Alternatives to Bottles
A friendly manager for Wine prefixes on Linux, so running a Windows program means picking an environment rather than editing config files. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
Bottles
A friendly manager for Wine prefixes on Linux, so running a Windows program means picking an environment rather than editing config files.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as Bottles.
Lutris
A Linux gaming platform that installs the right emulator, Wine build or engine for each game and launches them from one place.
Lutris focuses on games rather than general Windows programs, using community installer scripts to set up Wine builds and emulators, and also pulls in Steam, Epic, GOG and Humble libraries.
Wine
An open-source compatibility layer that runs Windows applications and games on Linux, macOS and BSD.
Wine is the underlying compatibility layer, running on Linux, macOS and BSD, but without Bottles' prefix templates, backups and dependency catalogue, so configuration is more manual.
CrossOver
A commercial Wine-based tool that runs Windows applications and games on macOS and Linux.
CrossOver is a paid, closed-source Wine-based tool for macOS and Linux that adds commercial support, tutorials and forums in place of Bottles' free open-source approach.
Porting Kit
A macOS app that installs Windows games and applications on a Mac using Wineskin wrappers.
Porting Kit runs on macOS instead of Linux, installing Windows games through prepared Wineskin installers and a filterable catalog, and it is not open source.
Also worth comparing
These listings name Bottles as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.
Faugus Launcher
A lightweight Linux launcher for running Windows games and applications through UMU-Launcher.
Bottles manages Wine prefixes from templates with runner versions, dependencies and backups, aimed at Windows applications generally and mainly distributed as a Flatpak.
umu-launcher
A unified launcher that runs Windows games on Linux with Proton outside of Steam.
Bottles manages Wine prefixes on Linux through a graphical interface with runner and DXVK versions, backups and dependency installs, instead of running Proton from the command line.
Winetricks
A helper script that installs missing DLLs and runtime libraries and applies tweaks to Wine prefixes.
Bottles installs dependencies from a catalogue into Wine prefixes through a graphical Linux interface, adding versioning, backups and built-in winecfg and regedit tools.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
Heroic Games Launcher
An open-source launcher for Epic, GOG and Amazon Prime games, on Linux, Windows, macOS and the Steam Deck.
DXVK
Vulkan-based translation layer that runs Direct3D 8, 9, 10 and 11 games on Linux.
Nobara
A Fedora-based Linux desktop tuned for gaming, streaming and content creation out of the box.
Ubuntu GamePack
An Ubuntu-based Linux distribution preloaded with Steam, Wine and other gaming tools.
Proton
Valve's Wine-based compatibility tool that lets Steam run Windows games on Linux.
GE-Proton
A community build of Valve's Proton compatibility tool for running Windows games through Steam Play on Linux.
