Alternatives to Multipass

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

  • Lima

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

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinuxCommand line

    Lima launches Linux virtual machines from the command line with automatic file sharing and port forwarding, and offers templates for many distributions, not only Ubuntu.

  • Vagrant

    Builds reproducible development virtual machines from a single file.

    FreeProprietaryWindowsmacOSLinuxCommand line

    Vagrant reproduces development machines from a single file across VirtualBox, VMware, Hyper-V and libvirt, but it needs a hypervisor and is not open source.

  • Quickemu

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

    FreeOpen sourceLinuxmacOSCommand line

    Quickemu downloads many operating systems including macOS, Windows and the BSDs and builds QEMU machines without root, but it does not run on Windows hosts.

  • 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 offers a graphical interface with snapshots and shared folders on Windows, macOS and Linux, and supports many guest systems beyond Ubuntu.

  • UTM

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

    FreemiumOpen sourcemacOSiOS

    UTM runs Windows, Linux and macOS guests on a Mac, iPhone or iPad through a native graphical interface, but it has no Windows or Linux host.

  • 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 tools directly on Windows without a separate virtual machine to launch, but it is limited to Windows hosts.

  • GNOME Boxes

    A simple GNOME desktop app for creating and running virtual machines on Linux.

    FreeOpen sourceLinux

    GNOME Boxes offers a simple graphical desktop app that downloads and installs common operating systems automatically, with snapshots and USB redirection, but runs only on Linux.

Also worth comparing

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

  • Quickgui

    A graphical desktop front end for Quickemu that downloads operating systems and launches virtual machines.

    FreeProprietarymacOSLinux

    Multipass launches Ubuntu virtual machines with one command on Windows, macOS or Linux, but focuses on Ubuntu rather than a list of operating systems.

Similar software

Related functionality, not a direct replacement.