Best Virtual Machine Software for Mac in 2026 (and How to Run Windows)

Sometimes you need Windows. Maybe it’s an accounting app your office uses, a piece of engineering software, or a website that only behaves in a Windows browser. Virtual machine software for Mac runs a whole second computer in a window, so you can use that app without leaving macOS.

We compared the best virtual machine apps for Mac on speed, ease of setup, price model and Apple silicon support. We also cover the one app here that isn’t a virtual machine at all, and walk you through running Windows 11 on your Mac for free.

Comparison: best virtual machine software for Mac

App	Price model	Apple silicon guests	Runs x86 operating systems	Best for
Parallels Desktop	Subscription (Standard also one-time)	Windows 11 on Arm, Linux, macOS	Experimental emulation (Pro and Business)	The best Windows experience
VMware Fusion	Free (personal and commercial)	Windows 11 on Arm, Linux	Intel Macs only	A free, polished alternative
UTM	Free, open source (paid App Store version)	Windows 11 on Arm, Linux, macOS	Yes, through slow emulation	Free virtualization and emulation
VirtualBox	Free, open source	Arm guests, including Windows 11 on Arm	Intel Macs only	Cross-platform labs and Linux
CrossOver	One-time purchase with a year of updates	Not a VM (runs Windows apps directly)	Windows apps via translation	Individual apps and games, no Windows license
Boot Camp	Free (built into Intel Macs)	Not available	Intel Macs only, native	Full native Windows on Intel Macs

The Apple silicon reality

Every Mac with an M-series chip uses an Arm processor. That changes what a virtual machine can do.

Virtual machines run Arm operating systems at near-native speed. That means the Arm versions of Windows 11, Linux and macOS. They boot in seconds and feel fast on any recent Mac.

Windows 11 on Arm runs most Intel Windows apps anyway. Microsoft builds an emulator into Windows (it calls it Prism) that translates x86 and x64 apps on the fly. Most everyday software, from Office to browsers to business apps, simply works.

Running an Intel operating system means emulation. Emulating a whole x86 PC is slow. Fine for an old utility, frustrating for daily use. If an app needs x86 Windows specifically, test it in Windows 11 on Arm first. It usually runs.

Some things won’t work. Microsoft’s support page for Windows 11 on Apple silicon warns about apps and games that rely on DirectX 12, hardware that needs its own Windows drivers, and features that need nested virtualization, like Windows Subsystem for Linux, Windows Sandbox and virtualization-based security. Games with kernel-level anti-cheat usually refuse to run.

Microsoft’s stance. That same page names Parallels Desktop as an authorized way to run the Arm versions of Windows 11 Pro and Enterprise on Apple silicon Macs, and points to Windows 365 Cloud PCs as a streaming alternative. VMware Fusion, UTM and VirtualBox run Windows 11 on Arm well, but they don’t carry that endorsement. For personal use that rarely matters. For a business with support contracts, it might.

Note: Whichever app you choose, you need a Windows license to activate Windows. Microsoft lets you download the Windows 11 Arm installer free, and it runs unactivated with some limits until you add a key.

The best virtual machine apps for Mac

Parallels Desktop

Best for: The fastest, most seamless way to run Windows · Price: Subscription (Standard edition also available as a one-time purchase) · Website

Parallels Desktop is the one to beat. Its installation assistant downloads and sets up Windows 11 for you in a few clicks. Coherence mode then lets Windows apps run in their own windows alongside your Mac apps, with Windows itself hidden away. Copy and paste, drag and drop, shared folders and printers all just work, and graphics performance is the best of any VM here.

Parallels Desktop 27 is built for Apple silicon and requires macOS Sonoma 14.7 or later. Intel Macs stay on Parallels Desktop 26, which is still supported. The Standard edition is available as a subscription or one-time purchase, while Pro (more memory and CPU for VMs, developer tools and an experimental x86 emulation option) and Business are subscription only. There’s a free trial.

• Pros: Easiest setup, best performance and integration, Microsoft-authorized
• Cons: The most expensive option; the best features need a subscription

VMware Fusion

Best for: A polished virtual machine that costs nothing · Price: Free · Website

VMware Fusion Pro used to be a paid app. Since November 2024, Broadcom has made it free for everyone, including commercial and educational use, with the same features the paid version had. On Apple silicon, its Get Windows option downloads and installs Windows 11 on Arm for you, and VMware Tools adds shared folders, copy and paste and proper display scaling.

Fusion runs only Arm operating systems on Apple silicon, and its integration isn’t as smooth as Parallels’. Downloading it is the hardest part: you need a free Broadcom account and the Broadcom support portal, where Fusion sometimes appears under the name Desktop Hypervisor. Paid support tickets are no longer offered.

• Pros: Free for any use, professional features, easy Windows setup
• Cons: Awkward download process; no x86 guests on Apple silicon; no support tickets

UTM

Best for: Free virtualization, plus emulation of other architectures · Price: Free, open source (optional paid Mac App Store version) · Website

UTM is a free, open-source app built on QEMU. On Apple silicon it uses Apple’s Hypervisor framework to run Arm operating systems at near-native speed, and Apple’s own Virtualization framework for macOS and Linux guests. It’s also the only app here that can emulate other kinds of computers, including x86 PCs, PowerPC and RISC-V. That’s slow, but it’s the easiest way to run something that has no Arm version at all.

UTM 5, released in October 2026, added experimental DirectX graphics for Windows 11 guests and VM snapshots. The Mac App Store version is identical and updates automatically. Buying it supports the developers. Setup takes a little more hands-on work than Parallels or Fusion, and integration with macOS is more basic.

• Pros: Free, open source, can emulate x86 and other architectures
• Cons: More manual setup; emulation is very slow

VirtualBox

Best for: Linux labs and people who use VirtualBox on other computers · Price: Free (open source) · Website

Oracle’s VirtualBox is a long-time favorite on Windows and Linux PCs, and it now has a native build for Apple silicon Macs. Version 7.2 added Guest Additions for Windows 11 on Arm, shared folders for Windows guests and experimental 3D acceleration on Arm Macs. Like Fusion, it runs only Arm guests on Apple silicon.

It’s still rougher on the Mac than the alternatives. If you already have VirtualBox VMs or need the same tool across platforms, it’s a solid choice. Otherwise, start with Fusion or UTM.

• Pros: Free, cross-platform, familiar to many IT pros
• Cons: Less polished on Mac; Windows on Arm support is newer

CrossOver

Best for: Running specific Windows apps and games without installing Windows · Price: Paid (one-time purchase, includes 12 months of updates; lifetime option) · Website

CrossOver isn’t a virtual machine. It’s built on Wine, which translates Windows commands into Mac ones so a Windows app runs directly on macOS. There’s no Windows installation, no Windows license and no separate desktop. When an app is compatible, it launches like any other Mac app, often with less overhead than a full VM.

The catch is compatibility. Many apps and games work well, some partly, some not at all. Check CodeWeavers’ compatibility database and use the free 14-day trial before buying. The current version runs on Apple silicon through Rosetta 2. CodeWeavers has said CrossOver 27 will support only Apple silicon Macs running macOS Sonoma or later, and it’s testing a native Arm build.

• Pros: No Windows license needed, light, good for games
• Cons: App compatibility varies; not a full Windows environment

Boot Camp (Intel Macs only)

Best for: Full native Windows speed on an Intel-based Mac · Price: Free · Website

If your Mac has an Intel processor, Boot Camp Assistant (in Applications › Utilities) partitions your drive and installs Windows so you can restart into it. Windows then runs directly on the hardware, which is still the fastest option for demanding games and apps. Apple officially supports 64-bit Windows 10 Home and Pro with Boot Camp. Windows 11 isn’t officially supported.

You can’t use Mac and Windows apps at the same time, and you’ll need to restart to switch. Boot Camp isn’t available on Apple silicon Macs, and macOS Tahoe is the last version of macOS for Intel Macs, so treat it as a solution for the Mac you have, not the next one.

• Pros: Native performance, free
• Cons: Intel Macs only; restart to switch; Windows 11 not supported by Apple

How to run Windows on a Mac for free

Here’s how to run Windows 11 on an Apple silicon Mac with UTM, which is free. Plan on about 64 GB of free storage for Windows and your apps. If space is tight, our guide to freeing up space on your Mac can help first.

1. Download UTM from getutm.app and drag it to your Applications folder.
2. Download the Windows 11 Arm installer from Microsoft’s Download Windows 11 for Arm-based PCs page. Choose Windows 11 (multi-edition ISO for Arm64) and your language.
3. Open UTM and click + to create a new virtual machine.
4. Click Virtualize, then Windows.
5. Choose how much memory and how many CPU cores to give Windows (at least 2 cores), then click Continue.
6. Make sure Install Windows 10 or higher and Install drivers and SPICE tools are selected.
7. Click Browse, select the ISO you downloaded, then click Continue.
8. Set the disk size, choose a shared folder if you want one, then click Save.
9. Wait for UTM to download the guest tools, then click the Play button to start the VM.
10. When the window says to press any key to boot, press a key right away. If you see a text shell instead, restart the VM and try again.
11. Follow the Windows setup screens. Choose I don’t have a product key if you’ll activate later.
12. When the Windows desktop appears, the SPICE guest tools should finish installing, which enables networking, display resizing and shared clipboard. Restart Windows once they’re done.
13. Activate Windows with your license in Settings › System › Activation.

Tip: If setup stops at a network screen, UTM’s Windows guide has the current workaround for creating a local account. Want an even easier free route? VMware Fusion’s Get Windows option downloads and installs Windows 11 for you.

Which should you choose?

• You need Windows every day for work: Parallels Desktop. It’s the fastest, the most seamless and the option Microsoft names.
• You want a full Windows VM for free: VMware Fusion.
• You want free and open source, or need to emulate an Intel PC: UTM.
• You already use VirtualBox elsewhere: VirtualBox.
• You need one or two Windows apps or games, not Windows itself: Try CrossOver’s free trial first.
• You have an Intel Mac and want maximum speed: Boot Camp.

Virtual machines are big. Each one can take tens of gigabytes, so if storage suddenly disappears, a disk space analyzer will show you which VM files to clean up. For the rest of your setup, browse our picks for the best Mac apps.

How we picked

We looked at virtualization and Windows-compatibility apps that are actively maintained in 2026 and judged them on:

• Apple silicon support: Native performance on M-series Macs, and which guest operating systems each can run
• Windows experience: How easy it is to install Windows 11 and how well Windows apps integrate with macOS
• Performance: Speed for everyday apps, graphics and games
• Price model: Free, one-time and subscription, without quoting prices that change
• Support and licensing: Vendor support, Microsoft’s authorization and what you need to license

We checked each app’s current version, requirements and official download source, and Microsoft’s and Apple’s own support pages for what’s officially supported.