Best SMS Alternatives in 2026
Updated
20 platforms from Sega master system emulators ranked against SMS on the same published basis.
- 1SMS vs Gearlynx
- 2SMS vs Genesis Plus GX
- 3SMS vs Dega
- 4SMS vs MasterGear
- 5SMS vs Virtual Jaguar
- 6SMS vs ares
- 7SMS vs BizHawk
- 8SMS vs Emulicious
- 9SMS vs MasterEmu
- 10SMS vs Mira
- 11SMS vs PicoDrive
- 12SMS vs Mednafen
- 13SMS vs vibe-sms
- 14SMS vs ESP32-FabGL-SMSEmulator
- 15SMS vs jgenesis
- 16SMS vs DSP Emulator
- 17SMS vs Miracle
- 18SMS vs TotalSMS
- 19SMS vs Nuked-SMS
- 20SMS vs Sandopolis
SMS alternatives compared
| # | Platform | Score | Free plan | From | Runs on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gearlynx | 7.0 | No | — | Android, API, Browser, iOS, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Web, Windows |
| 2 | Genesis Plus GX | 6.0 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Windows |
| 3 | Dega | 5.9 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Windows |
| 4 | MasterGear | 5.9 | Free plan | Free | Android, Linux, Windows |
| 5 | Virtual Jaguar | 5.9 | Free plan | Free | Android, iOS, Linux, Mac, Web, Windows |
| 6 | ares | 5.8 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 7 | BizHawk | 5.8 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Windows |
| 8 | Emulicious | 5.8 | Free plan | Free | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 9 | MasterEmu | 5.8 | Free plan | Free | Android |
| 10 | Mira | 5.8 | Free plan | Free | self-hosted, Web |
| 11 | PicoDrive | 5.8 | Free plan | Free | Linux, self-hosted, Windows |
| 12 | Mednafen | 5.6 | No | — | Linux, Windows |
| 13 | vibe-sms | 5.5 | No | — | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| 14 | ESP32-FabGL-SMSEmulator | 5.4 | No | — | — |
| 15 | jgenesis | 5.3 | No | — | Linux, Web, Windows |
| 16 | DSP Emulator | 5.0 | No | — | Windows, Linux, Mac |
| 17 | Miracle | 5.0 | No | — | Web |
| 18 | TotalSMS | 5.0 | No | — | Web |
| 19 | Nuked-SMS | 4.9 | No | — | — |
| 20 | Sandopolis | 4.9 | No | — | Web |
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Questions about SMS alternatives
What is the best alternative to SMS?
Gearlynx, number 1 in Sega master system emulators with a score of 7.0 out of 10. The others here: Genesis Plus GX, Dega, MasterGear and 16 more.
What is the best free alternative to SMS?
Genesis Plus GX is the best-ranked alternative with a free plan. 10 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.