Editing Frontends

[[File:openemu-wimp.png|thumb|[[OpenEmu]] with a <abbr title="Windows, Icons, Menus, Pointer">WIMP</abbr> interface]]
[[File:attractmode-htpc.png|thumb|Attract-Mode with a HTPC interface]]
'''Frontends''' are programs that address a quality-of-life issue that emulators may not fulfill. For example, some emulator developers skip the user interface portion of development by having the user launch them from the command line. This usually means opening Command Prompt in the folder where the emulator is installed and typing something like <code>emulator.exe game.rom</code>. From a usability perspective, this is not optimal; running emulators from a shell can be considered tedious if commands aren't already scripted by the user (and they can't be expected to know how to set up such a thing if their first time loading the program is a black window that pops up and then disappears). To avoid this, many emulators will try to incorporate some kind of ''graphical user interface (GUI)'' in their standalone builds. For the emulators that never receive one however, a separate frontend project usually emerges.

==Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs)==
Frontends have different types of GUIs, here we have categorized them as follows:
;WIMP:[[wikipedia:WIMP (computing)|WIMP]] stands for "Windows, Icons, Menus and a Pointer". This is a GUI based on one or several window(s) and it's normally controlled by a mouse. Examples of this type of interface are [[LaunchBox]] and [[OpenEmu]].
;HTPC:This type of interface is often intended for viewing on a big screen, such as a TV or arcade monitor. Normally the navigation is optimized for joysticks or gamepads, although they often work with keyboard controls as well. [[RetroArch]], [[HyperSpin]] and [[MAME]]'s integrated frontend ''MEWUI'' or Steam, PCSX2 and DuckStation's ''Big Picture Mode'' are examples of this interface.
;Touch:A touch interface is often similar to a HTPC interface, the difference is that they are intended for touch screens. This is mostly found in Android frontends intended for smartphones and tablet computers.

==Launcher types==
These "Launchers" or "Executors" use their own graphical interface to start emulators. They're generally very adaptive and can support different arguments between emulators to ease integration. These frontends can be used with almost any emulator of your choosing, as long as they support command-line arguments.

<!--
TODO: Should probably find a multi-platorm WIMP and HTPC type to recommend
-->

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" style="width: 75%"
! scope="col"|Name
! scope="col"|Platform(s) 
! scope="col"|Latest Version
! scope="col"|Interface(s)
! scope="col"|<abbr title="Free/Libre and Open-Source Software">FLOSS</abbr>
! scope="col"|Active
! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulators|Recommended]]
|-
!colspan="7"|PC / x86
|-
|[[LaunchBox]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://www.launchbox-app.com/download {{LaunchBoxVer}} (Free)]<br />[https://www.launchbox-app.com/premium Premium ($75)]
|WIMP, HTPC<ref group=A name=launchbox>This feature is called ''Big Box'' and is only available in the paid premium version.</ref>
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
|-
|[[EmulationStation|EmulationStation Desktop Edition]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
|[https://www.es-de.org/#Download 2.2.1]
|HTPC
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
|-
|[https://lutris.net Lutris]
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
|[https://lutris.net/downloads 0.5.7.1]
|WIMP
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{~}}
|-
|[https://github.com/quinton-ashley/nostlan Nostlan]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
|[https://github.com/quinton-ashley/nostlan/releases {{NostlanVer}}]
|WIMP, HTPC, Touch
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{~}}
|-
|[[Playnite]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://playnite.link/download.html {{PlayniteVer}}]
|WIMP, HTPC
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{~}}
|-
|[https://github.com/drpetersonfernandes/SimpleLauncher SimpleLauncher]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://github.com/drpetersonfernandes/SimpleLauncher/releases 2.7.0.1]
|WIMP
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
|-
|[http://guerilla.bplaced.net/x86WinSoft.html All Stars Launcher]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[http://guerilla.bplaced.net/x86WinSoft.html 2024.030]
|WIMP
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
|-
|[https://pegasus-frontend.org Pegasus]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
|[https://pegasus-frontend.org/#downloads Alpha 16]
|HTPC
|{{✓}} ||{{~}} ||{{✗}}
|-
|[https://www.gameex.com GameEx]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://www.gameex.info/forums/files/category/33-gameex-installs {{GameExVer}} (Free)]<br />[https://www.gameex.info/forums/store/category/4-gameex-pinballx-and-spesoft-products Lifetime pass ($60)]
|HTPC
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✗}}
|-
|[http://attractmode.org Attract-Mode]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
|[http://attractmode.org/download.html 2.7.0]
|HTPC
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
|-
|[http://quickplay.sourceforge.net QuickPlay]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://sourceforge.net/projects/quickplay/files/latest/download?source=files 4.7.6]
|WIMP
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
|-
|[https://www.simui.net SimUI]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|macOS}}
|[https://www.simui.net/api/download.php?url=12 3.1 (Windows)]<br />[https://down.simui.net/simUI_v2.6.dmg 2.6 (macOS)]
|WIMP
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
|-
|[[RetroFE]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
|[http://retrofe.nl/download 0.10.31]
|HTPC
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
|-
|[[EmulationStation]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux}}
|[https://emulationstation.org/index.html#download 2.0.1a]<br />[https://github.com/RetroPie/EmulationStation {{EmulationStationVer}} (RetroPie fork)]
|HTPC
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
|-
|[https://tkashkin.github.io/projects/gamehub/ GameHub]
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
|[https://tkashkin.github.io/projects/gamehub/ 0.16.2]
|WIMP
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
|-
|[https://www.metropolis-launcher.net Metropolis Launcher]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://github.com/theMK2k/MetropolisLauncher/releases git]
|WIMP
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
|-
|[http://feelfrontend.altervista.org FEEL]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[http://feelfrontend.altervista.org/download 1.9.8.5]
|HTPC
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
|-
|[https://oldtools.github.io/skeletonkey/index.html skeletonKeY]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://github.com/oldtools/skeletonkey git]
|WIMP, CLI
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
|-
|[[HyperSpin]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://hyperspin-fe.com/files/category/761-hyperspin-windows 1.5.1]
|HTPC
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
|-
|[https://www.mgalaxy.com mGalaxy]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://www.mgalaxy.com/download.html 8.5]
|HTPC
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
|-
|[https://emuloader.mameworld.info Emu Loader]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://emuloader.mameworld.info/downloads.htm 8.8.3]
|WIMP
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
|-
|[https://terminallaunch.blogspot.com Terminal Launch]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://terminallaunch.blogspot.com 190905]
|CLI
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
|-
|[https://www.maximus-arcade.com Maximus Arcade]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://www.maximus-arcade.com/pages/maximus-arcade-trial ?.? (30-day trial)]<br />[https://www.maximus-arcade.com/products/maximus-arcade-software-registration-code Licenced ($24.99)]
|HTPC
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
|-
|[https://emuloader.mameworld.info/emucon EmuCon]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://emuloader.mameworld.info/emucon/downloads.htm 2.7.7]
|WIMP
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
|-
|[http://emucenter.2.free.fr EmuCenter 2]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[http://emucenter.2.free.fr/website/ENG/download.html 7.1.0.1]<br />[http://emucenter.2.free.fr/dev Dev 7.1.0.232]
|WIMP
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
|-
|[http://lusspace.free.fr LusSpace]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[http://lusspace.free.fr/modules/news 1.23]
|WIMP
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
|-
!colspan="7"|Mobile / ARM
|-
|[https://digdroid.com Dig]
|align=left|{{Icon|Android}}
|[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.digdroid.alman.dig 1.44.3 {{IAP}}]
|Touch
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
|-
|[[EmulationStation]]
|align=left|{{Icon|LinuxARM}}
|[https://emulationstation.org/index.html#download 2.0.1a]<br />[https://github.com/RetroPie/EmulationStation {{EmulationStationVer}} (RetroPie fork)]
|HTPC
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}}<ref group=A name=emulationstation>Only the [https://github.com/RetroPie/EmulationStation RetroPie fork]</ref> ||{{~}}<ref group=A name=emulationstation></ref>
|-
|[[Daijishō]] (台字章)
|align=left|{{Icon|Android}}
|[https://github.com/magneticchen/Daijishou 1.3.1]
|HTPC, Touch
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{TBD}}
|-
|[http://attractmode.org Attract-Mode]
|align=left|{{Icon|LinuxARM}}
|[http://attractmode.org/download.html 2.6.1]
|HTPC
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{TBD}}
|-
|[https://pegasus-frontend.org Pegasus]
|align=left|{{Icon|Android|LinuxARM}}
|[https://pegasus-frontend.org/#downloads Alpha 15]
|HTPC, Touch
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{TBD}}
|-
|RESET Collection
|align=left|{{Icon|Android|AndroidTV}}
|[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.retroloungelab.resetcollection 1.1.19 ($4.99)]
|Touch
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{TBD}}
|-
|[[HyperSpin]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Android}}
|[https://hyperspin-fe.com/files/category/445-hyperspin-android 1.1]
|Touch
|{{✗}} ||{{✗}} ||{{TBD}}
|}
<references group="A"/>

===Comparisons===
<!--

*** READ THIS FIRST ***

Recommended frontends are the best in their category.
If two frontends have different (common) use cases they can both be recommended. 
Different use cases might include: available on another platform, different interface type, etc.

The comparison text should compare the frontend to other frontends.
Why should, or shouldn't you use this frontend?

**********************

-->
;[[LaunchBox]]
[[File:LaunchBox-Screenshot-Nintendo-64.jpg|100px|left]]
:Was originally built as an attractive front-end for [[DOSBox]] but has since expanded to support both modern PC games and emulated console platforms. It comes with an integrated metadata scraper, and the interface is highly customizable, likely the most customizable alongside HyperSpin, but only with a license for the premium version. Premium also includes Big Box, which is an HTPC version of the frontend. Launchbox can also be launched natively from Kodi.


;[http://attractmode.org Attract-Mode]
:A graphical frontend for command line emulators with a completely customizable appearance. It hides the underlying operating system and is intended to be controlled with a joystick, gamepad or spin dial, making it ideal for use in arcade cabinets. Attract-Mode is open source and runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows.

;[http://quickplay.sourceforge.net QuickPlay]
:An excellent FOSS alternative to LaunchBox. It has a WIMP style interface and is Windows only. Compared to LaunchBox it has less eye-candy but it requires a lot less system resources, it's blazing-fast and slowdown free.

;[https://github.com/drpetersonfernandes/SimpleLauncher SimpleLauncher]
:SimpleLauncher is a WIMP Open Source emulator frontend that streamlines retro gaming on Windows. It offers cover art display, multi-emulator support, gamepad functionality, and user-friendly features, all without the need for rom databases. Users can easily configure cover art size, gamepad support, systems, emulators, rom folders, and more.

;[https://romjacket.github.io/skeletonkey/index.html skeletonKeY]
:According to the author, skeletonKeY is ''a unified interface for ROMs emulators and frontends''. A dynamic GUI provides granular options for MAME, snes9x, mednafen, emulationStation, retroFE, PegasusFE and a very comprehensive interface for retroArch (including netplay).  SkeletonKeY integrates and supports the installation of hundreds of emulators.  SkeletonKeY is free, open source and very ugly.

;[https://playnite.link Playnite]
:A great general gaming frontend for Windows. Version 9 greatly expanded emulation support, and better arcade support is planned. For something similar on Linux, check out Lutris.

;[https://lutris.net Lutris]
:A great general gaming frontend for GNU/Linux, with support for running Windows games with [[Wine]] and [[Proton]]. However, for the emulation use cases it has some downsides, such as: there is no bulk import for ROMs. There is a [https://github.com/hwangeug/lutris-bulk-adder lutris-bulk-adder] script which might solve this.

;[https://tkashkin.github.io/projects/gamehub/ GameHub]
:A general gaming frontend for Linux. At the moment it's not useful for huge ROM collections as it [https://github.com/tkashkin/GameHub/issues/103 seems to crash] when bulk importing.

==Integrated emulator types==
These "frontends" have a graphical user interface that lets you launch emulators that are included with the system, meaning it's not possible (or very difficult) to incorporate other emulators. They may or may not contain original emulator cores. If a program has mostly original cores, then it's called a [[Multi-system emulators|multi-system emulator]] and is not included here. If you're looking for a full Linux distribution to run on a Raspberry Pi or similar, check out our [[Emulation_Boxes#DIY_Solutions|Emulation Boxes]] page.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" style="width: 75%"
! scope="col"|Name
! scope="col"|Platform(s) 
! scope="col"|Latest Version
! scope="col"|Interface(s)
! scope="col"|<abbr title="Free and Open-Source Software">FOSS</abbr>
! scope="col"|Active
! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulators|Recommended]]
|-
!colspan="8"|PC / x86
|-
|[[OpenEmu]]
|align=left|{{Icon|macOS}}
|[http://openemu.org {{OpenEmuVer}}]
|WIMP
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|-
|[[Lakka]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
|[https://www.lakka.tv {{LakkaVer}}]
|HTPC
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|-
|[[RetroPie]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}<ref group=I name=retropie>RetroPie for x86 Linux is only available in Ubuntu (16.04 LTS or later) and Debian based distros. See these [https://retropie.org.uk/docs/Debian install instructions].</ref>
|[https://retropie.org.uk/download {{RetroPieVer}}]
|HTPC
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{~}}
|-
|[[BizHawk]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[http://tasvideos.org/Bizhawk.html {{BizHawkVer}}]
|WIMP
|{{~}}
|{{✓}}
|{{TBD}}
|-
|[[Provenance]]
|align=left|{{Icon|iOS|ATV}}
|[https://github.com/Provenance-Emu/Provenance/releases {{ProvenanceVer}}]
|HTPC
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{TBD}}
|-
!colspan="8"|Mobile / ARM
|-
|[[RetroPie]]
|align=left|{{Icon|LinuxARM}}
|[https://retropie.org.uk/download {{RetroPieVer}}]
|HTPC
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
|-
|[[Lakka]]
|align=left|{{Icon|LinuxARM}}
|[https://www.lakka.tv {{LakkaVer}}]
|HTPC
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|-
!colspan=8"|Consoles
|-
|CoinOPS
|align=left|{{Icon|Xbox}}
|??
|HTPC
|? ||{{TBD}} ||{{TBD}}
|}
<references group="I"/>

===Comparisons===
;OpenEmu:A frontend for various emulators that run under macOS.

==Launcher mods==
These programs aren't launchers themselves, but instead tools for changing other launchers.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" style="width: 75%"
! scope="col"|Name
! scope="col"|Platform(s) 
! scope="col"|Latest Version
! scope="col"|<abbr title="Free and Open-Source Software">FOSS</abbr>
! scope="col"|Active
! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulators|Recommended]]
|-
!colspan="8"|PC / x86
|-
|[https://github.com/doZennn/steam-rom-manager Steam ROM Manager]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
|[https://github.com/doZennn/steam-rom-manager/releases 2.3.11]
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|-
|[https://scottrice.github.io/Ice Ice]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://github.com/scottrice/Ice/releases 1.0.0]
|{{✓}}
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|}

===Comparisons===
;Steam ROM Manager:A tool that adds emulator launching capabilities to the Steam client.

==Project-specific Frontends==

===[[Libretro]]===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" style="width: 75%"
! scope="col"|Name
! scope="col"|Platform(s)
! scope="col"|Latest Version
! scope="col"|Core support
! scope="col"|Interface(s)
! scope="col"|<abbr title="Free and Open-Source Software">FOSS</abbr>
! scope="col"|Active
! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulators|Recommended]]
|-
!colspan="8"|PC / x86
|-
|[[RetroArch]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|Web}}
|[https://www.retroarch.com/index.php?page=platforms {{RetroArchVer}}]
|Full<ref group=B name=retroarch>Limited by system hardware</ref>
|HTPC, WIMP<ref group=B name=retroarch2>Press F5 for WIMP interface. Only available on Windows and Linux.</ref>
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
|-
|[https://ludo.libretro.com Ludo]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
|[https://github.com/libretro/ludo/releases {{LudoVer}}]
|Most non GL cores
|HTPC
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
|-
|[https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Games Games (Gnome)]
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
|[https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Games/Documentation#Installing_Games 3.36]
|[https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Games/Documentation#Supported_platforms Limited]
|WIMP
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{~}}
|-
|[https://www.retrix.me RetriX]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://www.retrix.me/download 2.1.77.0]
|[https://gitlab.com/aftnet/LibRetriX#available-libretro-cores Limited]
|WIMP, Touch
|{{~}} ||{{~}} ||{{✗}}
|-
|minir
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux}}
|[https://github.com/Alcaro/minir git]
|Limited
|WIMP
|{{~}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
|-
|[[Phoenix (frontend)|Phoenix]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
|[https://github.com/team-phoenix/Phoenix/releases git (pre-alpha)]
|Limited
|WIMP
|{{✓}} ||{{✗}} ||{{✗}}
|-
!colspan="8"|Mobile / ARM
|-
|[[RetroArch]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Android|iOS|ATV|LinuxARM|SL|Web}}
|[https://www.retroarch.com/index.php?page=platforms {{RetroArchVer}}]
|Full <ref group=B name=retroarch>Limited by system hardware</ref>
|HTPC, Touch
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
|-
||[http://blast16.tripware.es/ Blast16]
|align=left|{{Icon|LinuxARM}}
|[http://blast16.tripware.es/#downloads 1.0.18 (2020-01-18)]
|Genesis Plus GX, PicoDrive
|HTPC
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
|-
||[http://sneses.tripware.es/ SNESES]
|align=left|{{Icon|LinuxARM}}
|[http://sneses.tripware.es/#downloads 1.0.7 (2020-01-22)]
|Snes9X?
|HTPC
|{{✗}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
|-
|[https://ludo.libretro.com Ludo]
|align=left|{{Icon|LinuxARM}}
|[https://github.com/libretro/ludo/releases git]
|Most non GL cores
|HTPC
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
|-
|[https://www.retrix.me RetriX]
|align=left|{{Icon|Win|W10P}}
|[https://www.retrix.me/download 2.1.77.0]
|[https://gitlab.com/aftnet/LibRetriX#available-libretro-cores Limited]
|WIMP, Touch
|{{~}} ||{{~}} ||{{~}}
|-
|[[Lemuroid]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Android}}
|[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.swordfish.lemuroid 1.13.1]
|[https://github.com/Swordfish90/Lemuroid#supported-systems Limited]
|Touch
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
|-
!colspan="8"|Consoles
|-
|[[RetroArch]]
|align=left style="width: 20%"|{{Icon|XB1|Xbox}}{{Icon|PS4|PS3|PS2}}{{Icon|PSV|PSP}}{{Icon|NX|WiiU|Wii|GCN|3DS}}
|[https://www.retroarch.com/index.php?page=platforms {{RetroArchVer}}]
|Full<ref group=B name=retroarch>Limited by system hardware</ref>
|HTPC
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{✓}}
|-
|[https://www.retrix.me RetriX]
|align=left|{{Icon|XB1}}
|[https://www.retrix.me/download 2.1.77.0]
|[https://gitlab.com/aftnet/LibRetriX#available-libretro-cores Limited]
|HTPC
|{{~}} ||{{~}} ||{{✗}}
|}
<references group=B />

====Comparison====
;[[RetroArch]]
:The flagship project for libretro, and the most widely available.

;[[Lemuroid]]
:Lighter, cut-down Retroarch alternative for Android.

;[https://ludo.libretro.com Ludo]
:A minimalist HTPC frontend with sane default settings, configuration is always optional.

;[https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Games Games (Gnome)]
:A Linux launcher for PC games and a libretro frontend. Very easy to use, almost no setup. You'll need the GNOME Settings app to be able to bulk add ROMs.

;[http://blast16.tripware.es Blast16]
:Really nice looking frontend for Raspberry Pi that only support [[Sega Genesis emulators|Sega Genesis]] games. Has a similar UI to the NES/SNES Classic Edition.

;[http://sneses.tripware.es SNESES]
:Same as Blast16 but for [[Super Nintendo emulators|Super Nintendo]] games.

<br /><hr /><br />

===[[MAME]]===
MAME was originally designed as a command line program. However, when the project relicensed as open source in February 2016, they merged the frontend [https://dankan1890.github.io/mewui MEWUI] into the main project as part of the MAME executable. MEWUI uses the ten-foot interface philosophy which accounts for large television displays where the user is expected to use a TV remote-like input device to navigate the menus. However, MAME still supports command line arguments, so many old launchers still work with newer versions.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" style="width: 75%"
! scope="col"|Name
! scope="col"|Platform(s) 
! scope="col"|Latest Version
! scope="col"|Interface(s)
! scope="col"|<abbr title="Free and Open-Source Software">FOSS</abbr>
! scope="col"|Active
! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulators|Recommended]]
|-
!colspan="8"|PC / x86
|-
|[http://www.mameui.info IV/Play]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[http://www.mameui.info/IV-Play.zip 1.8.5.0]
|WIMP
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{TBD}}
|-
|[https://sourceforge.net/projects/pfemame pfeMAME]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux}}
|[https://sourceforge.net/projects/pfemame/files v2.29.4]
|WIMP
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{TBD}}
|-
|[http://erockus.elementfx.com/arcade.html Erockus Arcade]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|macOS}}
|[http://erockus.elementfx.com/arcade.html 11.6]
|WIMP
|{{?}}
|{{✓}}
|{{TBD}}
|-
|[http://qmc2.batcom-it.net QMC2]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS|FreeBSD}}
|[http://qmc2.batcom-it.net/index.php/download/#binaries 0.195]
|HTPC
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{TBD}}
|-
|[https://github.com/strippato/gnome-arcade gnome-arcade]
|align=left|{{Icon|Linux}}
|[https://github.com/strippato/gnome-arcade#building v.0.256]
|WIMP
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{TBD}}
|-
|[http://www.mameui.info MAMEUI64]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[http://www.mameui.info/MAMEUI248.7z 0.248]
|WIMP
|{{✓}}
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|-
|[http://babelsoft.net/products/negatron.htm Negatron]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
|[https://github.com/xinyingho/Negatron 0.100.1]
|WIMP
|{{✓}}
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|-
|[https://sourceforge.net/projects/mameplus M+GUI]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux}}
|[https://www.emucr.com/search/label/MAMEPGUI?&max-results=12 1.8.2]
|WIMP
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|-
|[https://superiorcode.gitlab.io/mamefave/ MameFave]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://superiorcode.gitlab.io/mamefave/ Latest]
|WIMP
|{{✗}}
|{{✓}}
|{{✗}}
|-
|}

====Comparison====
;[http://www.mameui.info IV/Play]
:IV/Play (pronounced "Four Play") was designed and commissioned by John IV as an alternative to MAMEUI. It has a narrow and particular feature-set, is keyboard driven, and utilities many of the navigation and keyboard short cuts of MAMEUI. It is available as a combo x64/x86 app and is targeted towards Windows 8.1 with leveraged features like Jump List support. IV/Play is decoupled from setting MAME options directly in an effort to future proof and guard against continual core command line changes<ref>[https://github.com/Mataniko/IV-Play IV/Play GitHub]</ref>.

;[https://sourceforge.net/projects/pfemame pfeMAME]
:Python front end for MAME that can run in Linux and Windows. It also includes a pretty graphical Tile View designed for MAME cabinets which allows control using joystick/gamepad. pfeMAME was written by Gareth Finch and the development project started in 2014.

;[http://qmc2.batcom-it.net QMC2]
:QMC2 is a multi-platform MAME/MESS/UME frontend.

;[https://github.com/strippato/gnome-arcade gnome-arcade]
:A minimal MAME frontend using GTK+ 3. On some Linux distros, you have gnome-video-arcade package: Simple MAME frontend. Available on Ubuntu 16.04+ on official repo.

;[http://www.mameui.info MAMEUI]
:Currently unmaintained, MAMEUI64 was the current name of MAME32, the original MAME GUI for Windows. As it dates back to 1997, it had additional bugs compared to mainline MAME, lacked several features of modern MAME or made it difficult to use them via GUI, and did not scale properly to high resolutions. The MAME developers did not recommend using any derivative of MAME32 for these reasons, instead suggesting mainline MAME with an external frontend if the internal user interface is not sufficient.

;[http://babelsoft.net/products/negatron.htm Negatron]
:An [https://github.com/xinyingho/Negatron intuitive and info-oriented front-end] for MAME; & a prettier derivative of ageing MAME32/MAMEUI. For computers and consoles, it needs builds of the [http://babelsoft.net/products/negamame.htm NegaMAME] derivative. For arcade games only, you can use Negatron with regular MAME instead.

;[https://superiorcode.gitlab.io/mamefave/ MameFave]:A Windows-only frontend launched in March 2022<ref>[https://www.reddit.com/r/MAME/comments/tpsvvl/new_windows_gui_for_mame Reddit thread: MameFave GUI for MAME]</ref>. Creator intends for this to be a simple way to manage hundreds of ROMs.
* The favorites database can be filtered to help you find the game you want to play.
* Works with many versions of MAME (32 and 64 bit).
* Optional artwork download includes icons and marquees for all the classics!
* Links to your favorite games can be made in just a few mouse clicks.
* Games can be played directly from the ROM picker and search windows.

<br /><hr /><br />

===[[DOSBox]]===
Because DOSBox doesn't have a GUI, projects were made to fulfill that role. More about them: [https://www.dosbox.com/wiki/DOSBoxFrontends DOSBox Wiki].

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" style="width: 75%"
! scope="col"|Name
! scope="col"|Platform(s) 
! scope="col"|Latest Version
! scope="col"|Interface(s)
! scope="col"|<abbr title="Free/Libre and Open-Source Software">FLOSS</abbr>
! scope="col"|Active
! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulators|Recommended]]
|-
!colspan="8"|PC / x86
|-
|[https://dbgl.org DOSBox Game Launcher]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
|[https://dbgl.org/#download {{DOSBox Game LauncherVer}}]
|WIMP
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|-
|[[LaunchBox]]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://www.launchbox-app.com/download {{LaunchBoxVer}} (Free)]<br />[https://www.launchbox-app.com/premium Premium ($75)]
|WIMP, HTPC<ref group=A name=launchbox>This feature is called ''Big Box'' and is only available in the paid premium version.</ref>
|{{✗}}
|{{✓}}
|{{~}}
|-
|[http://dfendreloaded.sourceforge.net D-Fend Reloaded]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://dfendreloaded.sourceforge.net/Download.html 1.4.4]
|WIMP
|{{✓}}
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|-
|[https://github.com/rtts/ialauncher IA Launcher]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
|[https://ialauncher.created.today/download.htm 2.2.1]
|WIMP
|{{✓}}
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|-
|[http://weekendwastemonster.net/dfend/dfend.html D-Fend]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[http://weekendwastemonster.net/dfend/D-Fend.zip 2.0.6.2 (Build 42)]
|WIMP
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|-
|[https://cboxrun.wordpress.com CBoxRun]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://cboxrun.wordpress.com/download 0.51]
|WIMP
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|}
<references group=A/>

====Comparison====
;[https://dbgl.org DOSBox Game Launcher]
:Another frontend based on Java that is said to be inspired by the D-Fend's.

;[[LaunchBox]]
:Originally developed as a DOSBox frontend. It now supports any emulator or Windows game but has retained its excellent DOSBox functionality.

;[http://dfendreloaded.sourceforge.net D-Fend Reloaded]
:Was a great frontend, which allowed custom per-game configurations to cut back on fiddling with settings just to run specific games well. It also let use third party build of DOSBox, instead of the one it comes with, so it could have been used with forks as well.

;[https://github.com/rtts/ialauncher IA Launcher]
:IA Launcher is a graphical games launcher for under 3000 MS-DOS games from old times. It uses the Internet Archive to download games on-the-fly and DOSBox to play them offline.

;[http://weekendwastemonster.net/dfend/dfend.html D-Fend]
:Very old, outdated and out of support. Was reborned as D-Fend Reloaded.

;[https://cboxrun.wordpress.com CBoxRun]
:Zero relevance, lack of developing, dead for a long time.

<br /><hr /><br />

===[[Mednafen]]===
Mednafen is a command line program with no graphical interface whatsoever. These programs generally ease the process of launching games, but don't address things like controller configuration, which is still done by pressing hotkeys in-game.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" style="width: 75%"
! scope="col"|Name
! scope="col"|Platform(s) 
! scope="col"|Latest Version
! scope="col"|Interface(s)
! scope="col"|<abbr title="Free and Open-Source Software">FOSS</abbr>
! scope="col"|Active
! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulators|Recommended]]
|-
!colspan="8"|PC / x86
|-
|[https://github.com/Speedvicio/MedGuiReborn MedGui Reborn]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://github.com/Speedvicio/MedGuiReborn/releases {{MedGuiRebornVer}}]
|WIMP
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|{{✓}}
|-
|[https://github.com/AmatCoder/mednaffe Mednaffe]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux}}
|[https://github.com/AmatCoder/mednaffe/releases {{MednaffeVer}}]
|WIMP
|{{✓}}
|{{~}}
|{{✗}}
|-
|[https://github.com/Asnivor/MedLaunch MedLaunch]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://github.com/Asnivor/MedLaunch/releases 0.5.25.3]
|WIMP
|{{✓}}
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|-
|[https://sourceforge.net/projects/medgui MedGui]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://sourceforge.net/projects/medgui/files 1.99999]
|WIMP
|{{✓}}
|{{✗}}
|{{✗}}
|}

====Comparison====
;[https://github.com/Speedvicio/MedGuiReborn MedGui Reborn]
:Last survivor and with active developing. New versions appear shortly after the release of a new version of the emulator, and new commits on GitHub happens regularly. The only serious drawback is the fairly awkward interface. Reincarnation of the ancient MedGui.

;[https://github.com/AmatCoder/mednaffe Mednaffe]
:Arguably has a better interface than the MedGui Reborn, as well as Linux support. Mednaffe's creator claims what it isn't dead, but development is currently inactive.

;[https://github.com/Asnivor/MedLaunch MedLaunch]
:Old and dead. Totally not recommended.

;[https://sourceforge.net/projects/medgui MedGui]
:Original one is history now, but it was revived as MedGui Reborn.

<br /><hr /><br />

===Others===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" style="width: 75%"
! scope="col"|Name
! scope="col"|Platform(s) 
! scope="col"|Latest Version
! scope="col"|Emulator
! scope="col"|Interface(s)
! scope="col"|<abbr title="Free and Open-Source Software">FOSS</abbr>
! scope="col"|Active
! scope="col"|[[Recommended Emulators|Recommended]]
|-
!colspan="8"|PC / x86
|-
|[https://github.com/dh4/mupen64plus-qt Mupen64Plus-Qt]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
|[https://github.com/dh4/mupen64plus-qt/releases git]
|[[Mupen64Plus]]
|WIMP
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{TBD}}
|-
|simple64-gui / simple64
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux}}
|[https://github.com/simple64/simple64-gui git] <small>(frontend only)</small><br />[https://simple64.github.io {{Simple64Ver}}] <small>(simple64 package)</small>
|[[Mupen64Plus]]
|WIMP
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{TBD}}
|-
|[https://github.com/dh4/cen64-qt CEN64-Qt]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows|Linux|macOS}}
|[https://github.com/dh4/cen64-qt/releases git]
|[[CEN64]]
|WIMP
|{{✓}} ||{{✓}} ||{{TBD}}
|-
|[http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,159733.msg1680224.html Sega Model 2 UI]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[http://uploaded.net/file/ryc0vp4f WIP 2019-04-02]
|[[Model 2 Emulator]]
|WIMP
|? ||{{✗}} ||{{TBD}}
|-
|[https://www.supermodel3.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1636 Sega Model 3 UI]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://www.sendspace.com/file/sr7f90 -r886]
|[[Supermodel]]
|WIMP
|? ||{{✗}} ||{{TBD}}
|-
|[https://www.reddit.com/r/emulation/comments/hxlh7l/ive_released_my_supermodel_sega_model_3_emulator SupermodelsAssistant]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://github.com/nikescar1/SupermodelAssistant/releases 0.12]
|[[Supermodel]]
|WIMP
|? ||{{✓}} ||{{TBD}}
|-
|[https://www.emu-land.net/consoles/saturn/emuls/windows?act=showonly&id=4227 MedSat]
|align=left|{{Icon|Windows}}
|[https://www.emu-land.net/consoles/saturn/emuls/windows?act=dlmfile&id=4227&fid=1 1.8]
|[[Mednafen]] (Saturn core)
|?
|? ||{{✗}} ||{{TBD}}
|-
|Dapplegrey
|align=left|{{Icon|Mac}}
|[http://www.classics-for-x.info/csx/dapplegrey/ 7.10]
|[[DOSBox]]
|WIMP
|? ||{{✓}} ||{{TBD}}
|}

==See also==
* [[Comparison of Emulator Frontends]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:FAQs]]
[[Category:Tools|*]]
[[Category:Frontends|*]]