Best SMS Alternatives in 2026
Updated
20 apps from Sega master system emulators ranked against SMS on the same published basis.
- 1SMS vs Virtual Jaguar
- 2SMS vs MasterGear
- 3SMS vs ares
- 4SMS vs Emu198x
- 5SMS vs Emulicious
- 6SMS vs Genesis Plus GX
- 7SMS vs BizHawk
- 8SMS vs Dega
- 9SMS vs PicoDrive
- 11SMS vs MasterEmu
- 12SMS vs Mira
- 13SMS vs Sandopolis
- 14SMS vs Gearlynx
- 15SMS vs OpenHomeKaraoke
- 16SMS vs DSP Emulator
- 17SMS vs jgenesis
- 18SMS vs Nexen
- 19SMS vs Mednafen
- 20SMS vs vibe-sms
- 21SMS vs Miracle
SMS alternatives compared
| # | App | Score | Free plan | From | Runs on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Virtual Jaguar | 6.8 | Free plan | Free | Android, iOS, Linux, Mac, Web, Windows |
| 2 | MasterGear | 6.6 | Free plan | Free | Android, Linux, Windows |
| 3 | ares | 6.5 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 4 | Emu198x | 6.5 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 5 | Emulicious | 6.5 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 6 | Genesis Plus GX | 6.5 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Windows |
| 7 | BizHawk | 6.4 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Windows |
| 8 | Dega | 6.4 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Windows |
| 9 | PicoDrive | 6.4 | Free plan | Free | Linux, self-hosted, Windows |
| 11 | MasterEmu | 6.3 | Free plan | Free | Android |
| 12 | Mira | 6.3 | Free plan | Free | self-hosted, Web |
| 13 | Sandopolis | 6.3 | Free plan | Free | Web |
| 14 | Gearlynx | 5.9 | No | — | Android, API, Browser, iOS, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Web, Windows |
| 15 | OpenHomeKaraoke | 5.7 | No | — | Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Web, Windows |
| 16 | DSP Emulator | 5.6 | No | — | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 17 | jgenesis | 5.6 | No | — | Linux, Web, Windows |
| 18 | Nexen | 5.6 | No | — | Linux, Mac, Web, Windows |
| 19 | Mednafen | 5.5 | No | — | Linux, Windows |
| 20 | vibe-sms | 5.5 | No | — | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 21 | Miracle | 5.4 | No | — | Web |
Make your app an alternative to SMS
See the priceThe sponsored alternative slot on this page is labelled Sponsored.
Questions about SMS alternatives
What is the best alternative to SMS?
Virtual Jaguar, number 1 in Sega master system emulators with a score of 6.8 out of 10. The others here: MasterGear, ares, Emu198x and 16 more.
What is the best free alternative to SMS?
Virtual Jaguar is the best-ranked alternative with a free plan. 12 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.