Alternatives to DeSmuME

Long-running Nintendo DS emulator with high-resolution rendering. 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 DeSmuME.

  • melonDS

    A Nintendo DS and DSi emulator focused on accuracy and speed, with local wireless between emulated consoles.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinux

    melonDS is faster and more accurate for many DS games, adds DSi emulation and local wireless between instances, but needs BIOS and firmware dumps and lacks internet netplay.

  • NooDS

    A fast, portable open-source emulator for the Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinuxAndroid

    NooDS emulates both DS and GBA with multi-core software rendering and upscaling, adds Android and homebrew console builds, but has a smaller feature set and one main developer.

  • SkyEmu

    A low-level emulator for the Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS.

    FreeOpen sourcemacOSLinux

    SkyEmu covers Game Boy, Game Boy Color, GBA and DS in one low-level emulator, but lists only macOS and Linux and lacks DeSmuME's cheat database and movie tools.

Also worth comparing

These listings name DeSmuME as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.

  • no$gba

    A Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS and DSi emulator with a source-level debugger.

    FreeProprietaryWindows

    DeSmuME is an open-source GPL-2.0 Nintendo DS emulator on three desktop systems with high-resolution rendering and movie recording, but it has infrequent releases and no GBA support.

Similar software

Related functionality, not a direct replacement.