Best Sapphire Alternatives in 2026
Updated
20 apps from Game Boy advance emulators ranked against Sapphire on the same published basis.
- 1Sapphire vs RetroArch
- 2Sapphire vs RustBoyAdvance-NG
- 3Sapphire vs SkyEmu
- 4Sapphire vs VisualBoyAdvance-M
- 5Sapphire vs ares
- 6Sapphire vs Hemulator
- 7Sapphire vs Delta
- 8Sapphire vs Provenance
- 9Sapphire vs gbajs3
- 10Sapphire vs Lemuroid
- 11Sapphire vs OpenEmu
- 12Sapphire vs GSE
- 13Sapphire vs GBA Emulator
- 14Sapphire vs Ghost Commander
- 15Sapphire vs Mednafen
- 16Sapphire vs 44VBA
- 17Sapphire vs Retra
- 18Sapphire vs Gaemboy
- 19Sapphire vs mGBA
- 20Sapphire vs NanoBoyAdvance
Sapphire alternatives compared
| # | App | Score | Free plan | From | Runs on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | RetroArch | 6.8 | Free plan | Free | Android, iOS, Linux, Mac, Web, Windows |
| 2 | RustBoyAdvance-NG | 6.7 | Free plan | Free | Android, Linux, Mac, Web, Windows |
| 3 | SkyEmu | 6.7 | Free plan | Free | Android, iOS, Linux, Mac, Web, Windows |
| 4 | VisualBoyAdvance-M | 6.6 | Free plan | Free | Android, Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 5 | ares | 6.5 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 6 | Hemulator | 6.5 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 7 | Delta | 6.4 | Free plan | Free | iOS, Mac |
| 8 | Provenance | 6.4 | Free plan | $3.33/mo | iOS, Mac |
| 9 | gbajs3 | 6.3 | Free plan | Free | self-hosted, Web |
| 10 | Lemuroid | 6.3 | Free plan | Free | Android |
| 11 | OpenEmu | 6.3 | Free plan | Free | Mac |
| 12 | GSE | 5.7 | No | — | Android, Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 13 | GBA Emulator | 5.6 | No | — | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 14 | Ghost Commander | 5.5 | No | — | Android |
| 15 | Mednafen | 5.5 | No | — | Linux, Windows |
| 16 | 44VBA | 5.4 | No | — | Web, Windows, Linux, iOS |
| 17 | Retra | 5.4 | No | — | Android |
| 18 | Gaemboy | 5.3 | No | — | Web |
| 19 | mGBA | 5.3 | No | — | Windows, Mac, Linux |
| 20 | NanoBoyAdvance | 5.3 | No | — | Windows, Mac, Linux |
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Questions about Sapphire alternatives
What is the best alternative to Sapphire?
RetroArch, number 1 in Game Boy advance emulators with a score of 6.8 out of 10. The others here: RustBoyAdvance-NG, SkyEmu, VisualBoyAdvance-M and 16 more.
What is the best free alternative to Sapphire?
RetroArch is the best-ranked alternative with a free plan. 11 of the 20 alternatives here publish a free plan on their own pricing pages.
How are these alternatives ranked?
Ranked free-and-open first: a usable free tier and open-source code, then the platforms it runs on and its documentation.