AppBreakup
Submit an app
Multipass logo

Multipass

Canonical's command-line tool for launching Ubuntu virtual machines on Linux, Windows and macOS.

Open sourceVirtual machine and container apps
Visit MultipassSee 5 alternatives
Verified facts
4 of 4
Alternatives ranked
5
Approved reviews
0
Visits sent from here
0

About Multipass

Multipass is a lightweight virtual machine manager from Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu. It is built for developers who want a fresh Ubuntu environment with one command: multipass launch fetches an image, starts the VM and keeps images updated, and multipass shell drops you into it. Because it accepts cloud-init metadata, you can mimic a small cloud deployment on a laptop. Under the hood it uses QEMU on Linux, Hyper-V's Host Compute System on Windows, and QEMU or Apple's Virtualization framework on macOS. Everyday use centres on short terminal commands for listing, starting, stopping and deleting instances. Multipass is free and GPL-3.0 licensed, installed as a snap on Linux or via installers on Windows and macOS. It focuses on Ubuntu guests, so if you need Windows or other Linux distributions as guests, general VM apps such as UTM or VirtualBox fit better.

Best for: Developers who need disposable Ubuntu VMs from the command line on any desktop OS.

Pros and cons

What works

  • One command to launch an up-to-date Ubuntu VM
  • cloud-init support for testing cloud setups locally
  • Runs on Linux, Windows and macOS

Why people leave

  • Built around Ubuntu images, not other guest OSes
  • Designed mainly around the command line
  • macOS setup may need firewall changes, per its README

Top Multipass alternatives

See all 5
  1. 1OrbStack logo
    OrbStack

    On a Mac, runs Linux machines and Docker containers with very fast startup and low overhead.

    68.8
  2. 2UTM logo
    UTM

    Runs almost any guest OS on a Mac, including Windows and other Linux distributions.

    64.8
  3. 3VirtualBox logo
    VirtualBox

    Free cross-platform VM app with a full GUI for any guest operating system.

    61.8
  4. 4Colima logo
    Colima

    CLI-driven Linux VMs on macOS focused on running container runtimes.

    59.4
  5. 5GNOME Boxes logo
    GNOME Boxes

    Simple GUI for creating VMs on a Linux desktop, with many distributions to download.

    57.5

Why people left Multipass

In reviewers' own words, from reviews of the apps they moved to. These are their opinions, not ours.

No switching stories yet. If you moved away from Multipass, review the app you switched to and tell us why.

Reviews

No approved reviews yet. How we verify reviewers

Write a review of Multipass
Your rating of Multipass

Never shown publicly. A work email helps us verify you.

What did you use it for, and what was good or bad? At least 40 characters.

A GitHub username, your company domain, or say you can send a screenshot. Verified reviews count more.

By submitting, you confirm you're at least 16 and agree to our terms. Your name, rating, review and the date are published; your email isn't. See our privacy policy.

Multipass: common questions

Is Multipass free?

Yes. Multipass is free, open-source software.

Is Multipass open source?

Yes. The source code is on GitHub at canonical/multipass.

What platforms does Multipass run on?

Multipass is available for Linux, Windows and macOS.

What are the best alternatives to Multipass?

The highest-ranked Multipass alternatives right now are OrbStack, UTM and VirtualBox. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.

See all 5 Multipass alternatives