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Moonshine

Free#17 of 26 in Windows Compatibility Layers

Moonshine: An open-source Wine GUI for Apple Silicon Macs with bottle management and graphics translation. Ranked #17 of 26 in Windows Compatibility Layers by our editors (7.2/10); pricing: Open source; best for mac users wanting a lightweight Wine GUI.

7.2/10Editor score

Visit Moonshine

Moonshine7.2 Visit Moonshine

At a glance

Editor score
7.2 / 10
Pricing
Open source
Best for
Mac users wanting a lightweight Wine GUI
Paid from
Free
macOS support
Yes
Facts checked
20 Sep 2026

Where it wins
- Separate Wine bottles with graphical settings management
- Wine Staging installation and detailed crash diagnostics
- DXVK, MoltenVK and OpenGL graphics paths on macOS
Where it doesn't
- Targets Apple Silicon Macs running macOS Sonoma 14.0 or later
- Does not support Linux
- No published GitHub releases are currently available

Our verdict on Moonshine

Moonshine is a native SwiftUI wrapper for Wine on macOS, designed for people who want to launch Windows applications and games without managing Wine entirely through command-line tools. Its graphical interface creates separate Wine bottles, exposes bottle settings, and provides a launch point for Windows software. The project is GPL-3.0-licensed open-source software and supports Apple silicon Macs running macOS Sonoma 14.0 or later.

Platform fit is Moonshine's clearest strength. During setup, it can download and install Wine Staging, reducing the need to source that component separately. Its documented graphics paths cover OpenGL 3.2 or later through a patched macOS Wine driver, DXVK for Direct3D-to-Vulkan translation, and MoltenVK for Vulkan-to-Metal translation. That combination gives users several routes for handling Windows graphics workloads, while separate bottles help keep application environments distinct.

Moonshine is more focused than a cross-platform compatibility layer: it supports macOS, including Apple silicon, but not Linux. Its distribution also deserves attention. The project documents DMG installation and includes a bundled Moonshine.dmg file in the repository, while no published GitHub releases are currently available. Choose Moonshine if you have a supported Apple silicon Mac and want a graphical Wine workflow with bottle management, Wine Staging setup, logs, and crash diagnostics. Users on Linux, older macOS versions, or Intel Macs should choose an alternative that explicitly supports their hardware or operating system.

Your product? Our editors can test Moonshine in depth and publish a review, labelled as paid · from $149/mo →

Moonshine pricing

Plans Open sourceFree Free to use — no paid tier required for the core job.

See plans on github.com

Moonshine fact sheet

Free plan	Not verified
Paid from	Free
macOS support	Yes
Linux support	No
Apple silicon support	Yes
Graphics acceleration	Dxvk
Compatibility database	Not verified
Prefix management	Yes
Deployment	Desktop
Platforms	macOS
Support	Community
Built for	Solo, Small business (editorial estimate)
Pricing	Open source
Website	github.com
Facts checked	20 Sep 2026

Alternatives to Moonshine

See all Moonshine alternatives →

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Featured on iTechGuides

Moonshine is listed in our Windows Compatibility Layers directory. Add the badge to your site — it links back to this page.

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Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

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Last updated 7 Oct 2026 · How we research and update