Best Sapphire Alternatives in 2026
Updated
20 platforms from Game Boy advance emulators ranked against Sapphire on the same published basis.
- 1Sapphire vs RetroArch
- 2Sapphire vs mGBA
- 3Sapphire vs Provenance
- 4Sapphire vs RustBoyAdvance-NG
- 5Sapphire vs VisualBoyAdvance-M
- 6Sapphire vs ares
- 7Sapphire vs Delta
- 8Sapphire vs EmulatorJS
- 9Sapphire vs gbajs3
- 10Sapphire vs GiiBiiAdvance
- 11Sapphire vs Hemulator
- 12Sapphire vs John NESS
- 13Sapphire vs Lemuroid
- 14Sapphire vs LinguaCafe
- 15Sapphire vs NanoBoyAdvance
- 16Sapphire vs NO$GBA
- 17Sapphire vs OpenEmu
- 18Sapphire vs Pizza Boy C
- 19Sapphire vs SkyEmu
- 20Sapphire vs GBA Emulator
Sapphire alternatives compared
| # | Platform | Score | Free plan | From | Runs on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | RetroArch | 6.0 | Free plan | Free | Android, iOS, Linux, Mac, Web, Windows |
| 2 | mGBA | 5.9 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 3 | Provenance | 5.9 | Free plan | $3.33/mo | iOS, Mac |
| 4 | RustBoyAdvance-NG | 5.9 | Free plan | Free | Android, Linux, Mac, Web, Windows |
| 5 | VisualBoyAdvance-M | 5.9 | Free plan | Free | Android, Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 6 | ares | 5.8 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 7 | Delta | 5.8 | Free plan | Free | iOS, Mac |
| 8 | EmulatorJS | 5.8 | Free plan | Free | Android, iOS, self-hosted, Web |
| 9 | gbajs3 | 5.8 | Free plan | Free | self-hosted, Web |
| 10 | GiiBiiAdvance | 5.8 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Windows |
| 11 | Hemulator | 5.8 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 12 | John NESS | 5.8 | Free plan | Free | Android |
| 13 | Lemuroid | 5.8 | Free plan | Free | Android |
| 14 | LinguaCafe | 5.8 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Web, Windows |
| 15 | NanoBoyAdvance | 5.8 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 16 | NO$GBA | 5.8 | Free plan | Free | Windows |
| 17 | OpenEmu | 5.8 | Free plan | Free | Mac |
| 18 | Pizza Boy C | 5.8 | Free plan | Free | Android |
| 19 | SkyEmu | 5.8 | Free plan | Free | Android, iOS, Linux, Mac, Web, Windows |
| 20 | GBA Emulator | 5.6 | No | — | Linux, Mac, Windows |
Make your platform an alternative to Sapphire
See the priceThe sponsored alternative slot on this page is labelled Sponsored.
Questions about Sapphire alternatives
What is the best alternative to Sapphire?
RetroArch, number 1 in Game Boy advance emulators with a score of 6.0 out of 10. The others here: mGBA, Provenance, RustBoyAdvance-NG and 16 more.
What is the best free alternative to Sapphire?
RetroArch is the best-ranked alternative with a free plan. 19 of the 20 alternatives here publish a free plan on their own pricing pages.
How are these alternatives 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.