Alternatives to Rufus

Writes a bootable USB drive from an ISO, and can strip the Windows 11 install requirements while doing it. 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 Rufus.

  • balenaEtcher

    Writes an OS image to a USB stick or SD card, verifies every byte, and refuses to target your hard drive.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinux

    balenaEtcher runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, hides system drives and verifies writes, but it is an Electron app without Rufus's Windows 11 requirement bypass.

  • Ventoy

    Prepare a USB stick once, then boot any ISO by copying the file onto it.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsLinux

    Ventoy prepares a stick once so you copy many ISOs onto it and pick from a boot menu, instead of writing one image per drive.

  • UNetbootin

    Writes Linux distribution ISOs to a USB drive on Windows, macOS and Linux.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinux

    UNetbootin runs on Windows, macOS and Linux and supports a persistence file, but fails with several modern hybrid ISOs and has a dated interface.

  • WoeUSB-ng

    Create a Windows installer USB drive from Linux.

    FreeOpen sourceLinux

    WoeUSB-ng runs on Linux instead of Windows and writes Windows installer USB drives, offering graphical and command-line interfaces.

  • GNOME Disks

    A graphical disk utility for GNOME that partitions, formats, benchmarks and images drives on Linux.

    FreeOpen sourceLinux

    GNOME Disks is a Linux desktop utility that can write USB images alongside partitioning and formatting, without Rufus's Windows install customisations.

  • USBImager

    A minimal cross-platform app that writes compressed disk images to USB drives.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinux

    USBImager is a minimal cross-platform writer for compressed images, without Rufus's Windows installer options or format choices.

  • YUMI

    A multiboot USB creator that puts several operating systems and tools on one drive.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsLinux

    YUMI builds a multiboot USB with several installers and rescue tools selectable from one menu, on Windows and Linux.

  • Easy2Boot

    A free multiboot USB kit that boots many ISO, IMG and VHD files from one drive.

    FreeProprietaryWindows

    Easy2Boot puts many ISO, IMG and VHD files on one drive with three boot menu systems, but takes more setup than a single-image tool.

Also worth comparing

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

  • Fedora Media Writer

    A tool that downloads Fedora images and writes them to USB flash drives.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinux

    Rufus is a free, GPL-3.0 Windows-only USB writer for any ISO, with filesystem choices, checksums and BIOS or UEFI options, but no Fedora image download.

  • ImageUSB

    A free PassMark utility that writes an image to many USB flash drives at the same time.

    FreeProprietaryWindows

    Rufus is open-source Windows software focused on bootable installers from ISOs, writing one drive at a time.

  • MediaCreationTool.bat

    Script wrapper around Microsoft's Media Creation Tool for every Windows 10 and 11 build.

    FreeOpen sourceWindows

    Rufus writes a bootable USB from an ISO you supply and can strip Windows 11 hardware requirements, but it does not fetch older builds from Microsoft for you.

  • PowerISO

    A Windows tool for creating, editing, burning and mounting disc images and writing bootable USB drives.

    FreemiumProprietaryWindows

    Rufus is free GPL-3.0 software that writes bootable USB drives from ISOs on Windows, but it does not mount, edit or burn disc images.

  • Win32 Disk Imager

    A Windows tool for writing raw disk images to USB drives and SD cards, or backing them up.

    FreeOpen sourceWindows

    Rufus stays on Windows and adds bootable BIOS or UEFI drive creation, filesystem formatting and image checksums, while writing one image per drive.

  • Windows Media Creation Tool

    Microsoft's official tool for downloading Windows 11 and writing it to a bootable USB drive.

    FreeProprietaryWindows

    Rufus is open source and writes any ISO to USB, can strip Windows 11 TPM and Secure Boot requirements, but you must supply the image yourself.

Similar software

Related functionality, not a direct replacement.