Alternatives to Lima

Launches Linux virtual machines from the command line on macOS, Linux and Windows, with file sharing and port forwarding set up automatically. 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 Lima.

  • Multipass

    Canonical's tool for launching a fresh Ubuntu virtual machine with one command, on Windows, macOS or Linux.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinux

    Multipass launches Ubuntu virtual machines with one command on Windows, macOS and Linux, with cloud-init support, but it focuses on Ubuntu rather than many distributions.

  • Rancher Desktop

    Runs Kubernetes and containers locally on Windows, macOS and Linux, as an open-source alternative to Docker Desktop.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinux

    Rancher Desktop is a graphical desktop app for local Kubernetes and containers that bundles kubectl, helm and docker, but it uses Electron and a managed virtual machine.

  • Vagrant

    Builds reproducible development virtual machines from a single file.

    FreeProprietaryWindowsmacOSLinuxCommand line

    Vagrant builds reproducible development machines from one file across several providers, but it needs a separate hypervisor and is under the Business Source License.

  • Quickemu

    Downloads an operating system and builds a properly configured QEMU virtual machine from one short config file.

    FreeOpen sourceLinuxmacOSCommand line

    Quickemu builds QEMU virtual machines from a short config file and supports Windows, macOS and BSD guests, but it has no Windows host support.

  • UTM

    Runs Windows, Linux and other systems in a virtual machine on a Mac, iPhone or iPad.

    FreemiumOpen sourcemacOSiOS

    UTM gives Mac users a graphical interface for Linux and Windows virtual machines on macOS and iOS, instead of Lima's command line with automatic port forwarding.

  • Windows Subsystem for Linux

    Runs unmodified Linux command-line tools and applications directly on Windows, without a virtual machine or dual boot.

    FreeOpen sourceWindows

    Windows Subsystem for Linux runs Linux command-line tools and graphical apps directly on Windows, but it is Windows only and cross-filesystem performance is poor.

  • Tart

    A command-line toolset for building, running and managing macOS and Linux virtual machines on Apple Silicon.

    FreeProprietarymacOSCommand line

    Tart runs macOS and Linux virtual machines on Apple Silicon through Virtualization.Framework, storing images in OCI registries, but it is not open source and targets CI.

Also worth comparing

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

  • krunvm

    A command-line tool that creates lightweight microVMs from OCI container images using libkrun.

    FreeProprietarymacOSLinuxCommand line

    Lima launches Linux VMs from the command line on macOS, Linux and Windows with automatic file sharing and port forwarding, and is open source under Apache-2.0.

Similar software

Related functionality, not a direct replacement.