Alternatives to UTM

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

  • Parallels Desktop

    Runs Windows and other operating systems in a virtual machine on a Mac.

    PaidProprietarymacOS

    Parallels Desktop is a paid, closed-source Mac hypervisor with Coherence mode and guided Windows 11 setup, but it has no iOS version or cross-architecture emulation.

  • 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 is a free GPL hypervisor that also runs on Windows and Linux hosts, but it has no iOS version and weak 3D acceleration.

  • VirtualBuddy

    Run macOS virtual machines on an Apple Silicon Mac.

    FreeOpen sourcemacOS

    VirtualBuddy is a free BSD-licensed Mac app focused on macOS guests on Apple Silicon, with guided image selection but no Windows or Linux focus.

  • 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 runs Linux virtual machines on macOS from the command line with automatic file sharing and port forwarding, but it has no graphical interface and no Windows guests.

  • Quickemu

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

    FreeOpen sourceLinuxmacOSCommand line

    Quickemu builds QEMU machines from a short config file on macOS and Linux hosts, downloading guest images for you, but it is command line only.

  • 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 macOS, Windows and Linux, but it focuses on Ubuntu guests and has no iOS version.

  • QEMU

    The machine emulator and virtualiser that most of the Linux virtualisation stack is built on.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinuxCommand line

    QEMU is the command-line emulator and virtualiser with cross-architecture support, running on Windows, macOS and Linux, but with a large and unfriendly option surface.

  • 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 from the command line, built for CI rather than desktop use.

Also worth comparing

These listings name UTM 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

    UTM gives Mac users an open-source graphical app for Windows, Linux and macOS guests, with emulation of over thirty architectures.

  • VMware Workstation Pro

    Type-2 hypervisor for running virtual machines on Windows and Linux desktops.

    FreemiumProprietaryWindowsLinux

    UTM runs virtual machines on Mac, iPhone and iPad using Hypervisor.framework, is open source under Apache-2.0, and can emulate over thirty architectures.

Similar software

Related functionality, not a direct replacement.