Best SMS Alternatives in 2026
Updated
20 apps from Sega master system emulators ranked against SMS on the same published basis.
- 1SMS vs MasterGear
- 2SMS vs Emulicious
- 3SMS vs Genesis Plus GX
- 4SMS vs Dega
- 5SMS vs MasterEmu
- 6SMS vs vibe-sms
- 7SMS vs ares
- 8SMS vs BizHawk
- 9SMS vs PicoDrive
- 10SMS vs Nuked-SMS
- 11SMS vs Mednafen
- 12SMS vs Nexen
- 13SMS vs Sandopolis
- 14SMS vs TotalSMS
- 15SMS vs DSP Emulator
- 16SMS vs Miracle
- 17SMS vs jgenesis
- 19SMS vs Mira
- 20SMS vs ESP32-FabGL-SMSEmulator
- 21SMS vs Emu198x
SMS alternatives compared
| # | App | Score | Free plan | From | Runs on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MasterGear | 9.7 | Free plan | Free | Android, Linux, Windows |
| 2 | Emulicious | 8.0 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 3 | Genesis Plus GX | 7.9 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Windows |
| 4 | Dega | 7.8 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Windows |
| 5 | MasterEmu | 7.7 | Free plan | Free | Android |
| 6 | vibe-sms | 7.4 | No | — | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 7 | ares | 6.9 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 8 | BizHawk | 6.6 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Windows |
| 9 | PicoDrive | 6.5 | Free plan | Free | Linux, self-hosted, Windows |
| 10 | Nuked-SMS | 6.4 | No | — | — |
| 11 | Mednafen | 6.4 | No | — | Linux, Windows |
| 12 | Nexen | 6.3 | No | — | Web, Windows, Mac, Linux |
| 13 | Sandopolis | 6.3 | No | — | Web |
| 14 | TotalSMS | 6.3 | No | — | Web |
| 15 | DSP Emulator | 6.2 | No | — | Windows, Linux, Mac |
| 16 | Miracle | 6.2 | No | — | Web |
| 17 | jgenesis | 6.0 | No | — | Linux, Web, Windows |
| 19 | Mira | 5.8 | Free plan | Free | self-hosted, Web |
| 20 | ESP32-FabGL-SMSEmulator | 5.5 | No | — | — |
| 21 | Emu198x | 5.1 | No | — | Windows, Mac, Linux |
Make your app an alternative to SMS
See the priceThe sponsored alternative slot on this page is labelled and never changes the order above.
Questions about SMS alternatives
What is the best alternative to SMS?
MasterGear, number 1 in Sega master system emulators with a score of 9.7 out of 10. The others here: Emulicious, Genesis Plus GX, Dega and 16 more.
What is the best free alternative to SMS?
MasterGear is the best-ranked alternative with a free plan. 9 of the 20 alternatives here publish a free plan on their own pricing pages.
How are these alternatives ranked?
Ranked mobile-first: a phone app alongside the web or desktop product, a free tier and the depth of its documentation. Paid placements never change a rank.