Best Emulator Software in 2026 · page 2

Hercules

Hercules is free, open-source software that emulates IBM System/370, ESA/390, and 64-bit z/Architecture mainframes.

Mesen

Mesen is a free, open-source emulator for Windows, Linux, and macOS.

RPCS3

RPCS3 is a free, open-source PlayStation 3 emulator and debugger written in C++.

gem5

gem5 is a free, modular simulator for computer-system architecture research, covering system-level architecture and processor microarchitecture.

Renode

Renode is an open source framework for emulating complex computer systems, including CPUs, peripherals, sensors, interconnects, and multi-node systems.

WinCDEmu

WinCDEmu is a free, open-source Windows utility for mounting CD, DVD, and Blu-ray disc images.

z390

z390 is a free, GPLv2-licensed mainframe assembler and emulator toolkit for developing, testing, and deploying assembler and COBOL programs on a PC.

Arm Fast Models

Arm Fast Models are programmer’s-view models of Arm CPUs and System IP for developing software before hardware implementations are available.

Spike (RISC-V ISA Simulator)

OpenEmulator

Arm Virtual Hardware

Apple Simulator

Apple Simulator is a free macOS development tool for running simulated Apple devices.

IBM Z Development and Test Environment

Wind River Simics