86Box vs QEMU
86Box
86box.net
QEMU
qemu.orgSide by side
| Figure | 86Box | QEMU |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 2 |
| Spec score · Multi-System Emulators | 8.2 (#15) | 8.4 (#9) |
| Spec score · Emulator Software | 8.2 (#12) | 8.5 (#9) |
| License | 86Box is released under the GNU General Public License version 2 or later. | QEMU and its manual are released under GNU General Public License version 2, although some components have specific licenses. |
| Purpose | 86Box emulates x86-based IBM PC systems and compatibles from 1981 through systems based on the PCI bus. | QEMU is a generic and open source machine emulator and virtualizer. |
| Security reporting | The project security policy says to report vulnerabilities by opening a GitHub issue or joining its Discord server. | QEMU requires potential security issues to be filed as confidential GitLab issues and provides no SLA for responses. |
Plans
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.
QEMU
QEMU is a free, open-source machine emulator and virtualizer. System emulation models an entire machine, including its CPU, memory and devices, so it can run a guest operating system. User-mode emulation runs processes built for one CPU architecture on another. The package also includes qemu-img, a command-line utility for creating, converting and modifying disk images. QEMU can work with KVM, Xen and Hypervisor.Framework so guests can run directly on the host CPU. Supported build platforms include Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD and Windows. Windows support is limited to 64-bit, while macOS requires the newest version currently available; support for the prior version is eventually dropped. For complex networking and storage configurations, the project recommends management tools such as virt-manager. Its security guidance distinguishes virtualization with an accelerator and listed machine type from TCG non-virtualization use, which does not provide guest-isolation or security guarantees. QEMU is released under GNU GPL version 2, with some components under specific licenses.