Rufus vs UNetbootin
Rufus
rufus.ieUNetbootin
unetbootin.github.ioSide by side
| Figure | Rufus | UNetbootin |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Bootable USB Software | 7.4 (#24) | 8.4 (#3) |
| License | Rufus is free software released under GPL v3, and the project says users may compile it from its published source. | UNetbootin is released under GNU GPL version 2 or later; site materials use Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike 3.0. |
| Purpose | Rufus formats drives and creates bootable USB flash drives. | UNetbootin creates bootable Live USB drives for Ubuntu and other Linux distributions without burning a CD. |
| Support | The project directs users to its GitHub issue tracker to report problems or suggest features. | The FAQ directs users to GitHub Issues for bug reports and GitHub Pull Requests for patches. |
Plans
In their own words
UNetbootin
UNetbootin creates bootable Live USB drives for Ubuntu and other Linux distributions, allowing installation without burning a CD. It can download a supported distribution or use a Linux ISO already on the computer, and the listed targets are a USB drive or hard disk. Built-in downloads include Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, Arch Linux, Linux Mint, and FreeBSD, as well as system utilities such as Parted Magic and SystemRescueCD. The site says most Linux ISO files should work, though some require extra boot options or changes, and some cannot boot from USB as-is. Non-Linux operating system ISOs should not be expected to work because they use a different boot mechanism. UNetbootin is available for Linux, macOS, and Windows, and is free; donations are accepted. The source code is available on GitHub under GNU GPL Version 2 or above. Linux download options include an Ubuntu PPA, 32-bit and 64-bit binaries, packages for several distributions, and source code.