Alternatives to Snes9x

The portable Super Nintendo emulator that has been maintained since the 1990s and runs on essentially everything. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.

  • Snes9x

    The portable Super Nintendo emulator that has been maintained since the 1990s and runs on essentially everything.

    FreeProprietaryWindowsmacOSLinux

Replacements

Listings that take over the same core job as Snes9x.

  • bsnes

    Accurate SNES emulator with HD Mode 7 and enhancement chip support.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinux

    bsnes is GPL-3.0 open source and more accurate, with low-level enhancement chip emulation, HD Mode 7 and run-ahead, but its accuracy mode is demanding on older hardware.

  • RetroArch

    One front end for dozens of emulators, with unified settings, shaders and a controller setup you only do once.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinuxAndroidiOS

    RetroArch is an open-source front end that can run Snes9x and other cores with shared settings and shaders on desktops, Android and iOS, with a deep settings menu.

  • ares

    Multi-system emulator that prioritises accuracy and preservation over speed.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinux

    ares is a BSD-3-Clause multi-system emulator descended from bsnes that prioritises accuracy over speed, so it needs more CPU and has a plain interface.

  • BizHawk

    A multi-system emulator built for tool-assisted speedrunning, with rewinding, frame stepping, memory search and input recording.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsLinux

    BizHawk is MIT-licensed and adds rewinding, frame stepping, memory search and TAS recording across many systems, but runs only on Windows and Linux with less accurate cores.

  • OpenEmu

    macOS emulator front end with a polished library interface.

    FreeOpen sourcemacOS

    OpenEmu is a macOS-only open-source front end with a polished library interface and one controller setup across systems, with core updates packaged by its team.

  • Provenance

    Multi-system emulator for iOS and tvOS covering more than thirty consoles.

    FreeOpen sourceiOS

    Provenance is an open-source multi-system emulator for iOS and tvOS covering more than thirty consoles, but installation can involve sideloading or App Store rules.

  • Mesen

    Cycle-accurate multi-system emulator with a serious debugger.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinux

    Mesen offers cycle-accurate SNES emulation among several systems with a strong debugger, at a higher CPU cost than Snes9x.

  • Mednafen

    Command-line multi-system emulator covering Saturn, PlayStation and more.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinuxCommand line

    Mednafen covers SNES among many systems under GPL-2.0, but it is command-line driven with a text configuration file.

Similar software

Related functionality, not a direct replacement.