EasyBCD vs Ventoy

EasyBCD is a Windows bootloader editor for setting up multiboot systems and changing boot menus. It can configure systems involving Windows, Linux, macOS, and BSD, and boot from USB drives, ISO images, and virtual disks. Users can add, rename, remove, configure, and reorder boot entries, including entries for recovery utilities or safe mode. The tool can back up and repair a bootloader, and its NeoGrub scripting can hide partitions, change active flags, and support complex boot setups. EasyBCD supports BIOS and UEFI. Personal, non-commercial use is free; the Commercial plan costs $39.99 as a one-time purchase. NeoSmart advises care when modifying boot settings and says EasyBCD cannot fix a PC that will not boot, directing users to EasyRE for that situation. The latest release listed in the changelog is version 2.4.0.237, dated November 28, 2018.

Ventoy creates bootable drives that start ISO, WIM, IMG, VHD(x), and EFI files directly. After installation, users copy image files to the drive and choose one from a boot menu without extracting them. The project lists support for Windows, WinPE, Linux, ChromeOS, Unix, VMware, and Xen, plus x86 Legacy BIOS and IA32, x86_64, ARM64, and MIPS64EL UEFI. MBR and GPT partition styles are supported, with FAT32, exFAT, NTFS, UDF, XFS, Btrfs, and Ext2/3/4 listed for the main partition. Features include Linux persistence, automated Windows and Linux installation, password protection, themes, and a plugin framework with GUI configuration. Ventoy can be installed on USB drives, local disks, SSDs, NVMe drives, and SD cards. It is open source under GPLv3+ for its own code and free at free.