Compare software

flash vs balenaEtcher: catalog facts
flash	balenaEtcher
Best for: Users preparing SD cards for devices such as Raspberry Pi	Best for: Writing one bootable image to one USB stick without destroying the wrong drive
Free Free and open source under the MIT license.	Free Free and open source under the Apache 2.0 licence. Balena sells separate commercial device management products.
macOS, Linux, Command line	Windows, macOS, Linux
Writes local or downloaded images to SD cards Can set hostname and Wi-Fi settings in supported images All 3 strengths for flash Writes local or downloaded images to SD cards Can set hostname and Wi-Fi settings in supported images Can wait for a card to be inserted	Hides system drives, so the classic wrong-disk accident is much harder Verifies the write by reading the media back All 4 strengths for balenaEtcher Hides system drives, so the classic wrong-disk accident is much harder Verifies the write by reading the media back Flashes Raspberry Pi boards over USB device boot mode Windows, macOS Intel and Apple Silicon, and Linux
Supports macOS and Linux Progress display requires pv	An Electron app doing a job a 200 KB tool could do No persistent storage or multi-boot; one image per stick All 4 limitations for balenaEtcher An Electron app doing a job a 200 KB tool could do No persistent storage or multi-boot; one image per stick Asks about optional analytics on first run Windows 10 and later, Intel 64-bit only
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: MIT	License: Apache-2.0
Not stated if an account is needed	No account needed
Not stated if it works offline	Offline features available
Official website Full listing and sources Sources for flash github.com/hypriot/flash Catalog checked October 8, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Sources for balenaEtcher etcher.balena.io github.com/balena-io/etcher Catalog checked September 21, 2026

“Not stated” means we have not confirmed it. Features can vary by device and plan.