Best Game Console Emulators in 2026
Updated
35 game console emulators ranked on what their makers publish — plans and prices, free tiers, platforms and the facts on their own pages.
35ranked
4free plans on this page
7 Oct 2026last checked
Game Console Emulators, ranked on how quickly a newcomer can get going. 4 of the 10 on this page can be tried for free.
- 26 BizHawk
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: yes
- 27 CemuFree plan
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: not on record
- Runs where you work: yes
- 28 EKA2L1
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: not on record
- Runs where you work: yes
- 29 FCEUXFree plan
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: yes
- 30 MesenFree plan
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: not on record
- Runs where you work: yes
- 31 mGBAFree plan
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: yes
- Runs where you work: yes
- 32 SameBoy
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: not on record
- Runs where you work: yes
- 33 ShadPS4
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: not on record
- Runs where you work: yes
- 34 Cxbx-Reloaded
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: not on record
- Runs where you work: not on record
- 35 Xenia
- Free to practise on: not on record
- Free trial: not on record
- Well documented: not on record
- Runs where you work: not on record
Compare all 10 in a table
| # | Platform | Score | Free plan | From | Free plan | Paid from | Supported console systems | Desktop operating systems |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | BizHawk | 6.3 | No | — | Yes | — | — | — |
| 27 | Cemu | 6.1 | Free plan | Free | Yes | — | Wii U | cross-platform |
| 28 | EKA2L1 | 6.1 | No | — | Yes | — | Symbian OS EKA1/EKA2, Nokia N-Gage, N-Gage 2.0, S60v1-S60v5, S^3, Symbian Belle | cross-platform |
| 29 | FCEUX | 6.1 | Free plan | Free | Yes | — | NES, Famicom, Famicom Disk System (FDS), Dendy | cross-platform |
| 30 | Mesen | 6.1 | Free plan | Free | Yes | — | NES, SNES, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, PC Engine, SMS, Game Gear, WonderSwan, WonderSwan Color | cross-platform |
| 31 | mGBA | 6.1 | Free plan | Free | Yes | — | Game Boy Advance; Game Boy; Game Boy Color | cross-platform |
| 32 | SameBoy | 6.1 | No | — | Yes | — | Game Boy (DMG), Game Boy Pocket/Light (MGB), Game Boy Color (CGB), GBC-mode Game Boy Advance/Game Boy Player (AGB), Super Game Boy (SGB), Super Game Boy 2 (SGB2) | cross-platform |
| 33 | ShadPS4 | 6.1 | No | — | Yes | — | PlayStation 4 | cross-platform |
| 34 | Cxbx-Reloaded | 5.9 | No | — | Yes | — | Microsoft Xbox; Sega Chihiro | windows |
| 35 | Xenia | 5.9 | No | — | — | — | Xbox 360 | cross-platform |
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