Comparison of bootloaders Different bootloaders
The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of available bootloaders .
Name
Developer / Publisher
Current version
Initial release date
Latest release date
License
Cost
Website / documentation
Acronis OS Selector
Acronis International GmbH
?
?
?
Proprietary
$49.95 (personal use) $79.99 (commercial, per seat) $299.99 (server)
Official website
AiR-BOOT
Martin Kiewitz Ben Rietbroek
?
?
?
GPL-3.0-or-later
No cost
Official website
AKernelLoader
?
?
?
?
GPL-2.0-or-later
No cost
Official website
Barebox
Sascha Hauer the barebox community
?
?
?
GPL-2.0-only
No cost
Official website
BOOTBOOT
bzt
?
2017
14 December 2023
MIT
No cost
Source repository
Official website
BootIt Bare Metal (formerly BootIt Next Generation)
TeraByte Unlimited
?
?
?
Proprietary
$39.95
Official website
BootKey
?
?
?
?
Proprietary
?
?
BootManager
?
?
?
?
MIT
No cost
?
BootX (Apple)
Apple Inc.
?
?
?
Proprietary
bundled with macOS
?
BootX (Linux)
Benjamin Herrenschmidt
?
?
?
Proprietary
No cost
?
Clover (fork of rEFIt)
https://github.com/CloverHackyColor/CloverBootloader/graphs/contributors Multi Contributors]
5157
October 3, 2013
29 June 2024
GPLv2 /BSD-2-Clause
No cost
Official website
Source repository
Darwin Boot Loader
Apple Inc.
?
?
?
APSL-2.0
No cost
Official Website (Archived)
Das U-Boot
DENX Software Engineering
2025.01
7 January 2025
GPL-2.0-or-later
No cost
Official website
Easyboot
bzt
?
2023
20 February 2024
GPL-3.0-or-later
No cost
Source repository
FreeBSD loader
FreeBSD
BSD license
No cost
GAG
Raster Software
4.10
?
10 August 2008
GPL-2.0-or-later
No cost
Official website
GRUB Legacy
GNU Project
8 May 2005
GPL-2.0-or-later
No cost
GNU GRUB
GNU Project
2.12[ 1]
1995
20 December 2023
GPL-3.0-or-later
No cost
Official website
Grub2Win
Drummerdp
2.4.2.4
2010
April 2, 2025
GPLv3
No cost
Official website
GRUB4DOS
31 March 2009
GPL-2.0-only [ a]
Official website
Gujin
9 January 2013
GPL-2.0-only
Official website
systemd-boot / Gummiboot
LGPL-2.1-or-later
iBoot
Apple Inc.
iBoot-11881.62.2~1
June 29, 2007
December 9, 2024
Proprietary
LILO
BSD-3-Clause
Limine
mintsuki
9.2.3[ 3]
April 6, 2020
12 April 2025
BSD-2-Clause
No cost
Official website
loadlin
GPL-2.0-or-later
MasterBooter
GPL-2.0-only
No cost
Source repository
NTLDR
Microsoft
July 27, 1993 (Windows NT 3.1)
Proprietary
bundled with Windows
OpenCore
Acidanthera
May 4, 2019
BSD-3-Clause
No cost
Source repository
Ozmosis
The Hermit Crabs Lab
167X-MASS (unofficial 167X-XMAX)
2013
25 December 2015
CCPL 3.0 License
No cost
Binary repository
OSL2000 Boot Manager
12 February 2017
Proprietary
PLoP Boot Manager
15 April 2013
Proprietary
No cost
Official website
quibble
maharmstone
20210111
February 13, 2020
29 March 2023
GPL-3.0-or-later
No cost
Official website
RedBoot
GPL-2.0-or-later (eCos license)
rEFInd (fork of rEFIt)
Roderick W. Smith
0.14.4.2
March 14, 2012
6 April 2024
GPL-3.0-or-later /BSD-3-Clause
No cost
Official website
rEFIt
Christoph Pfisterer
0.14
March 2, 2006
7 March 2010
GPL-2.0-or-later /BSD-3-Clause
No cost
Official website
Simpleboot
bzt
?
2023
10 October 2023
MIT
No cost
Documentation
Source repository
Smart Boot Manager
GPL-2.0-or-later
SPFdisk
GPL-2.0-or-later
SYSLINUX
6 October 2014
GPL-2.0-or-later
TianoCore EDK II
BSD-2-Clause
Windows Boot Manager
Microsoft
January 30, 2007 (Windows Vista)
Proprietary
bundled with Windows
XOSL
20 August 2002
GPL-2.0-only
FreeLoader (ReactOS Boot Loader)
GPL-2.0-or-later
No cost
Documentation
wolfBoot
wolfSSL
v2.4.0
December 4, 2018
7 January 2025
GPL-2.0-or-later and Commercial Licensing
No cost
Official website
Name
Developer / Publisher
Current version
Initial release date
Latest release date
License
Cost
Website / documentation
^ While most parts of GRUB4DOS are under GPL-2.0-or-later, the whole software is limited to GPL-2.0-only due to incorporating some code from Linux .[ 2]
Note: The column MBR (Master Boot Record) refers to whether or not the boot loader can be stored in the first sector of a mass storage device. The column VBR (Volume Boot Record) refers to the ability of the boot loader to be stored in the first sector of any partition on a mass storage device.
Storage medium support
Name
Can reside in
Can boot from
ESP (UEFI)
MBR
VBR
Floppy
Hard disk
Second Hard disk
Logical partitions
CD-ROM
Floppy
USB
Zip
LAN
Acronis OS Selector
?
?
?
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
?
AiR-BOOT
?
Yes
No
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
AKernelLoader
?
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
?
Yes
Yes
?
?
Barebox
Yes
Yes
No
?
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
BOOTBOOT
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
BootIt Bare Metal
?
?
?
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
?
BootKey
?
No
No
Yes
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
BootManager
?
Yes
No
No
Yes
?
?
?
?
?
?
No
BootX (Apple)
Yes
No
No
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
BootX (Linux)
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Clover
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
?
No
?
Yes
?
No
Darwin Boot Loader
Yes
?
?
?
Yes
Yes
?
?
?
Yes
?
?
Das U-Boot
Yes
Yes
?
?
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Easyboot
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
Yes
No
No
FreeBSD loader
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
?
Yes
GAG
?
Yes (SafeBoot)
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
GRUB Legacy
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
GNU GRUB
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Grub2Win
Yes
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
GRUB4DOS
?
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Gujin
?
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
systemd-boot / Gummiboot
Yes
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
?
?
Yes
?
?
iBoot
Yes
?
?
?
Yes
?
?
No
?
?
?
?
LILO
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
?
Limine
Yes
Yes
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
loadlin
?
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
MasterBooter
?
Yes
?
?
Yes
Yes
Yes
?
Yes
?
?
?
NTLDR
?
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
?
No
No
Yes
Yes
?
?
OpenCore
Yes
Yes
?
?
Yes
Yes
?
No
?
Yes
?
No
OSL2000 Boot Manager
?
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
PLoP Boot Manager
?
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
quibble
Yes
?
?
?
Yes
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
RedBoot
?
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
rEFInd
Yes
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
?
Yes
?
Yes
?
Yes
rEFIt (not maintained)
Yes
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
?
No
?
Yes
?
No
Simpleboot
Yes
Yes
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
Yes
No
No
Smart Boot Manager
?
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
?
?
?
SPFdisk
?
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
?
?
Yes
?
?
?
SYSLINUX
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Tianocore EDK II
?
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
?
Yes
?
Yes
No
Yes
Windows Boot Manager
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
?
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
?
XOSL
?
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
?
No
?
No
FreeLoader (ReactOS Boot Loader)
?
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
?
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
?
Name
Can reside in
Can boot from
ESP (UEFI)
MBR
VBR
Floppy
Hard disk
Second Hard disk
Logical partitions
CD-ROM
Floppy
USB
Zip
LAN
Operating system support
Name
Can boot
MS-DOS
Windows 9x /Me
Windows NT series before Vista
Windows Vista /7 /8 /10
Linux
ReactOS
MenuetOS
*BSD
Mac OS X
Acronis OS Selector
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
?
?
Yes
Yes
AiR-BOOT
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
?
?
?
?
AKernelLoader
?
?
?
?
Yes
?
?
?
?
Barebox
?
?
?
?
Yes
?
?
?
?
BOOTBOOT
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
?
?
?
?
BootIt Bare Metal
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
?
?
?
?
BootKey
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
?
?
?
?
BootManager
Yes
Yes
Calls NTLDR
Calls Windows Boot Manager
Calls GRUB or LILO
?
?
?
?
BootX (Apple)
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
Yes
BootX (Linux)
?
?
?
?
Yes
?
?
?
?
Clover
?
?
Yes
Yes
Yes
?
?
Yes
Yes
Darwin Boot Loader
?
?
?
Yes
?
?
?
Yes
Yes
Das U-Boot
?
?
?
?
Yes
?
?
Yes (FreeBSD)
?
Easyboot
Yes (FreeDOS )
No
Calls NTLDR
Calls Windows Boot Manager
Yes
Yes
Yes (KolibriOS as well)
Yes (FreeBSD , OpenBSD )
No
FreeBSD loader
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
Yes (FreeBSD , TrueOS )
?
FreeLoader (ReactOS Boot Loader)
Yes
Yes
Partial[ 4]
Calls Windows Boot Manager
Yes
Yes
?
?
?
GAG
Yes
Yes
Calls NTLDR
Calls Windows Boot Manager
Calls GRUB or LILO
Calls bootloader
Calls bootloader
Calls bootloader
No
GRUB Legacy and GRUB4DOS
Yes
Yes
Calls NTLDR
Calls Windows Boot Manager
Yes
Calls FreeLoader
Yes
Calls bootloader for some kernels
Yes
GNU GRUB
Yes
Yes
Calls NTLDR
Calls Windows Boot Manager
Yes
Calls FreeLoader
Yes
Yes
Yes
Grub2Win
Yes
Yes
Calls NTLDR
Calls Windows Boot Manager
Yes
?
?
Yes (FreeBSD)
Calls Clover
Gujin
Yes
Yes
Calls NTLDR
Yes
Yes
?
?
?
?
systemd-boot / Gummiboot
No
No
Windows Server 2013 64bits with UEFI only
Calls Windows Boot Manager[ 5]
Yes
?
?
UEFI only
Yes[ 5]
iBoot
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
Yes
LILO
?
Yes
Calls NTLDR
Yes
Yes
?
?
Calls biosboot (FreeBSD, PC-BSD, ...)
?
loadlin
with MEMDISK
No
No
No
Yes
No
No
?
?
Limine
Calls bootloader
Calls bootloader
Calls bootloader
Calls bootloader
Yes
Calls bootloader
Calls bootloader
Calls bootloader
Calls bootloader
MasterBooter
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
?
?
Yes
?
NTLDR
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Calls GRUB4DOS
?
?
?
Calls Darwin bootloader[ 6]
OpenCore
?
?
Yes
Yes
Yes
?
?
Yes
Yes
OSL2000 Boot Manager
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Calls GRUB or LILO
?
?
?
?
PLoP Boot Manager
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Calls GRUB or LILO
?
?
?
?
quibble
?
?
?
Yes
Yes
Yes
?
Yes
?
RedBoot
Yes
Yes
Calls NTLDR
Calls Windows Boot Manager
Yes
Calls FreeLoader
Yes
Yes
Yes
rEFInd (fork of rEFIt)
?
?
Yes
Yes
Yes
?
?
Yes
Yes
rEFIt (not maintained)
?
?
Yes
Yes
Yes
?
?
Yes
Yes
Simpleboot
No
No
No
No
Yes
No
?
Partial
?
Smart Boot Manager
Yes
Yes
Yes
?
Yes
?
?
Yes
?
SPFdisk
Yes
Yes
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
SYSLINUX
Yes
Yes
Calls NTLDR
Calls Windows Boot Manager
Yes
?
Yes
via mboot.c32 module [1]
?
Tianocore EDK II
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
No
?
Yes (FreeBSD,OpenBSD)
Yes
Windows Boot Manager
?
Yes
Calls NTLDR
Yes
Calls GRUB or LILO
?
?
?
?
XOSL
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
?
?
?
?
Name
Can boot
MS-DOS
Windows 9x /Me
Windows NT series before Vista
Windows Vista /7 /8 /10
Linux
ReactOS
MenuetOS
*BSD
Mac OS X
File-system support
Non-journaled
Name
FAT
Minix
ext2
btrfs
HFS
APFS
AFFS
F2FS
ZFS
NILFS
YAFFS
FAT12
FAT16
FAT32
exFAT
YAFFS1
YAFFS2
Acronis OS Selector
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
AiR-BOOT
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
AKernelLoader
?
?
Yes
?
?
Yes
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
Barebox
Yes
Yes
Yes
?
No
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
?
?
BOOTBOOT
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
BootIt Bare Metal
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
BootKey
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
bootload
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
BootManager
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
BootX (Apple)
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
BootX (Linux)
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
Clover
?
?
Yes
Yes
?
?
?
?
Yes
?
?
?
?
?
?
Darwin Boot Loader
?
?
Yes
?
?
?
?
Yes
Yes
?
?
?
?
?
?
Das U-Boot
Yes
Yes
Yes
?
?
Yes
?
?
?
?
?
Yes
?
?
?
Easyboot
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
extipl
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
FreeLoader (ReactOS )
Yes
Yes
Yes
?
?
Yes
Yes
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
GAG
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
GNU GRUB 2
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
?
?
GRUB Legacy
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
?
?
Grub2Win
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
GRUB4DOS
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
?
?
Gujin
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
systemd-boot / Gummiboot
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
iBoot
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
LILO
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
Limine [ 7] [ 8]
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
loader (FreeBSD )
Yes
Yes
Yes
?
?
Yes
?
?
?
?
?
Yes
?
?
?
loadlin
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
LOLO
?
Yes
Yes
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
Yes
Yes
MasterBooter
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
Multiple Boot Manager
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
NTLDR
?
Yes
Yes
?
?
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
?
?
OpenCore
?
Yes
Yes
Yes
?
?
?
Yes
Yes
?
?
?
?
?
?
OSL2000 Boot Manager
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
PLoP Boot Manager
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
quibble
?
?
Yes
?
?
?
Yes
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
RedBoot
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
rEFInd
Yes[ a]
?
?
Yes[ b]
Yes[ b]
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
rEFIt
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
Simpleboot
No
No
Yes
No
No
No
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
Smart Boot Manager
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
SPFdisk
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
Syslinux
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
No
?
?
Tianocore EDK II
Yes
Yes
Yes
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
Windows Boot Manager
?
?
Yes
Yes
?
?
?
No
No
?
?
?
?
?
?
XOSL
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
yaboot
?
?
?
?
?
Yes
?
Yes
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
Journaled
Name
NTFS
ext3
ext4
ReiserFS
Reiser4
JFS
XFS
UFS
UDF
HFS+
BeFS
AFS
SFS
UBIFS
JFFS2
Acronis OS Selector
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
AiR-BOOT
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
AKernelLoader
?
Yes
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
Barebox
?
Yes
Yes
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
Yes
Yes
BOOTBOOT
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
BootIt Bare Metal
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
BootKey
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
bootload
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
BootManager
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
BootX (Apple)
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
BootX (Linux)
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
Clover
Yes
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
Yes
?
?
?
?
?
Darwin Boot Loader
Yes
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
Yes
?
?
?
?
?
Das U-Boot
?
Yes
Yes
Yes
?
?
?
Yes
?
?
?
?
?
Yes
Yes
extipl
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
FreeLoader (ReactOS )
Yes
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
GAG
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
GNU GRUB 2
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
?
?
GRUB Legacy
No
Yes
patch[ a]
Yes[ b]
No
Yes[ b]
Yes[ b]
Yes[ b]
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
Grub2Win
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
GRUB4DOS
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes[ b]
No
Yes[ b]
Yes[ b]
Yes[ b]
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
Gujin
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
systemd-boot / Gummiboot
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
iBoot
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
LILO
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
Limine
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
loader (FreeBSD )
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
loadlin
Yes[ c]
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
LOLO
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
MasterBooter
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
Multiple Boot Manager
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
NTLDR
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
OpenCore
Yes
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
Yes
?
?
?
?
?
OSL2000 Boot Manager
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
PLoP Boot Manager
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
quibble
Yes
Yes
Yes
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
RedBoot
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
Yes
rEFInd
Partial[ d]
Yes[ d]
Yes[ d]
?
?
?
?
?
?
Yes[ d]
?
?
?
?
?
rEFIt
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
Simpleboot
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
Smart Boot Manager
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
SPFdisk
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
Syslinux
Yes
Yes
Partial[ e]
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
No
Tianocore EDK II
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
Windows Boot Manager
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
?
No
No
No
No
No
No
XOSL
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
yaboot
?
Yes
Yes
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
Read-only
Other features
Name
Advanced command
Scriptable
Supported architecture
Supported executable
Supported protocol
Supported decompression
Others
GRUB Legacy
Yes
No
x86 (PC)
Multiboot 1, Linux zImage, Linux bzImage and others
TFTP
gzip
GRUB 2
Yes
Yes
x86 (PC, EFI, UEFI, coreboot, OLPC), IA-64, ARM (U-Boot, UEFI), PowerPC (OpenFirmware), MIPS, SPARC (OpenFirmware)
Multiboot and others[ 9]
TFTP, HTTP[ 10]
gzip, xz[ 11]
LILO
No
No
x86 (PC)
Linux zImage, Linux bzImage
?
bzip2, gzip
loader (FreeBSD )
Yes
Yes
x86 (PC, EFI, UEFI, coreboot, OLPC), ARM (U-Boot, UEFI), MIPS, PowerPC (OpenFirmware), SPARC v9 (OpenFirmware)
FreeBSD ELF kernel image, Multiboot (incomplete, for Xen image only)[ 12]
TFTP, NFS
gzip, bzip2
loadlin
No
No
x86 (PC)
Linux zImage, Linux bzImage
?
gzip
LOLO (Logic PD)
Yes
Yes
ARM7, ARM9, ARM11, Cortex-A8, StrongARM, SH, ColdFire
ELF, binary, BIN (WinCE), SREC
TFTP
?
Supported devices: MCF54xx, MCF5329, MCF5373, LLH7A400, LLH7A404, LLH79520, LLH79524, LSH7727, LSH7750, LSH7760, PXA270, PXA320, IMX31, IMX27, OMAP35xx, OMAP37xx
SYSLINUX
via cmd.c32 module
via lua.c32 module
x86 (PC)
Linux zImage, Linux bzImage,[ 13] Multiboot,[ 14] MBR image[ 15]
TFTP
gzip, bzip2, lzo, zip, lzma, ?
AKernelLoader
No
No
x86 (PC)
ELF, Binary
?
?
BOOTBOOT
Yes
No
x86-64 (PC, UEFI, El Torito CDROM, BSS Expansion ROM, UEFI Option ROM), ARM AArch64 (Raspberry Pi 3 and up)
ELF64 / PE32+
serial
gzip
comes with a multiplatform, dependency-free bootable hybrid image creator (FOSS)
Easyboot
Yes
No
x86-64 (BIOS, UEFI), ARM AArch64 (Raspberry Pi 3 and up)
ELF32, ELF64, PE32+/COFF, a.out, Multiboot2 , MZ, Linux zImage, Linux bzImage, FreeBSD BTX, OpenBSD ELF kernel image
?
gzip
comes with a multiplatform, dependency-free bootable hybrid image creator (FOSS), Multiboot2 extensions (clean 64-bit, higher-half, embedded-tags-free, EDID and SMP support)
Yaboot
No
No
PowerPC (Open Firmware)
Linux ELF image
TFTP
No
RedBoot
Yes
yes (boot only)
ARM, ColdFire, H8300, x86, Freescale/Motorola 68000, MIPS, PowerPC, SH, SPARC, SPARCLite
ELF
TFTP, serial (X-modem)
gzip
Das U-Boot
Yes
Yes
PowerPC, ARM, AVR32, Blackfin , ColdFire, IXP, Leon2, m68k, MicroBlaze, MIPS, NIOS, NIOS2, PXA, x86, RISC-V, StrongARM, SH2, SH3, SH4, ...
EFI, ELF, U-Boot image format, Linux zImage, raw
TFTP, NFS, serial (S-Record, Y-Modem, Kermit binary protocol)
bzip2, gzip, lzma
Barebox
Yes
Yes
ARM, Blackfin , NIOS2, MIPS, x86, PowerPC
ELF, U-Boot image format
TFTP, NFS, serial (S-Record, Y-Modem, Kermit binary protocol)
bzip2, gzip, lz4, xz, lzo
Linux kexec
Depending on user space
Depending on user space
x86, ARM, ARM64, PowerPC, PowerPC 64, IA-64, IBM Z, RISC-V[ 16]
Linux bzImage, Multiboot , other ELF image
Depending on configuration and user space
—
The kexec system call can start another kernel, replacing the current running Linux, thus turning a Linux-based operating system into a fancy bootloader.
NTLDR
No
No
x86 (PC)
Windows NT kernel image (PE), MBR image
?
?
default bootloader on Windows NT
Simpleboot
Yes
No
x86-64 (PC, UEFI)
Linux zImage, Linux bzImage, ELF32 / ELF64 / COFF / PE32+ with Multiboot2
?
any
comes with a multiplatform, dependency-free image creator (FOSS), supports 64-bit higher-half kernels with Multiboot2
TianoCore EDK II
Yes
Yes
ARM, RISC-V, x86
EFI
HTTPS
?
UEFI reference implementation
Windows Boot Manager
No
No
x86 (PC), ARM (only on Windows Mobile remake)
Portable Executable
?
?
Successor of NTLDR; used on Vista and up.
FreeLoader (ReactOS )
No
No
x86 (PC), ARM, PowerPC
?
?
?
clone of NTLDR
extipl
?
?
?
?
?
?
IBM IPL upper compatible
Multiple Boot Manager
?
?
?
?
?
?
bootload (Technologic Systems)
?
?
ARM
?
?
?
Proprietary
Limine
Yes
No
x86 (PC, UEFI), ARM, RISC-V, LoongArch[ 17] [ 18]
Multiboot 1 and 2, Limine boot protocol, Linux zImage and bzImage[ 19]
TFTP
gzip
wolfBoot
No
No
ARM, RISC-V, PowerPC, x86
Binary, ELF32/ELF64, Multiboot2
No
No
Open-source, OS-agnostic (run alongside RTOS, Linux or bare-metal), ARM TrustZone-M support, Hardware Security Module support (including TPM 2.0), Integrity and authenticity verification of firmware images. Roll-back to previous image, Encryption, Self-update
Name
Advanced command
Scriptable
Supported architecture
Supported executable
Supported protocol
Supported decompression
Others
Notes
^ Daniel Kiper (20 December 2023). "GRUB 2.12 released" . Retrieved 20 December 2023 .
^ "stage2/dosstart.S" . GitHub . 2014-10-12. Retrieved 2021-06-24 . Since we have copied the Linux kernel code and the Linux kernel follows GPL2, so only GPL2 is adoptable and it rules here.
^ "Release 9.2.3" . 12 April 2025. Retrieved 27 April 2025 .
^ http://www.reactos.org/newsletter-37 - Freeloader can load Windows Server 2003 directly, as long as it is on a FAT32 partition
^ a b Rod Smith, "Managing EFI Boot Loaders for Linux: Using gummiboot ", 5 November 2012.
^ "Chain0 - OSx86" .
^ Larabel, Michael (2025-02-17). "Limine 9.0 Bootloader Drops EXT4 File-System Support" . Phoronix . Retrieved 2025-02-17 .
^ Schürrmann, Tim (2025-02-17). "Bootloader Limine 9.0.0 entfernt Unterstützung für Ext-Dateisysteme" . Linux-Magazin . Retrieved 2025-03-07 .
^ "GNU GRUB Manual 2.06: Supported kernels" . GNU . Free Software Foundation, Inc. Retrieved 2021-06-24 .
^ "GNU GRUB Manual 2.06: Device syntax" . GNU . Free Software Foundation, Inc. Retrieved 2021-06-24 . If you enabled the network support, the special drives (protocol[,server]) are also available. Supported protocols are 'http' and 'tftp'.
^ "GNU GRUB Manual 2.02: Features" .
^ WHR. "An experiment to make a Multiboot-compliant kFreeBSD i386 image" . SourceForge . Rivoreo. Retrieved 2021-06-24 . Since 10.3-RELEASE, the BTX loader included in distribution supports Multiboot, but only for Xen (the Xen image is a Multiboot-compliant kernel). ... Because this multiboot support in BTX loader is designed for Xen only, it requires the first Multiboot module be original kFreeBSD image. Trying to load a Multiboot kernel without loading any Multiboot modules would resulted in BTX loader complaining 'No FreeBSD kernel provided, aborting'.
^ "Can SYSLINUX Handle Large Kernels?" . Syslinux Wiki . Retrieved 2021-06-24 .
^ "Mboot.c32 - Syslinux Wiki" . www.syslinux.org . Retrieved 2018-10-12 .
^ "Comboot/chain.c32" . Syslinux Wiki . Retrieved 2021-06-24 .
^ "Documentation for Kdump - The kexec-based Crash Dumping Solution" (text/plain) . The Linux Kernel Archives . Retrieved 2021-06-24 .
^ Larabel, Michael (2024-08-03). "Limine 8.0 Bootloader Released With LoongArch Support" . Phoronix . Retrieved 2025-02-09 .
^ Schürrmann, Tim (2024-08-06). "Alternativer Bootloader Limine 8.0.1 unterstützt LoongArch64-Systeme" . Linux-Magazin . Retrieved 2025-03-07 .
^ Holwerda, Thom (2024-08-04). "Limine: a modern, advanced, portable, multiprotocol bootloader and boot manager" . OSNews . Retrieved 2025-03-07 .