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86Box vs OpenEmulator

86Box

86box.net

OpenEmulator

openemulator.github.io

Side by side

Figure86BoxOpenEmulator
Price fromFree—
Free planYes—
Free trial——
Open source——
WindowsYes—
macOSYesYes
LinuxYes—
Plans published10
Spec score · Multi-System Emulators8.2 (#15)6.7 (#51)
Spec score · Emulator Software8.2 (#12)6.8 (#35)
Purpose86Box emulates x86-based IBM PC systems and compatibles from 1981 through systems based on the PCI bus.OpenEmulator aims to be an accurate, portable emulator of legacy computer systems.

Plans

86Box

  • 86BoxFree

86Box pricing →

OpenEmulator

No plans published.

OpenEmulator pricing →

In their own words

86Box

86Box is a free emulator for x86-based IBM PC systems and compatibles, covering machines from 1981 through PCI-bus systems. It emulates processors from the 8086 through the Pentium with an emphasis on accuracy and supports configurable machines such as the IBM PC 5150 and IBM PS/2 line. Users can select video adapters, sound cards, network adapters, hard-disk controllers, and SCSI adapters. Supported guest systems include MS-DOS, older Windows releases, OS/2, many Linux distributions, BeOS, and NEXTSTEP. MIDI output can use Windows MIDI support, FluidSynth, or emulated Roland synthesizers. 86Box runs on Windows, Linux, and macOS and is released under the GNU General Public License version 2 or later. The project offers stable and experimental builds; experimental versions may be less stable or slower. Most emulation logic runs in one thread, so results depend on host and guest configuration. A BIOS is required. The project recommends manager applications for multiple virtual machines, while its built-in manager is still a preview.

Visit 86box.net

OpenEmulator

OpenEmulator has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.

Visit openemulator.github.io