Frontends

For frontend and launcher software that runs on consoles and handhelds, see Homebrew and ROM hacks#Launchers.

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 emulator.exe game.rom. 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.

The term "Frontend application" can sometimes be confused with multi-system emulators and ROM managers.

OpenEmu with a WIMP interface
Attract-Mode with a HTPC interface

Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs)

Frontends have different types of GUIs, here we have categorized them as follows:

WIMP: 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: HTPC stands for "Home theater PC". 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.
CLI: A command-line interface operated through terminal commands or executable arguments, offering no graphical elements.

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.

Name	Platform(s)	Latest version	Interface(s)	License	Active	Recommended
PC / x86
ES-DE	• •	3.4.1	HTPC	MIT (Permissive)	✅	✅
Playnite		10.60	WIMP • HTPC	MIT (Permissive)	✅	✅
LaunchBox		13.27 (Free) Premium (US$75)	WIMP • HTPC^{[A 1]}	Proprietary	✅	Limited
Nostlan	• •	3.7	WIMP • HTPC • Touch	Proprietary	✅	Limited
Lutris		0.5.7.1	WIMP	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✅	Limited
Simple Launcher		5.7.0	WIMP	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✅	Limited
All Stars Launcher		2024.030	WIMP	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✅	❌
mGalaxy		10.1	HTPC	Proprietary	✅	❌
Pegasus	• •	Alpha 16	HTPC	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	Intermittent	❌
GameEx		19.62 (Free) Lifetime pass (US$60)	HTPC	Proprietary	✅	❌
GameHub		0.16.3-2-master	WIMP	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	❌	❌
Attract-Mode	• •	2.7.0	HTPC	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	❌	❌
QuickPlay		4.7.6	WIMP	BSD-3-Clause (Permissive)	❌	❌
SimUI	•	3.1 (Windows) 2.6 (macOS)	WIMP	MIT (Permissive)	❌	❌
RetroFE	• •	0.10.31	HTPC	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	❌	❌
EmulationStation	•	2.0.1a RetroPie fork	HTPC	MIT (Permissive)	❌	❌
Metropolis Launcher		git	WIMP	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	❌	❌
FEEL		1.9.8.5	HTPC	Proprietary	❌	❌
skeletonKeY		git	WIMP • CLI	Proprietary	❌	❌
HyperSpin		1.5.1	HTPC	Proprietary	❌	❌
Emu Loader		8.9.4	WIMP	Proprietary	❌	❌
Terminal Launch		0.0.40b	CLI	Proprietary	❌	❌
Maximus Arcade		?.? (30-day trial) Licenced (US$24.99)	HTPC	Proprietary	❌	❌
EmuCon		2.7.7	WIMP	Proprietary	❌	❌
EmuCenter 2		7.1.0.1 Dev 7.1.0.232	WIMP	Proprietary	❌	❌
LusSpace		1.23	WIMP	Proprietary	❌	❌
RetroDECK		0.10.9b	HTPC	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✅	TBD
EmuHub		1.1.0-beta	WIMP • HTPC	MIT (Permissive)	✅	TBD
NeoStation		beta	HTPC	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✅	TBD
Mobile / ARM
Simple Launcher		5.7.0	WIMP	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✅	✅
Cocoon Shell		Beta 3.0	Touch	Proprietary	✅	✅
iiSU		Alpha 0.0.7.4	Touch	Proprietary	✅	✅
Daijishō (台字章)		416 (1.5.0)	HTPC • Touch	Proprietary	✅	✅
ES-DE		3.4.1 (US$5.50 US$6.50)	Touch	Proprietary^{[A 2]}	✅	✅
GameNative		0.8.1 0.9.0 (pre-release)	Touch	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✅	Limited
Pluvia		1.3.2	Touch	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✅	Limited
EmulationStation		2.0.1a RetroPie fork	HTPC	Proprietary	✅^{[A 3]}	Limited^{[A 3]}
GameSir GameHub		3.0.5	Touch	Proprietary	✅	❌^{[A 4]}
Dig		1.44.3 (IAP)	Touch	Proprietary	✅	❌
Attract-Mode		2.7.0	HTPC	GPLv2 (Copyleft)	✅	TBD
Pegasus	•	Alpha 16	HTPC • Touch	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✅	TBD
RESET Collection	•	1.1.29 (US$4.99)	Touch	Proprietary	✅	TBD
ARC Browser		1.26.1 (US$7.49)	Touch	Proprietary	✅	TBD
HyperSpin		1.1	Touch	Proprietary	❌	TBD
NeoStation		beta	HTPC • Touch	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✅	TBD
Misc
RetroAssembly		v6 Live demo	HTPC	MIT	✅	TBD

↑ This feature is called Big Box and is only available in the premium (paid) version.
↑ Android release is not free and contains proprietary code.
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 Only the RetroPie fork
↑ Some users have expressed concerns about the app's stability and security.

Comparisons

x86

LaunchBox

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.

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.

Attract-Mode Plus: Attract-Mode Plus is a fork of Attract-Mode, enhanced by numerous community-driven improvements, fixes, and features. Licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License, version 3 or later.

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 slow down-free.
Simple Launcher: Simple Launcher 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. Has Windows-x64 and Windows-ARM64 versions.
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.
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.
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 lutris-bulk-adder script which might solve this.
GameHub: A general gaming frontend for Linux. At the moment it's not useful for huge ROM collections as it seems to crash when bulk importing.

NeoStation: A modern, lightweight cross-platform frontend that emphasizes UX/UI and features NeoSync, a built-in cloud service for syncing RetroArch save states across devices.

ARM

Daijishō: Gives a console-like user interface for Android devices, capable of scraping boxart and providing metadata for many games and platforms, launching games for any compatible emulator app or core on Android, and applying custom wallpaper themes, including downloadable themes. Also has widgets and can track the user's RetroAchievements profile.
ES-DE: An Android port of ES-DE, this also provides a console-like user interface for Android devices; however, the Android version requires a one-time payment/Patreon subscription to download and use, and can be updated for free. It has similar features to Daijisho, but theming the user interface is more customizable than Daijisho.
Dig: An older frontend for Android with a simple touch-friendly user interface, capable of launching games for any compatible emulator app.

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 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 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 page.

Name	Platform(s)	Latest version	Interface(s)	License	Active	Recommended
PC / x86
OpenEmu		2.4.1	WIMP	BSD-3-Clause (Permissive)	Stalled	✅
EmuDeck	•	2.4	HTPC	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✅	✅
Lakka		6.1	HTPC	?	✅	✅
RetroPie	^{[I 1]}	4.8	HTPC	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✅	Limited
BizHawk	•	2.11.1	WIMP	MIT (Permissive) • GPL (Copyleft)	✅	TBD
RetroBat		8.2.1	HTPC	LGPLv3 (Copyleft)	✅	TBD
Provenance	•	3.3.0	HTPC	BSD-3-Clause (Permissive)	✅	TBD
emuze	•	0.59.0	HTPC • WIMP	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✅	TBD
Mobile / ARM
RetroPie		4.8	HTPC	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✅	✅
EmuDeck		2.1.0	HTPC	BSD-3-Clause (Permissive)	✅	TBD
Console
CoinOPS		?	HTPC	?	TBD	TBD
Tico		0.7.9	HTPC	MIT (Permissive)	✅	✅

↑ RetroPie for x86 Linux is only available for Ubuntu- (16.04 LTS or later) and Debian-based distributions. See these installation instructions.

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.

Name	Platform(s)	Latest version	Interface(s)	License	Active
PC
Steam ROM Manager	• •	2.5.29	placeholder text	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✅
Ice		1.0.0	placeholder text	MIT (Permissive)	❌
UIX Emulatorinator		2.8	placeholder text	Open-source planned	✅

Comparisons

Steam ROM Manager: A tool that adds emulator launching capabilities to the Steam client.
UIX Emulatorinator: This tool allows users to compile a centralized retro library and export it to other major frontends like LaunchBox and Playnite. While built primarily as a manager and exporter, it features its own functional interface so it can be used as a launcher by itself.

Project-specific frontends

Libretro

Name	Platform(s)	Latest version	Core support	Interface(s)	License	Active	Recommended
PC / x86
RetroArch	• • • •	1.22.2	Full^{[B 1]}	HTPC • WIMP^{[B 2]}	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✅	✅
Ludo	• •	0.22.5	Most non-GL cores	HTPC	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✅	✅
Games (Gnome)		3.36	Limited	WIMP	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	❌	Limited
RetriX		2.1.77.0	Limited	WIMP • Touch	BSD-3-Clause (Permissive)	Sporadic	❌
minir	•	git	Limited	WIMP	BSD-3-Clause (Permissive)	❌	❌
Phoenix	• •	git (pre-alpha)	Limited	WIMP	GPLv2 (Copyleft)	❌	❌
Mobile / ARM
RetroArch	• • • •	1.22.2	Full^{[B 1]}	HTPC • Touch	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✅	✅
Blast16		1.0.18 (2020-01-18)	Genesis Plus GX • PicoDrive	HTPC	Proprietary	✅	✅
SNESES		1.0.7 (2020-01-22)	Snes9x?	HTPC	Proprietary	✅	✅
Ludo		git	Most non-GL cores	HTPC	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✅	✅
Lemuroid		1.15.0	Limited	Touch	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✅	✅
RetriX	•	2.1.77.0	Limited	WIMP • Touch	BSD-3-Clause (Permissive)	Sporadic	Limited
Console
RetroArch	• • • • • • • • • • •	1.22.2	Full^{[B 1]}	HTPC	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✅	✅
RetriX		[1]	Limited	HTPC	BSD-3-Clause (Permissive)	Sporadic	❌

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 Limited by system hardware.
↑ Press F5 for WIMP interface; only available on Windows and Linux.

Comparison

RetroArch: The flagship project for libretro, and the most widely available.
Lemuroid: Lighter, cut-down Retroarch alternative for Android.
Ludo: A minimalist HTPC frontend with sane default settings, configuration is always optional.
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.
Blast16: Really nice looking frontend for Raspberry Pi that only support Sega Genesis games. Has a similar UI to the NES/SNES Classic Edition.
SNESES: Same as Blast16 but for Super Nintendo games.

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 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.

Name	Platform(s)	Latest version	Interface(s)	License	Active	Recommended
PC
BletchMAME	•	3.0	WIMP	GPL (Copyleft)	✓	✓
Negatron	• •	1.0.2	WIMP	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✅	❌
QMC2	• • •	0.243	HTPC	GPLv2 (Copyleft)	❌	❌
MameFave		1.0.1.1	WIMP	Proprietary	❌	❌
M+GUI	•	1.8.2	WIMP	Proprietary	❌	❌
pfeMAME	•	v3.5.3	WIMP	Non-commercial	✅	TBD
Erockus Arcade	•	14.2	WIMP	Proprietary	✅	TBD
gnome-arcade		0.263	WIMP	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✅	TBD
Ample		0.288	WIMP	Proprietary	✅	TBD
IV/Play		2.4.14	WIMP	Proprietary	✅	TBD
MacMAME		0.283a	WIMP	GPLv2 (Copyleft)	✅	TBD

Comparison

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.

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.

Ample

A user-friendly open source front-end for using MAME. Started out as an Apple II-series emulator. Recently expanded to include Classic Mac, Tandy TRS-80 and Compatibles, Oric, Atari ST, and more. Requires macOS 10.11+.

Negatron

An intuitive and info-oriented front-end for MAME; & a prettier derivative of ageing MAME32/MAMEUI. For computers and consoles, it needs builds of the NegaMAME derivative. For arcade games only, you can use Negatron with regular MAME instead.

QMC2

QMC2 is a multi-platform MAME/MESS/UME frontend.

MameFave

A Windows-only frontend launched in March 2022^[1]. 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.

BletchMAME

Replaces the internal MAME UI with a more conventional point and click GUI (sometimes described as W.I.M.P.) to provide a friendlier experience in a number of areas (such as favorites, input configuration and a number of others). While BletchMAME is intended to support all machines supported by MAME, it should be particularly suitable to computer emulation.

DOSBox

Because DOSBox doesn't have a GUI, projects were made to fulfill that role. More information about them is available on the DOSBox Wiki.

Name	Platform(s)	Latest version	Interface(s)	License	Active	Recommended
PC / x86
LaunchBox	•	13.27 (Free) Premium (75 US$) 1.21	WIMP • HTPC^{[D 1]}	Proprietary	✅	Limited
DOSBox Game Launcher	• •	0.99 (Stable) 0.100 Beta 17 (Dev)	WIMP	GPLv2 (Copyleft)	❌	❌
D-Fend Reloaded		1.4.4	WIMP	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	❌	❌
IA Launcher	• •	2.2.1	WIMP	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	❌	❌
D-Fend		2.0.6.2 (Build 42)	WIMP	Proprietary	❌	❌
CBoxRun		0.51	WIMP	Proprietary	❌	❌

↑ This feature is called Big Box and is only available in the premium (paid) version.

Comparison

LaunchBox: Originally developed as a DOSBox frontend. It now supports any emulator or Windows game but has retained its excellent DOSBox functionality.
DOSBox Game Launcher: Another frontend based on Java that is said to be inspired by the D-Fend's.
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 builds of DOSBox, instead of the one it comes with, so it could have been used with forks as well.
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.
D-Fend: Very old, outdated and out of support. Was reborned as D-Fend Reloaded.
CBoxRun: Zero relevance, lack of developing, dead for a long time.

Mednafen

Mednafen is a command-line program with no graphical interface whatsoever. These programs generally ease the process of launching games, featuring an equivalent for most of the emulator's functions via their graphical interfaces.

Name	Platform(s)	Latest version	Interface(s)	License	Active	Recommended
PC
Mednaffe	•	0.9.3	WIMP	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✅	✅
MedGui Reborn		0.127	WIMP	CC0-1.0 (Public domain equivalent)	✅	✅
MedLaunch		0.5.25.3	WIMP	MIT (Permissive)	❌	❌
MedGui		1.99999	WIMP	?	❌	❌

Comparison

Mednaffe: One of the older and better frontends for Mednafen, with a good user-friendly interface as well as Linux support.
MedGui Reborn: Reincarnation of the MedGui. 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.
MedLaunch: Just dead and outdated.
MedGui: Now is a thing of the past. But it has been revived as MedGui Reborn.

Others

Name	Platform(s)	Latest version	Emulator	Interface(s)	License	Active	Recommended
PC
Mupen64Plus-Qt	• •	1.17	Mupen64Plus	WIMP	BSD-3-Clause (Permissive)	✅	TBD
simple64-gui / simple64	•	git (frontend only) 2024.12.1 (simple64 package)	Mupen64Plus	WIMP	GPLv3 (Copyleft)	✅	TBD
CEN64-Qt	• •	git	CEN64	WIMP	BSD-3-Clause (Permissive)	✅	TBD
Sega Model 2 UI		WIP (2019-04-02)	Model 2 Emulator	WIMP	?	❌	TBD
Sega Model 3 UI		-r886	Supermodel	WIMP	?	❌	TBD
SupermodelsAssistant		0.12	Supermodel	WIMP	?	✅	TBD
MedSat		1.8	Mednafen (Saturn core)	?	?	❌	TBD
Dapplegrey		9.9.2	DOSBox	WIMP	?	✅	TBD
zRupi		v2-pre	LoopyMSE	WIMP	?	❌	TBD

References

↑ Reddit thread: MameFave GUI for MAME

This article is a never-ending list. It will always need updates and will likely have new content added to it on a consistent basis. Because of this, it can never truly be a finished article.

[launchbox-1] This feature is called Big Box and is only available in the premium (paid) version.

[esde-2] Android release is not free and contains proprietary code.

[emulationstation-3] 3.0 ^3.1 Only the RetroPie fork

[gamesirgamehub-4] Some users have expressed concerns about the app's stability and security.

[retropie-5] RetroPie for x86 Linux is only available for Ubuntu- (16.04 LTS or later) and Debian-based distributions. See these installation instructions.

[retroarch-6] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 Limited by system hardware.

[retroarch2-7] Press F5 for WIMP interface; only available on Windows and Linux.

[launchbox-9] This feature is called Big Box and is only available in the premium (paid) version.

[mamefave_reddit-8] Reddit thread: MameFave GUI for MAME

[A 1]

[A 2]

[A 3]

[A 4]

[I 1]

[B 1]

[B 2]

[1]

[D 1]

Frontends

Contents

Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs)

Launcher types

Comparisons

x86

ARM

Integrated emulator types

Comparisons

Launcher mods

Comparisons

Project-specific frontends

Libretro

Comparison

MAME

Comparison

DOSBox

Comparison

Mednafen

Comparison

Others

See also

References