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VirtualProg - macOS Virtualization Tool

Limited-Time Launch Offer – Just $9.99!
To celebrate the launch of VirtualProg, we’re offering a special promotional price of $9.99 for a limited time. Don’t miss this opportunity to experience powerful virtual machine management on macOS at an exceptional value.

Introducing VirtualProg – Virtual Machine Manager for macOS

VirtualProg is a modern and powerful virtual machine manager built exclusively for macOS, offering seamless support for both macOS and Linux virtual machines. Whether you're using an Apple Silicon or Intel-based Mac, VirtualProg lets you effortlessly create, manage, and run multiple virtual machines with a clean, intuitive interface designed to feel right at home on macOS.


With support for advanced virtualization features from the Apple Virtualization Framework, VirtualProg enables adaptive display scaling, audio integration, shared folders, clipboard sharing, and flexible networking (NAT & bridged). It also includes virtual disk management with ISO mounting and network block device support, allowing for high-performance and scalable VM setups.


VirtualProg goes beyond the basics, offering features like full snapshot support, serial port connectivity with a built-in terminal viewer, password protection for VMs, and reusable VM templates. Developers and power users will also appreciate the headless mode, automatic VM startup, Rosetta support in Linux VMs, and dynamic disk resizing—all within a native SwiftUI interface.


The app also includes a comprehensive dashboard to visualize VM usage over time, detailed system logging with a built-in log viewer, screenshot and screen recording tools, and an intelligent control center with sections for recent, favorite, and all VMs. You can even organize your workspace with color tags and filter your VM list by category.

More Info : VirtualProg - mac OS Virtualization Tool
 
I would like to see a couple of comparisons:

1) Which features work with Apple silicon and with Intel.
2) How does VirtualProg compare with Parallels and free products like VMware Fusion, VirtualBuddy, UTM.
 
gilby101 said:
I would like to see a couple of comparisons:

1) Which features work with Apple silicon and with Intel.
2) How does VirtualProg compare with Parallels and free products like VMware Fusion, VirtualBuddy, UTM.
Click to expand...

@gilby101
Thanks for your interest and great questions!

1) Apple Silicon vs. Intel Compatibility

  • Apple Silicon Macs:
    • Supports both macOS and Linux virtual machines.
    • Enables Rosetta integration in Linux VMs for running non-native x86_64 applications.
  • Intel Macs:
    • Supports Linux virtual machines only (due to Apple Virtualization Framework limitations).

2) How VirtualProg Compares​


  • Compared to Parallels and VMware Fusion:
    VirtualProg is positioned as a lightweight, mid-range virtualization tool. While it doesn't aim to match the full enterprise feature set of Parallels or Fusion, it offers a native macOS experience, high performance, and a significantly lower cost—ideal for developers, testers, and power users seeking efficient VM management.
  • Compared to UTM and VirtualBuddy:
    VirtualProg includes all core featuresfound in those tools and builds upon them with several advanced capabilities:
    • Snapshot support – Save and restore full VM states instantly.
    • Template Support – Templates for quick and consistent VM setups.
    • Dynamic disk resizing – Expand virtual disk sizes without recreating the VM.
    • Network block device support – Mount remote NBD Devices as virtual disks.
    • Headless mode – Run VMs in the background without a GUI.
    • Screen recording – Capture high-quality video of VM sessions for demos or debugging.
    • Color tagging, Favorites and grid view – Visually organize and filter VMs, templates, and snapshots.
    • Auto-start on launch – Automatically start selected VMs with the app.
    • Serial Port Support – Built in Terminal and Log to File
    • Note : UTM under the hood uses qemu for windows guest. Since Apple Virtualization framework does not support windows VirtualProg only runs macOS and Linux guest.
All of this is wrapped in a clean, native SwiftUI interface built on top of Apple’s official Virtualization Framework—offering tight system integration and a modern macOS experience.

You can find the complete list of features at VirtualProg Features
 
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VaZ said:
VirtualBox ?
Click to expand...

@VaZ
It's not VirtualBox. VirtualProg is a separate virtualization tool built specifically for macOS using Apple's native Virtualization Framework. It allows you to run both macOS and Linux guest operating systems, with a focus on seamless integration, modern macOS design, and features like full snapshots, screen recording, template support, and more. It's designed to offer a streamlined and native virtualization experience tailored for Apple Silicon and Intel Macs.
 
rbmanian75 said:
@VaZ
It's not VirtualBox. VirtualProg is a separate virtualization tool built specifically for macOS using Apple's native Virtualization Framework. It allows you to run both macOS and Linux guest operating systems, with a focus on seamless integration, modern macOS design, and features like full snapshots, screen recording, template support, and more. It's designed to offer a streamlined and native virtualization experience tailored for Apple Silicon and Intel Macs.
Click to expand...
Yeah true VirtualBox handles Windows installations and this doesn't ? Free vs. Pay too ? No support for Ventura and older ? Feels like VirtualBox has you beat by a decade or two..
 
VaZ said:
Yeah true VirtualBox handles Windows installations and this doesn't ? Free vs. Pay too ? No support for Ventura and older ? Feels like VirtualBox has you beat by a decade or two..
Click to expand...
Thank you for your thoughts — I appreciate you taking the time to compare.


VirtualProg is built entirely on Apple’s Virtualization Framework, which currently supports running macOS and Linux guests only, and does not support Windows virtualization in the same way VirtualBox does. While that does limit certain use cases, it also allows VirtualProg to offer a more modern, native experience optimized for macOS, particularly on Apple Silicon.
 
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This looks great little software! Couple of questions... Does automatic start of virtual machines work when computer starts? Does it support usb devices passthrough? Does it support scheduled automatic snapshots from virtual machines?
 
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As UTM feels my need (and experimenting with another tool would take quite some time, that I do not have), I do not have immediate use. But I hope this project is successful and works well in the long term. It is important to have options, thanks for developing one !
 
iccb said:
This looks great little software! Couple of questions... Does automatic start of virtual machines work when computer starts? Does it support usb devices passthrough? Does it support scheduled automatic snapshots from virtual machines?
Click to expand...
Thank you for your interest and thoughtful questions!

  • Auto-Start at System Boot: Currently, VirtualProg supports automatically starting virtual machines at user login, but not at system startup. We appreciate the suggestion but Auto-starting a macOS app at system boot time (i.e., before user login) is not possible with App Sandbox restrictions. macOS does not allow sandboxed apps from the Mac App Store to launch or run as a daemon or background service before a user logs in
  • USB Device Passthrough: At this time, USB passthrough is not supported due to limitations in Apple’s Virtualization Framework. We’re closely monitoring framework updates and will consider adding this feature as soon as it becomes technically possible.
  • Scheduled Automatic Snapshots: This feature is already on our roadmap and is planned for a future release. Stay tuned!

Your feedback is greatly appreciated as we continue improving VirtualProg.
 
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bogdanw said:
Does VirtualProg capture the keyboard & mouse in macOS virtual machines on Apple silicon?
In UTM is not implemented
"Apple Virtualization: Option for complete input device capture" https://github.com/utmapp/UTM/issues/6926
Click to expand...

Yes, in VirtualProg, keyboard and mouse input are automatically captured when the virtual machine window is in focus. This means that once you click inside the VM window, all keyboard and mouse interactions are directed to the guest operating system. When you click outside the VM window or switch focus, input control seamlessly returns to the host macOS environment.


This behavior provides an intuitive and efficient user experience without requiring manual input capture or release, aligning well with typical macOS usability expectations.
 
icymountain said:
As UTM feels my need (and experimenting with another tool would take quite some time, that I do not have), I do not have immediate use. But I hope this project is successful and works well in the long term. It is important to have options, thanks for developing one !
Click to expand...
Thank you for the kind words and support—it truly means a lot. I completely understand the importance of using the tools that best fit your current workflow and time constraints. One of the goals behind developing VirtualProg is to provide a reliable, native macOS virtualization option built on Apple’s own framework. I hope that when the time is right, you’ll find it worth exploring. In the meantime, your encouragement is greatly appreciated!
 
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rbmanian75 said:
Thank you for your interest and thoughtful questions!

  • Auto-Start at System Boot: Currently, VirtualProg supports automatically starting virtual machines at user login, but not at system startup. We appreciate the suggestion but Auto-starting a macOS app at system boot time (i.e., before user login) is not possible with App Sandbox restrictions. macOS does not allow sandboxed apps from the Mac App Store to launch or run as a daemon or background service before a user logs in
  • USB Device Passthrough: At this time, USB passthrough is not supported due to limitations in Apple’s Virtualization Framework. We’re closely monitoring framework updates and will consider adding this feature as soon as it becomes technically possible.
  • Scheduled Automatic Snapshots: This feature is already on our roadmap and is planned for a future release. Stay tuned!

Your feedback is greatly appreciated as we continue improving VirtualProg.
Click to expand...
Thanks for answering! Automatic start when user login is enough for my use case, but good to know also that automatic startup before user login is restricted due to App Sandbox.

Using linux VM with usb device passthrough is my main goal, so that's shame, that Apple's Virtualization Framework does not work.

Snapshots, thanks for developing!

Keep up good work!
 
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rbmanian75 said:
When you click outside the VM window or switch focus, input control seamlessly returns to the host macOS environment.
Click to expand...
So mouse is not captured, it goes beyond the VM's window.
VMware Fusion has a shortcut to release the input to the host (⌘⌃).
 
bogdanw said:
So mouse is not captured, it goes beyond the VM's window.
VMware Fusion has a shortcut to release the input to the host (⌘⌃).
Click to expand...
yes you are right you can move out of the vm window but you need to click outside to get input control by host
 
iccb said:
Does it support scheduled automatic snapshots from virtual machines?
Click to expand...
We're pleased to let you know that version 1.6.5 is now available on the App Store, and it includes support for scheduled automatic snapshots
 
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Does this supported nested virtualization?
I know Apple added support in macOS 15 last summer on M3 and M4 chips, but I can't find any VM program that actually supports the feature besides UTM but it's only for Linux VMs.
 
Acidsplat said:
Does this supported nested virtualization?
Click to expand...
Thank you for your interest in VirtualProg. Nested virtualization is not currently available in the current version, but we’re excited to share that support for this feature is actively in development and will be included in an upcoming release. Similar to UTM, nested virtualization will be available for Linux virtual machines only, as the Apple Virtualization Framework currently supports this capability exclusively for Linux guests.
 
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adib said:
Will this run Mojave on an Apple Silicon mac? Or Windows 8 (Intel) on an Apple Silicon mac?

I need it to run iTunes to manage playlists on my iPod Classic.
Click to expand...

Rrunning macOS Mojave on Apple Silicon Macs is not supported, as the Apple Virtualization Framework only supports virtualizing macOS versions that are compatible with Apple Silicon (macOS 11 Big Sur and later).


Similarly, Windows 8 (Intel) is not supported on Apple Silicon Mac with VirutalProg. you can try UTM for this because it does run x86 Windows using QEMU
 
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