Alternatives to ZEsarUX

An emulator for Sinclair machines, including the ZX Spectrum, ZX81, QL and Z88, plus many clones. 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 ZEsarUX.

  • Fuse

    The Free Unix Spectrum Emulator, an accurate emulator for the ZX Spectrum family and its clones.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinux

    Fuse is an accurate, well-established ZX Spectrum emulator with accelerated tape loading and RZX recording, but it covers only the Spectrum family rather than every Sinclair machine.

  • MAME

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

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinux

    MAME covers thousands of arcade, console and computer systems with accuracy as the priority, but ROM sets must match the exact version it expects.

  • Clock Signal

    A latency-focused emulator covering dozens of 8- and 16-bit home computers and game consoles.

    FreeOpen sourcemacOSLinux

    Clock Signal emulates dozens of 8- and 16-bit home computers and consoles with low latency, but runs only on macOS and Linux and needs user-supplied ROMs.

  • RetroArch

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

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinuxAndroidiOS

    RetroArch is a front end for many emulator cores with unified settings and shaders, and it adds Android and iOS, though its settings menu is deep.

Similar software

Related functionality, not a direct replacement.