Quickemu
A wrapper around QEMU that sets up and runs Windows, macOS and Linux virtual machines with little configuratio
- Stars
- 16.6k
- Forks
- 760
- Licence
- MIT
- Language
- Shell
- Last update
- 7 days ago
- Type
- Dev tool
What it is
Quickemu is a wrapper for QEMU, a widely used virtualization program. You pick an operating system, and its quickget tool downloads the upstream image and writes a configuration file; its quickemu tool then inspects your hardware and launches the virtual machine with settings it considers suitable. The project was originally aimed at quickly testing Linux distributions, and it says VMs can be stored on external drives and run without elevated permissions.
- Run `quickget` with no arguments to list supported operating systems
- Create and boot a NixOS VM with `quickget nixos unstable minimal` and then `quickemu --vm` on the generated config
- Run Windows 10 or 11 guests, including TPM 2.0 support
- Share files with Linux or Windows guests using VirtIO-webdavd or VirtIO-9p
Great for
- People who want to try a Linux distribution without manual QEMU configuration
- Users who want to run Windows 10 or 11 guests on a Linux or macOS host
- Anyone testing many operating systems and wanting configs stored in a portable folder
- Users who prefer a command-line tool over a full VM manager
Not ideal for
- Users who need fine-grained control over every VM setting, since the README stresses minimal configuration
- Users on Windows hosts, because the README lists host support only for Linux and macOS
- Users who need a graphical VM manager; the README mentions separate frontends only in the wiki
How to get it
- 1
Install with a package manager
You'll need: QEMU (installed via the Quickemu installation wiki page)
Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/quickemu-project/quickemu - 2
Run it
- Install Quickemu following the wiki's Installation page
- Run `quickget nixos unstable minimal` to download an image and create a config file
- Run `quickemu --vm nixos-unstable-minimal.conf` to start the virtual machine
- 3
Get the most out of it
- Run `quickget` with no arguments to browse the full list of supported operating systems
- Enable VirGL acceleration for better graphics in supported guests
- Use SPICE for host and guest clipboard sharing
- Read the wiki's Advanced quickemu configuration page to tune VM settings
Downloads
Strengths
- Automates downloading images and generating VM configuration
- Supports a wide range of guests, including Windows, several macOS versions and many Linux and BSD systems
- Open-source under the MIT license with a documented wiki
Trade-offs
- macOS guests and some features depend on the host and on upstream image availability, which the README does not fully detail
- Some features such as Samba sharing require extra host software like smbd
- The README is truncated, so details of setup requirements and limitations are not fully visible here
How it compares
| Project | Stars | Type | Level | Updated | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| quickemu (this) | 16.6k | Dev tool | beginner | 7 days ago | People who want to try a Linux distribution without manual QEMU configuration |
| wasmer | 21.2k | Dev tool | intermediate | 4 days ago | Developers who want to run untrusted or third-party code with explicit access controls |
| atom | 60.7k | App | beginner | 3.8 years ago | Developers who want a desktop code editor they can customize with packages |
| PowerShell | 56k | CLI | beginner | 4 days ago | Developers who script or automate tasks across Windows, Linux, and macOS |
| yazi | 43.2k | App | intermediate | 4 days ago | People who already spend time in a terminal and want a faster way to browse folders |
| wails | 36.9k | Framework | intermediate | 4 days ago | Go programmers who want a desktop app with a web-style interface |
Stats synced from GitHub. The assessment above was drafted with AI from the project's README on 2026-10-29 and may miss recent changes — check the README before relying on a command. MIT licence: free to use, modify and distribute, including commercially, as long as you keep the copyright notice.