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GNOME Boxes vs Multipass: catalog facts
GNOME Boxes	Multipass
Free Free and open source, part of the GNOME project.	Free Free and open source under the GPL, published by Canonical.
Linux	Windows, macOS, Linux
Downloads and installs common operating systems automatically Snapshots, shared folders and a shared clipboard	One command for a fresh Ubuntu VM, with images fetched and kept updated for you Uses the native hypervisor on each platform for minimal overhead
Linux only Fewer advanced settings than dedicated VM managers	Ubuntu-focused; other distributions are not the use case The Homebrew cask is community-maintained and not officially supported
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License not stated	License: GPL-3.0
No account needed	No account needed
Works offline	Works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 23, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 21, 2026

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