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balenaEtcher vs flash: catalog facts
balenaEtcher	flash
Free Free and open source under the Apache 2.0 licence. Balena sells separate commercial device…	Free Free and open source under the MIT license.
Windows, macOS, Linux	macOS, Linux, Command line
Hides system drives, so the classic wrong-disk accident is much harder Verifies the write by reading the media back	Writes local or downloaded images to SD cards Can set hostname and Wi-Fi settings in supported images
An Electron app doing a job a 200 KB tool could do No persistent storage or multi-boot; one image per stick	Supports macOS and Linux Progress display requires pv
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: Apache-2.0	License: MIT
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 21, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 8, 2026

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