Arm Fast Models vs QEMU
Arm Fast Models
arm.com
QEMU
qemu.orgSide by side
| Figure | Arm Fast Models | QEMU |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 2 |
| Spec score · Emulator Software | 7.8 (#24) | 8.5 (#9) |
| Purpose | Fast Models are functionally accurate programmer’s view models of Arm CPU and System IP for developing software before hardware implementations are available. | QEMU is a generic and open source machine emulator and virtualizer. |
| Supported hosts | The installation guide says Linux hosts (AArch64 and x86) and Windows hosts (x86 only) are supported. | The project lists Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD and Windows as supported build platforms. |
Plans
In their own words
Arm Fast Models
Arm Fast Models has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
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.