The best compatibility layers, according to hackers
27 compatibility layers were recommended on Hacker News between November 2025 and November 2026. We rank them by how many separate people recommend each one, and 8 earn the Hacker Approved badge.
Top picks
The three most recommended compatibility layers with the badge. Each figure is 50 people. RecommendsCriticizes One comment
Runs most Windows games on Linux
Valve's open-source layer runs most Windows games on Linux and the Steam Deck, sometimes better than native ports, though some titles still need tweaking or break.
Most Windows software just works
Free compatibility layer that runs most Windows programs and games on Linux and Mac, sometimes better than on Windows; expect tinkering and occasional performance or stability problems.
WSL2 (Windows Subsystem for Linux)
115 recommend, 55 criticize, 68% approval
Ranked 4 of 27 by recommenders
Makes Windows a viable dev desktop
Gives Windows users a real Linux environment for development work that matches production, with GPU support; critics cite slow Windows-Linux file access and occasional crashes needing reboots.
All 27 compatibility layers, ranked
Select a column heading to sort. Approval share is recommenders out of everyone who gave an opinion; the tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs. Months counts the months, out of 13, in which someone recommended it.
| Rank | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Proton by Valve | 451 | 189 | 70% | 13 | 2 yrs31 owners | Approved |
| 2 | Wine | 329 | 88 | 79% | 13 | 10 yrs11 owners | Approved |
| 3 | Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) | 159 | 101 | 61% | 12 | 3 yrs9 owners | — |
| 4 | WSL2 (Windows Subsystem for Linux) | 115 | 55 | 68% | 12 | — | Approved |
| 5 | CrossOver by CodeWeavers | 51 | 17 | 75% | 11 | — | Approved |
| 6 | Cygwin | 25 | 17 | 60% | 8 | 23 yrs3 owners | — |
| 7 | WinApps | 19 | 11 | 63% | 4 | — | — |
| 8 | Rosetta | 18 | 6 | 75% | 10 | — | Approved |
| 9 | iSH | 17 | 6 | 74% | 9 | — | Approved |
| 10 | Wine/Proton | 16 | 6 | 73% | 8 | — | Approved |
| 11 | MSYS2 | 15 | 9 | 63% | 7 | — | — |
| Tied 12 | Bottles | 13 | 6 | 68% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Tied 12 | XWayland | 13 | 17 | 43% | 5 | — | — |
| Tied 14 | WinBoat | 9 | 2 | 82% | 6 | — | — |
| Tied 14 | Steam with Proton | 9 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
| 16 | Windows 9x Subsystem for Linux | 8 | 0 | 100% | 1 | — | — |
| Tied 17 | Apple Game Porting Toolkit | 7 | 14 | 33% | 6 | — | — |
| Tied 17 | MoltenVK | 7 | 6 | 54% | 4 | — | — |
| Tied 17 | WSL1 (Windows Subsystem for Linux 1) | 7 | 3 | 70% | 4 | — | — |
| Tied 20 | Steam Linux Runtime | 6 | 1 | 86% | 5 | — | — |
| Tied 20 | otvdm (winevdm) | 6 | 1 | 86% | 5 | — | — |
| Tied 20 | Theseus Win32 to WASM translator | 6 | 1 | 86% | 3 | — | — |
| Tied 20 | Wayback | 6 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| Tied 20 | Winlator | 6 | 1 | 86% | 2 | — | — |
| Tied 25 | Sikarugir | 5 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| Tied 25 | Linuxulator | 5 | 4 | 56% | 3 | — | — |
| Tied 25 | Kakehashi | 5 | 1 | 83% | 1 | — | — |
How we rank
Rank is the number of separate people who recommend a product in a Hacker News comment over the past year. Someone who praises the same compatibility layer in five threads counts once.
The badge goes to compatibility layers that at least 10 people recommend, with recommenders outnumbering critics at least 2 to 1, recommended in at least 4 of the 13 months.
Rankings are never for sale. We may earn a commission when you buy through our links. It never changes the order.