Mac users run games and programs for Windows. The future of PlayOnLinux and PlayOnMac.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    • Flathub
    Phoenicis screenshot 1
     
  13. Porting Kit icon

    Porting Kit

     14 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Using Wineskin technology, Porting Kit is a PaulTheTall.com app that can install games and apps compiled for Microsoft Windows® in Mac OS X. It has access to a server where we store WSI files for more than 300 games, which can be installed by any Porting Kit user.

    31 Porting Kit alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    Skyrim on Porting Kit
     
  14. Hangover icon

    Hangover

     3 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    This is Hangover, a project started by André Zwing and Stefan Dösinger in 2016 to run (x86_64)/x86_32 Windows applications on aarch64/(ppc64le)/x86_64 Wine. (Architectures in brackets are currently not supported).

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
     
  15. Karton icon

    Karton

     4 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Run Linux programs on macOS, a different Linux distro, or a different architecture.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
     
12 of 16 Wine alternatives