WSL

Windows Subsystem for Linux (by microsoft)

WSL Alternatives

Similar projects and alternatives to WSL

  1. OpenCore-Install-Guide

    Repo for the OpenCore Install Guide

  2. InfluxDB

    InfluxDB – Built for High-Performance Time Series Workloads. InfluxDB 3 OSS is now GA. Transform, enrich, and act on time series data directly in the database. Automate critical tasks and eliminate the need to move data externally. Download now.

    InfluxDB logo
  3. vscodium

    565 WSL VS vscodium

    binary releases of VS Code without MS branding/telemetry/licensing

  4. Windows Terminal

    The new Windows Terminal and the original Windows console host, all in the same place!

  5. AreWeAntiCheatYet

    A comprehensive and crowd-sourced list of games using anti-cheats and their compatibility with GNU/Linux or Wine.

  6. winapps

    293 WSL VS winapps

    Run Windows apps such as Microsoft Office/Adobe in Linux (Ubuntu/Fedora) and GNOME/KDE as if they were a part of the native OS, including Nautilus integration.

  7. Scoop

    260 WSL VS Scoop

    A command-line installer for Windows.

  8. Electron

    245 WSL VS Electron

    :electron: Build cross-platform desktop apps with JavaScript, HTML, and CSS

  9. SaaSHub

    SaaSHub - Software Alternatives and Reviews. SaaSHub helps you find the best software and product alternatives

    SaaSHub logo
  10. nushell

    232 WSL VS nushell

    A new type of shell

  11. wslg

    146 WSL VS wslg

    Enabling the Windows Subsystem for Linux to include support for Wayland and X server related scenarios

  12. colima

    129 WSL VS colima

    Container runtimes on macOS (and Linux) with minimal setup

  13. lima

    120 WSL VS lima

    Linux virtual machines, with a focus on running containers

  14. sdk

    119 WSL VS sdk

    Core functionality needed to create .NET Core projects, that is shared between Visual Studio and CLI (by dotnet)

  15. komorebi

    106 WSL VS komorebi

    A tiling window manager for Windows 🍉

  16. for-mac

    Bug reports for Docker Desktop for Mac

  17. azurelinux

    102 WSL VS azurelinux

    Linux OS for Azure 1P services and edge appliances

  18. WSL2-Linux-Kernel

    The source for the Linux kernel used in Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 (WSL2)

  19. garden

    41 WSL VS garden

    Automation for Kubernetes development and testing. Spin up production-like environments for development, testing, and CI on demand. Use the same configuration and workflows at every step of the process. Speed up your builds and test runs via shared result caching

  20. wsl-vpnkit

    19 WSL VS wsl-vpnkit

    Provides network connectivity to WSL 2 when blocked by VPN

  21. xWSL

    14 WSL VS xWSL

    Installer script for Ubuntu 22.04 / 24.04 with XFCE 4.18 on WSL. Does not require hypervisor, container, or X11 server.

  22. glibc_version_header

    Build portable Linux binaries without using an ancient distro

  23. SaaSHub

    SaaSHub - Software Alternatives and Reviews. SaaSHub helps you find the best software and product alternatives

    SaaSHub logo
NOTE: The number of mentions on this list indicates mentions on common posts plus user suggested alternatives. Hence, a higher number means a better WSL alternative or higher similarity.

WSL discussion

Log in or Post with

WSL reviews and mentions

Posts with mentions or reviews of WSL. We have used some of these posts to build our list of alternatives and similar projects. The last one was on 2025-06-01.

Stats

Basic WSL repo stats
432
28,800
9.2
4 days ago

microsoft/WSL is an open source project licensed under MIT License which is an OSI approved license.

The primary programming language of WSL is C++.


Sponsored
InfluxDB – Built for High-Performance Time Series Workloads
InfluxDB 3 OSS is now GA. Transform, enrich, and act on time series data directly in the database. Automate critical tasks and eliminate the need to move data externally. Download now.
www.influxdata.com

Did you know that C++ is
the 7th most popular programming language
based on number of references?