Best Virtual Machine Software in 2026
Updated
In short: Proxmox VE is ranked #1 of 26 as of 4 October 2026, ahead of VMware Workstation Pro and QEMU. The best-ranked option with a free plan is VMware Workstation Pro. The lowest first paid tier on this page is Proxmox VE at €10/mo.
Choosing virtual machine software means weighing supported guests, host platforms, and how you manage virtual machines. Compare guest architecture and host platforms, then consider GPU acceleration, nested virtualization, VM snapshots, and the management interface. Free-plan availability and paid-from pricing add cost context. Proxmox VE and OpenNebula lead the ranking, followed by UTM and oVirt; QEMU is also among the first entries. Use these criteria to compare the ranked options against your environment and virtualization needs.
26 virtual machine software ranked on what their makers publish — plans and prices, free tiers, platforms and the facts on their own pages.
Recognised 40% · Phone app 26% · Documented 20% · Free plan 14% of the score
- 1 Proxmox VE Android only RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 9.8€10/mo Host platforms: ARM64Guest architecture: KVM full virtualization and lightweight Linux containers
- 2 VMware Workstation Pro No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 7.9Free Host platforms: Windows, LinuxGuest architecture: x86_64VM snapshots: Yes
- 3 QEMU No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 7.7Free
- 4 KVM No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 7.7Free Host platforms: LinuxGuest architecture: bothVM snapshots: Yes
- 5 UTM iPhone only RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 7.7Free Host platforms: macOSGuest architecture: bothVM snapshots: Yes
- 6 Oracle VirtualBox No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 7.5 Host platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, Oracle SolarisGuest architecture: bothVM snapshots: Yes
- 7 virt-manager No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 7.2Free Host platforms: Linux; OpenBSDGuest architecture: bothVM snapshots: Yes
- 8 Xen Project Hypervisor No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 6.8Free Host platforms: Linux, NetBSD, FreeBSDGuest architecture: bothVM snapshots: Yes
- 9 Parallels Desktop No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 6.8 Host platforms: macOSGuest architecture: bothVM snapshots: Yes
- 10 Citrix Secure Private Access iPhone + Android RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 6.8 Host platforms: XenServer OS on 64-bit x86 bare-metal serversGuest architecture: x86_64VM snapshots: Yes
- 11 Citrix XenServer No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 6.5 Host platforms: XenServer OS on 64-bit x86 bare-metal serversGuest architecture: x86_64VM snapshots: Yes
- 12 Multipass No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 6.5 Host platforms: Linux, macOS, WindowsGuest architecture: bothVM snapshots: Yes
- 13 oVirt No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 6.5Free
- 14 OpenNebula No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 6.2
- 15 GNOME Boxes No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 6.1 Host platforms: LinuxVM snapshots: Yes
- 16 Scale Computing Platform No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 6.0
- 17 IBM z/VM No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.9 Host platforms: IBM Z and LinuxONE
- 18 IBM PowerVM No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.8
- 19 XenServer No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.6 Host platforms: bare-metal x86-64 serverGuest architecture: x86_64VM snapshots: Yes
- 20 Cloud Hypervisor No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.6 Host platforms: LinuxGuest architecture: bothVM snapshots: Yes
- 21 Proxmox Backup Server No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.6€46.67/mo
- 22 Firecracker No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.5 Host platforms: LinuxGuest architecture: bothVM snapshots: Yes
- 23 VergeOS No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.5 Host platforms: bare-metal x86 hardwareGuest architecture: x86_64VM snapshots: Yes
- 24 HipHop Virtual Machine (HHVM) No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.0 Host platforms: LinuxGuest architecture: x86_64
- 25 JamaicaVM No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 4.8 Host platforms: Linux, Windows, macOSGuest architecture: both
Is your app on this list?
Numbered spots on this list can be sponsored. They are labelled, and the editorial order and scores never change for payment.
Questions about this list
Which virtual machine software is ranked first on Samsung Mobile US Press?
Proxmox VE is ranked #1 of 26 with a score of 9.8. VMware Workstation Pro is second and QEMU third.
How many of these have a free plan?
8 of the 25 on this page publish a free plan on their own pricing pages.
Which is the cheapest paid option?
On this page, Proxmox VE has the lowest first paid tier we found: €10/mo.
How is this list 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.