# UTM SE vs Ballune

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Ballune at none against UTM SE's 3. Ballune also leads on update cadence (monthly vs every 4 months). UTM SE's advantage is device support (4 vs 2) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.0). On price and ads there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. UTM SE sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Ballune asks for nothing beyond the download.

UTM SE ships an update every 4 months, Ballune monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | UTM SE | Ballune |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[3.8 (562 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/utm-se-retro-pc-emulator/id1564628856/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **562** | — |
| Positive reviews | 54.7% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | **Monthly** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Size | 1.6 GB | 3 MB |
| Requires iOS | **15.0** | 26.0 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod, Vision Pro** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | [Turing Software, LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/1534511649) | [SJW Software LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/1595630095) |

## 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


### Ballune

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ballune/id6761668069)

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

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is UTM SE free?

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

### Is Ballune free?

Ballune is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Do UTM SE or Ballune have ads?

Neither UTM SE nor Ballune shows ads.

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

UTM SE ships an update every 4 months, and Ballune monthly. Most recently, UTM SE was updated on October 30, 2026 and Ballune on October 14, 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.*