# UTM SE vs KipFire

The clearest difference is rating: KipFire at 5.0 against UTM SE's 3.8. UTM SE's advantage is ratings volume (565 vs 3). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. UTM SE sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and KipFire sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $12.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

KipFire holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: UTM SE has 565 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UTM SE ships an update every 4 months, KipFire every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | UTM SE | KipFire |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [3.8 (565 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/utm-se-retro-pc-emulator/id1564628856/reviews) | **[5.0 (3 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/kipfire/id6755289956/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **565** | 3 |
| Positive reviews | 54.7% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | **Every 3 months** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Size | 1.6 GB | 61 MB |
| Requires iOS | **15.0** | 15.1 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod, Vision Pro** | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | [Turing Software, LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/1534511649) | [Ibragim Adaev](https://appshunter.io/developer/1852958091) |

## What reviewers say

### UTM SE

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/utm-se-retro-pc-emulator/id1564628856)

Experience classic computing by running old-school games and software. This emulator supports various display modes and processor architectures, allowing you to run pre-built systems or configure your own.

**Highlights:** Run classic software and games, VGA and terminal modes, Emulates x86, ARM, PPC, RISC-V, Pre-built or custom machine configurations, Built from QEMU

**In-app purchases (3)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Transistor | $0.99 | one-time |
| Chip | $4.99 | one-time |
| Computer | $9.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Great app that can run Windows and macOS
- 👍 Useful for nostalgic reasons
- 👍 Can run Linux VMs

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Slow performance, especially on older devices
- 🐛 Crashes and freezes
- 🐛 Display and boot issues
- 🐛 Incompatible with some ISOs and VMs

**Reported bugs**

- Inability to select .img files as floppy boot images
- Crashes when trying to leave a VM
- Crashes when adjusting virtual CD-ROM drive settings

**Requested features**

- Add support for JIT compilation to improve performance
- Improve Magic Keyboard support
- Allow exporting VMs to run on other platforms


### KipFire

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/kipfire/id6755289956)

This AI-powered app generates creative content challenges and prompts for creators of all levels. It helps overcome creative blocks by providing unique ideas and presenting them professionally for immediate sharing on social media.

**Highlights:** AI-generated content challenges, Engaging AI questions, Diverse content categories, Professional visual overlay, In-app video recording, Photo upload from gallery, Save and share to social media

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| KipFire Premium | $12.99 | per month |
| KIPFIRE Premium Yearly | $99.99 | per year |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is UTM SE free?

UTM SE is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is KipFire free?

KipFire is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, UTM SE or KipFire?

KipFire is rated higher. UTM SE averages 3.8 out of 5 from 565 ratings, while KipFire averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.

### Do UTM SE or KipFire have ads?

Neither UTM SE nor KipFire shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, UTM SE or KipFire?

UTM SE ships an update every 4 months, and KipFire every 3 months. Most recently, UTM SE was updated on November 3, 2026 and KipFire on October 10, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*