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balenaEtcher vs Rufus: catalog facts
balenaEtcher	Rufus
Free Free and open source under the Apache 2.0 licence. Balena sells separate commercial device…	Free Free and open source under GPLv3; no bundled software in the installer.
Windows, macOS, Linux	Windows
Hides system drives, so the classic wrong-disk accident is much harder Verifies the write by reading the media back	Creates Windows 11 installation drives for PCs without TPM or Secure Boot Sets up out-of-box experience options automatically, including a local account and privacy choices
An Electron app doing a job a 200 KB tool could do No persistent storage or multi-boot; one image per stick	Windows only One image per drive, unlike a multiboot tool
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: Apache-2.0	License: GPL-3.0
No account needed	No account needed
Works offline	Works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 21, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 20, 2026

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