Best SNES Emulators in 2026
Updated
In short: Snes9x is ranked #1 of 25 as of 3 October 2026, ahead of bsnes and RetroArch. The best-ranked option with a free plan is bsnes.
25 snes emulators ranked on what their makers publish — plans and prices, free tiers, platforms and the facts on their own pages.
| # | Platform | Score | Why | From | Free plan | Paid from | Supported platforms | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Snes9x | 7.4 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | Free | Yes | — | — | View |
| 2 | bsnes | 7.4 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | Free | Yes | — | Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS | View |
| 3 |  RetroArch | 7.4 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | Free | Yes | — | — | View |
| 4 |  BizHawk | 7.1 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | Free | Yes | — | Windows, Linux | View |
| 5 | nSide Balanced | 6.9 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | Libretro frontend; RetroArch | View |
| 6 |  ares | 6.9 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | Free | Yes | — | — | View |
| 7 |  higan | 6.9 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | Free | Yes | — | Windows, macOS, Ubuntu Linux, FreeBSD | View |
| 8 |  Mednafen | 6.7 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | — | View |
| 9 |  bsnes | 6.6 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | — | View |
| 10 |  Vortex Universal Emulator | 6.3 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | android | View |
| 11 | Provenance | 6.2 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | — | View |
| 12 |  SnesFox | 6.0 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | macOS, Windows | View |
| 13 | OpenEmu | 6.0 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | Free | Yes | — | — | View |
| 14 | John NESS | 5.8 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | — | View |
| 15 |  bsnes-plus | 5.6 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | — | — | Windows 64-bit | View |
| 16 | Lemuroid | 5.6 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | — | View |
| 17 |  Nexen | 5.5 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | — | — | — | View |
| 18 |  Manic EMU | 5.5 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | — | — | iOS | View |
| 19 |  rust-wasm-snes | 5.5 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | web | View |
| 20 |  jgenesis | 5.3 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | — | View |
| 21 |  SNESticle Revive | 5.3 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | PlayStation 2 | View |
| 22 |  SNES Emulator | 4.9 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | — | — | web; native | View |
| 23 |  Hemulator | 4.9 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | — | View |
| 24 |  Super Famicast | 4.8 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | — | — | Sega Dreamcast | View |
| 25 |  delta | 4.3 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | — | — | — | View |
Is your platform on this list?
Numbered spots on this list can be sponsored. They are labelled, and the editorial order and scores never change for payment.
Questions about this list
Which snes emulator is ranked first on Inferse?
Snes9x is ranked #1 of 25 with a score of 7.4. bsnes is second and RetroArch third.
How many of these have a free plan?
7 of the 25 on this page publish a free plan on their own pricing pages.
How is this list ranked?
Ranked on what each maker publishes, open and connectable first: a public API, open-source code, the depth of its documentation and a free tier to try it on. Model lists are sorted by the figure in their title, exactly as each provider publishes it. Paid placements never change a rank.