Compare software

Raspberry Pi Imager vs balenaEtcher: catalog facts
Raspberry Pi ImagerbalenaEtcher
Free

Free from Raspberry Pi.

Free

Free and open source under the Apache 2.0 licence. Balena sells separate commercial device…

Windows, macOS, Linux Windows, macOS, Linux
  • Official tool maintained by Raspberry Pi
  • Writes to both SD cards and USB drives
  • Hides system drives, so the classic wrong-disk accident is much harder
  • Verifies the write by reading the media back
  • Built mainly around Raspberry Pi use rather than general disk imaging
  • An Electron app doing a job a 200 KB tool could do
  • No persistent storage or multi-boot; one image per stick
Downloadable app Downloadable app
Open source Open source
License not stated License: Apache-2.0
No account needed No account needed
Not stated if it works offline Works offline

Checked September 23, 2026

Checked September 21, 2026

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