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86Box vs DOSBox Staging: catalog facts
86Box	DOSBox Staging
Free Free and open source.	Free Free and open source under the GPL.
Windows, macOS, Linux	Windows, macOS, Linux
Accurate low-level emulation of period PC hardware Wide range of emulated machines and peripherals	Sensible modern defaults, so most games run without editing a config file CRT shaders, Voodoo emulation and MT-32 sound built in
Needs original BIOS ROMs and OS media to be useful Low-level emulation needs a fast host CPU	Configuration syntax differs from classic DOSBox in places Very demanding late-DOS titles still need manual cycle tuning
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: GPL-2.0	License: GPL-2.0
No account needed	Not stated if an account is needed
Works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 23, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 22, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.