Topics / #virtual-machine

Virtual-machine projects on GitHub

Virtualization technologies for running isolated guest operating systems efficiently.

As of , the most-starred Virtual-machine projects on GitHub are windows (53.6K stars), Docker-OSX (53K stars) and firecracker (37.4K stars). GitHub.Locker tracks 46 Virtual-machine repositories with 591.5K stars combined. The fastest-growing on October 16 was SPACE, with +529 stars in a day.

46Projects
591.5KStars in total
+816Stars in a day
Browse in the catalog →github.com/topics/virtual-machine ↗

Hot right now

Most stars gained in a day · Oct 16

+529

SPACE

perplexityai/SPACE · ★ 1.1K

SPACE (Sandboxed Platform for Agentic Code Execution) is a sandbox platform that runs agent and user code inside isolated Firecracker microVMs, controlled through an HTTP API.

+36

vm2api

dofastted/vm2api · ★ 1.2K

vm2api is a self-hosted proxy that runs your Claude/Anthropic (or OpenAI-compatible) API traffic through a real-looking virtual machine or Docker 'slot' so the account looks like a genuine Claude Console client instead of relying on system-prompt tricks or persona injection.

+20

firecracker

firecracker-microvm/firecracker · ★ 37.4K

Firecracker is an open-source virtualization technology for creating and managing secure, multi-tenant microVMs for container and function-based serverless workloads.

+19

reactos

reactos/reactos · ★ 18.2K

A free, open-source operating system (GNU GPL 2.0) built to run the applications and drivers written for the Windows NT family, from NT4 through 7; compatibility work currently focuses on Windows Server 2003.

The all-time top

46 projects · by stars

  1. #1 · dockur/windows

    windows

    dockur/windows runs a full, real Windows installation inside a Docker container, automatically downloading and installing it with no manual steps.

    53.6K
  2. #2 · sickcodes/Docker-OSX

    Docker-OSX

    Docker-OSX lets you run a full macOS virtual machine inside a Docker container using KVM, giving near-native performance for security research, CI/CD, and development without owning a real Mac.

    53K
  3. #3 · firecracker-microvm/firecracker

    firecracker

    Firecracker is an open-source virtualization technology for creating and managing secure, multi-tenant microVMs for container and function-based serverless workloads.

    37.4K
  1. 4

    UTM

    35.9Kutmapp/UTM · Swift

    UTM is a full system emulator and virtual machine host for iOS and macOS, built on QEMU, that lets you run Windows, Linux, and other operating systems directly on your Mac, iPhone, or iPad.

  2. 5

    ProxmoxVE

    29.8Kcommunity-scripts/ProxmoxVE · Shell

    A community-maintained set of one-command install scripts for Proxmox VE: paste a single line into your Proxmox shell and it sets up a popular self-hosted service as a ready container or VM.

  3. 6

    vagrant

    27.2Khashicorp/vagrant · Ruby

    Vagrant is a tool for building and distributing portable development environments that can run locally or in the cloud.

  4. 7

    v8

    25.3Kv8/v8 · C++

    V8 is Google's open source JavaScript engine, written in C++. This repository is the official mirror of the V8 Git repository.

  5. 8

    OSX-KVM

    23.7Kkholia/OSX-KVM · Shell

    Scripts and OpenCore configuration for running macOS as a virtual machine under QEMU/KVM on a Linux host, supporting recent macOS versions such as Monterey, Ventura and Sonoma.

  6. 9

    jdk

    23.4Kopenjdk/jdk · Java

    This is the official main-line development repository of the JDK — the Java Development Kit — where future releases of Java are developed in the OpenJDK project.

  7. 10

    winboat

    23.2Kwinboat-org/winboat · TypeScript

    WinBoat is a free, open-source Linux app that runs Windows applications with seamless desktop integration — each Windows app appears as a native OS-level window next to your Linux apps.

  8. 11

    lima

    22.1Klima-vm/lima · Go

    Lima launches Linux virtual machines with automatic file sharing and port forwarding, similar to WSL2. It was originally created to bring containerd and nerdctl to Mac users but is not limited to containers.

  9. 12

    graal

    21.7Koracle/graal · Java

    GraalVM is a high-performance JDK whose headline trick is ahead-of-time compilation: it turns applications into standalone native executables that start instantly, need no warmup and use fewer resources.

  10. 13

    macos

    21.7Kdockur/macos · Shell

    dockur/macos lets you run a full macOS virtual machine inside a Docker container, complete with a web-based viewer so you can control it right from your browser.

  11. 14

    WSABuilds

    18.7KMustardChef/WSABuilds · Python

    Ready-made downloads of the Windows Subsystem for Android for Windows 10 and 11 PCs, with the Google Play Store (MindTheGapps) and/or Magisk or KernelSU root built in — so you can run Android apps without building WSA yourself.

  12. 15

    hhvm

    18.7Kfacebook/hhvm · C++

    An open-source virtual machine that executes programs written in Hack, using just-in-time compilation for high performance while staying flexible to develop with.

  13. 16

    reactos

    18.2Kreactos/reactos · C

    A free, open-source operating system (GNU GPL 2.0) built to run the applications and drivers written for the Windows NT family, from NT4 through 7; compatibility work currently focuses on Windows Server 2003.

  14. 17

    webvm

    17.4Kleaningtech/webvm · Svelte

    WebVM is a Linux virtual machine that runs entirely in your browser — an unmodified Debian distribution with native development toolchains, fully client-side, no install and no server.

  15. 18

    macOS-Simple-KVM

    13.9Kfoxlet/macOS-Simple-KVM · Shell

    A set of scripts and tools for setting up a macOS virtual machine in QEMU, accelerated by KVM, so you can run macOS on a Linux host.

  16. 19

    qemu

    13.9Kqemu/qemu · C

    QEMU is a generic and open source machine and userspace emulator and virtualizer — software that lets one computer run systems and programs built for a completely different one.

  17. 20

    CubeSandbox

    13KTencentCloud/CubeSandbox · Go

    CubeSandbox is a high-performance, secure sandbox service for running untrusted AI agent code, built on RustVMM and KVM with hardware-isolated MicroVMs.

  18. 21

    mono

    11.5Kmono/mono · C#

    Mono is an open source implementation of Microsoft's .NET Framework, based on the ECMA standards for C# and the Common Language Runtime, that lets developers build cross-platform applications.

  19. 22

    winapps

    10.3KFmstrat/winapps · Shell

    WinApps lets you run Windows applications like Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative Cloud inside Linux (Ubuntu/Fedora) with GNOME or KDE, so they appear and behave like native apps, including right-click integration in the Nautilus file manager.

  20. 23

    vphone-aio

    7.7K34306/vphone-aio · Shell

    vphone-aio is a single shell script that downloads, merges, and launches a jailbroken iOS 26.1 virtual phone (vphone) on your Mac, with the jailbreak bootstrap already installed.

  21. 24

    tart

    7.5Kopenai/tart · Swift

    Tart lets you create and run macOS and Linux virtual machines directly on Apple Silicon Macs, built specifically for use in CI pipelines and other automated workflows.

  22. 25

    smolvm

    6.8Ksmol-machines/smolvm · Rust

    smolvm is a CLI tool for running embeddable, portable, branchable virtual machines so you can safely run AI agents and untrusted code locally, with sub-second cold start on macOS, Linux, and Windows.

  23. 26

    mquickjs

    6.2Kbellard/mquickjs · C

    MicroQuickJS (MQuickJS) is a JavaScript engine built for embedded systems, able to run JS programs using as little as 10 kB of RAM and about 100 kB of ROM, with speed comparable to full QuickJS.

  24. 27

    xq-py

    5.5KQuipNetwork/xq-py

    xq-py is a Python implementation of the Quip Network's quantum virtual machine (QVM).

  25. 28

    arcbox

    4.2Karcboxlabs/arcbox · Rust

    ArcBox is a fast, open-source container and VM runtime for macOS, built from scratch in Rust, that acts as a drop-in Docker replacement while also offering disposable sandboxes for AI agents, native Kubernetes, and full Linux and macOS VMs.

  26. 29

    wslmanager

    4Kbostrot/wslmanager · Dart

    WSL Manager is a free, open source GUI for the Windows Subsystem for Linux: install, back up, move and configure distros without memorising wsl.exe flags. On macOS the same app also manages native Linux and macOS VMs.

  27. 30

    Podroid

    3.5KExTV/Podroid · Kotlin

    Podroid is a rootless Android app that boots a real Alpine Linux virtual machine on your phone, letting you run Linux containers (Podman, Docker, LXC) and even full GUI desktop apps.

  28. 31

    try-omarchy

    2.6Komacom/try-omarchy · Swift

    Try Omarchy lets you run the Omarchy Arch Linux desktop as a native, hardware-accelerated macOS app on Apple Silicon, with no manual VM setup required.

  29. 32

    zsvirt

    2KZSvirt/zsvirt · Java

    ZSvirt is an open-source IaaS virtualization engine that brings ZStack's enterprise ZSphere technology to the community, letting you run and manage virtual machines on KVM-based hosts without vendor lock-in.

  30. 33

    vm2api

    1.2Kdofastted/vm2api · JavaScript

    vm2api is a self-hosted proxy that runs your Claude/Anthropic (or OpenAI-compatible) API traffic through a real-looking virtual machine or Docker 'slot' so the account looks like a genuine Claude Console client instead of relying on system-prompt tricks or persona injection.

  31. 34

    SPACE

    1.1Kperplexityai/SPACE · Rust

    SPACE (Sandboxed Platform for Agentic Code Execution) is a sandbox platform that runs agent and user code inside isolated Firecracker microVMs, controlled through an HTTP API.

  32. 35

    motor-os

    1.1Kmoturus/motor-os · Rust

    Motor OS is a simple, fast, and secure operating system built for the cloud. It targets virtualized workloads — web serving, serverless computing, and edge caching — and is written entirely in Rust, kernel to shell.

  33. 36

    coop

    785trailofbits/coop · Rust

    coop is a Rust CLI that spins up disposable, isolated virtual machines so Claude Code and Codex can run with full tool access (Docker, git, compilers, package managers) without putting your host machine at risk.

  34. 37

    try-omarchy-windows

    633omacom/try-omarchy-windows · Go

    Try Omarchy for Windows runs the full Omarchy Linux desktop (Arch-based, Hyprland) inside a window on Windows 10 or 11, using QEMU on Windows' built-in hypervisor with GPU-accelerated rendering.

  35. 38

    agentbox

    538madarco/agentbox · TypeScript

    AgentBox is a CLI that runs multiple coding agents in parallel, each in its own sandboxed VM, with a single command — on your PC, a self-hosted server, or in the cloud.

  36. 39

    vfkit

    429crc-org/vfkit · Go

    vfkit is a command-line tool that starts virtual machines on macOS using Apple's built-in Virtualization framework, and it also ships a Go package to generate vfkit command lines programmatically.

  37. 40

    nvx

    404microsoft/nvx · Python

    NVX is an ultra-light micro-VM sandbox for running untrusted workloads with hardware-enforced isolation, built on OpenVMM and running Linux as the guest OS.

  38. 41

    vphone-web

    37434306/vphone-web · HTML

    It is a self-hosted web platform for running multiple virtual iPhones in the browser at once, with user accounts, RBAC, live screen streaming, touch input, IPA install, a root shell and a file browser, built on top of the vphone-cli engine using Apple's Virtualization.framework.

  39. 42

    ra2

    283ra2-games/ra2 · TypeScript

    A fan-made web port that runs the original Red Alert 2 and Yuri's Revenge x86 executables directly in the browser, using the v86 emulator with custom firmware and a Win32/DirectX compatibility layer instead of a real Windows install.

  40. 43

    ServerBox

    264madeye/ServerBox · Kotlin

    ServerBox is an Android app that turns an old phone into a Linux server without rooting it, running Alpine, Arch, Debian, Kali or Ubuntu with an always-on SSH server.

  41. 44

    quicksand

    218microsoft/quicksand · Python

    Quicksand is an async Python API for launching, controlling, and snapshotting QEMU virtual machines, built specifically for sandboxing AI agents.

  42. 45

    GoodmansKernel

    151zer0condition/GoodmansKernel · C

    GoodmansKernel is a signed Windows kernel-mode driver that embeds the wasm3 interpreter, letting you load unsigned .wasm modules and run them inside the kernel with direct FFI access to nt/hal exports. You write kernel logic in C or Rust, compile it to wasm32, load it into the driver, and iterate without re-signing each payload.

  43. 46

    lytlnyblOS

    116red-mutt/lytlnyblOS · C

    lytlnyblOS ('little nibble OS') is a small 32-bit operating system built from scratch to teach beginners OS development practically. You write every line of it yourself while following the companion book.

Often tagged together