Alternatives to Bochs

A portable open source x86 PC emulator that emulates the CPU, common devices and a BIOS. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.

Replacements

Listings that take over the same core job as Bochs.

  • QEMU

    The machine emulator and virtualiser that most of the Linux virtualisation stack is built on.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinuxCommand line

    QEMU emulates many processor architectures and reaches near native speed when paired with KVM or Xen, though raw use means working with a large command line option surface.

  • 86Box

    A low-level emulator of vintage IBM PC-compatible hardware for running old DOS and Windows systems.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinux

    86Box recreates period-accurate PC hardware with an interface modelled on mainstream hypervisors, but its CPU emulation stops at the Pentium era and it needs original BIOS ROMs.

  • v86

    An x86 PC emulator that runs operating systems such as Linux and Windows 9x inside a web browser.

    FreeOpen sourceWeb

    v86 runs x86 operating systems inside a web browser with an x86-to-WebAssembly JIT, which removes installation but suits older or lightweight systems best.

  • JSLinux

    A web page that boots Linux and other operating systems in emulated machines inside the browser.

    FreeProprietaryWeb

    JSLinux runs emulated x86, x86_64 and RISC-V machines in a browser, but only from a fixed list of prebuilt systems, and it is not open source.

  • VirtualBox

    The free desktop hypervisor most people start with: run Windows, Linux or BSD in a window on the machine you already have.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinux

    VirtualBox runs guests through virtualization with a graphical interface, snapshots and shared folders, trading Bochs' full x86 emulation and low-level debugging focus for speed.

Similar software

Related functionality, not a direct replacement.