Alternatives to Ymir

Fast, accurate Sega Saturn emulator with high compatibility. 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 Ymir.

  • Mednafen

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

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinuxCommand line

    Mednafen is command-line driven with a text-file configuration and no real graphical interface, but its Saturn emulation is among the most accurate available and it also covers PlayStation.

  • RetroArch

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

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinuxAndroidiOS

    RetroArch runs emulator cores under one front end with shared settings, shaders and controller setup on desktop and mobile, but you must download cores and supply BIOS files.

  • BizHawk

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

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsLinux

    BizHawk covers many systems with rewinding, frame stepping and input recording for speedrunning, but runs only on Windows and Linux and its cores are less accurate than dedicated emulators.

  • MAME

    Documents and recreates thousands of arcade machines, consoles and old computers, with accuracy as the point.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinux

    MAME documents thousands of arcade machines, consoles and computers with accuracy as its priority, but later hardware needs a fast machine and its interface is basic.

Also worth comparing

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

  • Kronos

    Sega Saturn and ST-V arcade emulator forked from the Yabause project.

    FreeProprietaryWindowsLinux

    Ymir is an open-source Sega Saturn emulator for Windows, macOS and Linux with a modern interface, save states and debugging tools, but it is a young project and ST-V support is not mentioned.

Similar software

Related functionality, not a direct replacement.