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Is CrossOver free?
No. CrossOver, made by CodeWeavers, has a fully working 14-day free trial. After that you buy a licence: in CodeWeavers' EU store, CrossOver+ is €74 for 12 months of upgrades and support, and CrossOver Life is €484 (prices vary by region and there are regular promotions). The version you have keeps working after the 12 months end; you only lose access to newer versions.
Avoid “free CrossOver” downloads
Anything offering CrossOver for free outside the official trial is pirated, and cracked Mac apps are a common way to get malware. The free tools below are legitimate and open about how they work.
It's also worth knowing what your money does: CodeWeavers is one of the biggest contributors to Wine, the open-source project every tool on this page depends on.
Alternatives at a glance
| Alternative | Price | Type | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sikarugir | Free | Wine wrapper maker | Turning a game or app into its own Mac app |
| Porting Kit | Free | Wine wrapper installer | Installing games from a ready-made catalogue |
| Heroic Games Launcher | Free | Game launcher with Wine | Epic, GOG and Amazon libraries |
| Mythic | Free | Game launcher with Game Porting Toolkit | Epic libraries |
| Wine (directly) | Free | The underlying project | People comfortable in Terminal |
| Grapple | Free plan (one game); Pro €3.99/month | Wine-based game app | Steam libraries on Apple Silicon; one-click GOG and Epic setup |
| Parallels Desktop | Paid + Windows licence | Virtual machine | Windows apps; DirectX 11 games at most |
| GeForce NOW / Xbox Cloud Gaming | Free tier / subscription | Cloud streaming | AAA and anti-cheat games they carry |
Free alternatives
Sikarugir
The successor to Wineskin (and briefly called Kegworks). It builds a self-contained "wrapper" Mac app for each Windows program, with DXMT for DirectX 10/11 by default and toggles for D3DMetal (DirectX 11/12) and DXVK. Needs macOS 14.6+ and Rosetta 2. Powerful and actively maintained; expect to read the docs.
Porting Kit
A free app with a catalogue of ready-made installers for specific games, built on Wineskin/Sikarugir wrappers. Version 7 includes an Apple Silicon build and a Wine 11 engine with DXMT. Good if your game is in its catalogue.
Heroic Games Launcher
A free, open-source (GPLv3) launcher for Epic, GOG and Amazon Prime Gaming libraries. On macOS it runs Windows games with Wine builds or Apple's Game Porting Toolkit, and handles downloads, updates and cloud saves where the store supports them. The closest free thing to a "just works" launcher, if your games aren't on Steam.
Mythic
A free, open-source Mac launcher built around its own Game Porting Toolkit build. It supports Epic Games today, with Steam support listed as in progress. macOS 14+.
Wine itself
Every tool here builds on Wine, and you can run it directly. It's the most flexible and the most work: Terminal, manual prefixes and choosing your own graphics layer. Fine for tinkerers; most people are happier with a front end.
Paid and freemium alternatives
Grapple
Our app: Wine plus Apple's D3DMetal and DXMT, focused on games, Apple Silicon only (macOS 14+). The Free plan never expires and runs one game — claimed the first time you play it, swappable once every 30 days, with one-click setup for Steam, GOG Galaxy and the Epic Games Launcher, and the fix for Steam's black window, included; Pro is €3.99/month or €39/year in total, cancellable at any time, and plays your whole library. DirectX 9 to 12 is covered: D3DMetal comes with the app, fetched in a one-time setup download. It's in beta and much younger than CrossOver; see our honest comparison.
Parallels Desktop
Not a Wine tool at all: it runs Windows 11 for Arm in a virtual machine. Excellent for Windows apps, but for games it tops out at DirectX 11.1, and anti-cheat usually refuses to run in a VM. You pay for Parallels and need a Windows licence.
Alternatives that aren't Wine
Cloud gaming sidesteps the whole problem by running the game on a real PC. GeForce NOW has a native Mac app, streams games you own from supported stores and has a free tier with ads and shorter sessions. Xbox Cloud Gaming runs in a browser with Xbox Game Pass; Microsoft is adding monthly cloud-hour limits from November 2026. It's the best answer for anti-cheat games and demanding DirectX 12 titles, if the service carries them.
And don't forget native Mac versions: if a game has one, it will beat every option on this page. More in how to play Windows games on a Mac.
Ones to skip
- Whisky: archived in May 2025, no more updates. Its developer recommended CrossOver. See Whisky alternatives.
- WineBottler and PlayOnMac: older tools that haven't kept up with Apple Silicon and current macOS.
- Boot Camp: Intel Macs only.
How to choose
- Want it to just work, and happy to pay once? CrossOver is still the benchmark — use the trial to check your games.
- Mostly Steam games, want to start free? Grapple.
- Epic, GOG or Amazon library? Heroic (or Mythic for Epic).
- One specific game, free, don't mind setup? Porting Kit if it's in the catalogue, otherwise Sikarugir.
- Anti-cheat multiplayer? Cloud gaming. See why.
FAQ
Is CrossOver free?
No. CrossOver has a fully functional 14-day free trial, then needs a paid licence (in CodeWeavers' EU store, €74 for 12 months of updates and support, or €484 for life). A licence keeps working after the update period ends.
What is the best free alternative to CrossOver on a Mac?
It depends on your library. For Epic, GOG or Amazon games, Heroic Games Launcher. For wrapping individual Windows games or apps, Sikarugir or Porting Kit. For Epic games built around Apple's Game Porting Toolkit, Mythic. All are free and actively maintained.
Is there a free version of CrossOver?
Only the 14-day trial. Sites offering a free or cracked CrossOver are pirating CodeWeavers' software and are a common way to get malware. If you want free, use one of the free Wine-based apps instead.
Is Whisky still a free alternative?
Whisky was archived in May 2025 and no longer gets updates. Its developer recommended CrossOver. It may still run games you already set up, but for anything new, use a maintained tool.
Is Grapple free?
Grapple has a Free plan that doesn't expire: one game, forever, with one-click setup for Steam, GOG and Epic and the full DirectX 9-12 engine. The game is claimed the first time you play it and can be swapped once every 30 days. Pro covers every game you own for €3.99/month or €39/year, cancellable at any time. Grapple is independent and not affiliated with CodeWeavers.
Sources
Checked on 23 September 2026. Mac gaming tools change quickly, so check the linked pages for the latest versions and prices.
- CodeWeavers — CrossOver store and plans
- CodeWeavers blog — “Don't Panic: How CrossOver Licenses Work” (Oct 2025)
- CodeWeavers — CrossOver changelog (26.0 to 26.3)
- GitHub — Sikarugir (formerly Kegworks)
- Paulthetall.com — Porting Kit 7.0.2 and Wine 11 DXMT engine
- GitHub — Heroic Games Launcher
- GitHub — Mythic
- GitHub — Whisky-App/Whisky (archived 11 May 2025)
- MacRumors — Whisky developer halts work, endorses CrossOver (Apr 2025)
- WineHQ
- Parallels KB 129497 — limitations of Windows 11 on Apple silicon
- NVIDIA — GeForce NOW FAQ (free membership, owning games)
- Xbox Wire — upcoming changes to Xbox Cloud Gaming (3 Sep 2026)
CrossOver is a trademark of CodeWeavers, Inc. Grapple is not affiliated with CodeWeavers. Other product names are trademarks of their respective owners and are used only to identify those products.