BlueStacks Alternatives, Best Android Emulators for Windows/Mac PC

Are you looking for the best Android Emulator to replace Bluestacks? In this article, we cover 10 of the best BlueStacks alternatives. Android has now reached such a stage of popularity and usability, where every person needs to have an android-based device. Mostly the Android operating system is used in smartphones, smartwatches, TV, etc.

Due to Android gaming and apps’ increased popularity, so many PC users also prefer to have those Android games and apps on their Windows/Mac desktops. The best and most convenient way to do so is by installing an Android Emulator on the PC. And when it comes to Android emulators, BlueStacks comes at the top.

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What Is BlueStacks?

Originally, BlueStacks is a software application build for Windows and macOS to emulate android apps and games. It is an Android App Emulator based on the Android operating system, which created a virtual Android experience on your Windows or macOS PC. This software is originally the work of Bluestack Systems, Inc.

It is an America-based technology company that produces BlueStacks App Player. This company was founded in 2009 by Jay Vaishnav, Suman Saraf, and Rosen Sharma, former CTO at McAfee and Cloud.com.

Why do I need an Alternative to Bluestacks?

There is no doubt that Bluestacks is one of the best Android emulators. But there could be some reasons due to which you might not refer BlueStacks. As per our personal experience, we find BlueStack, a Pretty heavy software whose requirements are much high.  It is not a big problem as long as your system has got good specifications. But for a lesser powerful PC, you need to find a Bluestacks alternative to get a smooth experience.

Besides, the software was not as much Android-looking as some of its alternatives are. If you are also facing any problem with BlueStacks & finding a better alternative, then you are in the right place. Here we have provided a list of top best Android Emulators that you can use as an alternative to BlueStacks.

Best Android Emulators / Bluestacks Alternatives for MAC, Windows PC in April 2024

There are various Bluestacks alternatives you can consider a replacement. Some of them even work in a better way. Below is the list of Top 10 Bluestacks alternatives:

#1 NOX Player

Starting the list form Nox Player. If you want to have an Android Emulator that delivers many features and performance like BlueStacks, then Nox Player is the one you should try. The Nox Player comes preloaded with a plethora of characteristic features like preinstalled Google lay Store and a new UI, which is similar to Android but is more refined and better. Game-play optimizations, control compatibility, ability to change the Android apparatus’s build.prop, and a whole user interface are just some of the things where Nox Player outshines Bluestacks.

The Nox Player is made by keeping android gamers in mind and manages both simple apps and gaming apps well. It is mainly centered on Android lollipop 5.1.1. But doesn’t resembles in looks and aesthetics. We personally love this emulator because it has a dedicated on/off toggle to root/unroot your NOx Player. Yes, it’s that simple to root and unroot Nox Player, and this thing which is a painful procedure to do in BlueStacks.

Minimum System Requirements

• Operating System: Windows XP/Vista/7/8/8.1/10
• Memory (RAM): 1 GB of RAM required
• Hard Disk Space: 560 MB of free space required
• Processor: Intel Dual Core processor or later

#2 MEmu Player

Another great Android Emulator in the list of BlueStacks alternatives is MEmu Player. MEmu Play is another excellent Android emulator that has acquired lots of popularity in a short period. Its one of the most popular features is its support for both Intel and AMD CPUs. As astonishing as it may sound, it’s a feature perhaps not sported by many emulators around, for example, Bluestacks.

Besides this, the emulator comes with the capability to conduct several instances at the same time. The Emulator applications support Android jelly-bean (4.2), Kit Kat (4.4), and lollipop (5.0), all while enabling one to possess three different windows for three variants simultaneously. The emulator also has significant optimizations for game-play, including some android app developer-oriented features as well.

minimum System Requirements

• Windows Vista/ Windows 7 SP1/ Windows 8.1/ Windows 10
• Intel or AMD CPU (with Virtualization Technology support preferred)
• GPU with OpenGL 2.0+ support
• At least 1 GB free system memory
• At least 2 GB of free disk space under the installation path

#3 LDPlayer

If you are on the lookout for a Bluestacks choice that’s optimized, especially for gaming, subsequently, we’d like to introduce you with the latest Android emulator in town, LDPlayer. Even though it’s new in the market, it has gained quite a decent amount of popularity due to its efficiency. We used this Android Emulator on our PC, and it worked so flawlessly without any malfunction.

It also has AMD CPU support, which is an advantage over BlueStacks. In terms of the Android version, LDPlayer runs on Android Nougat like Bluestacks for compatibility and greater functionality. There is also an app store for matches that run quite well on LDPlayer. You may take advantage of Virtualization Technology if you would like to develop the performance. We would say LDPlayer can be an up to date Android emulator which gives a challenging competition to Bluestacks concerning gaming.

Minimum System Requirements

• Intel or AMD CPU Processor x86 / x86_64
• Windows XP XP3 / Win7 / Win8 / Win8.1 / Win10
• Windows DirectX 11 / Graphics driver with OpenGL 2.0
• Minimum 2GB of system memory (RAM)
• Minimum 36GB of free hard disk space
• Hardware Virtualization Technology (Intel VT-x/AMD-V) enabled in BIOS

#4 Remix OS Player

You might have heard about Remix OS. It is a popular Android-based Operating System that is available as custom ROMs for various Android and desktop devices. But it also has an Emulation version of the OS that can be used as a fully-fletched OS alternative to BluStacks. It will easily save your hassle of installing a whole new OS on a virtual machine to get the Android running on your PC. Remix OS is a completely free Android emulator for Windows and is based on Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

IN MOST WAYS, Remix OS Player is one of the best Android emulators available on the market. Besides carrying out a ton of features like native Google Play service, button mapping, manual signal strength control, network type, location, battery, and much more, what sets the emulator apart from the crowd is how stable the software is. I’ve tried it on so many laptops, and I found no stability issue. Stability is one component in while Remix OS Player won me at this aspect, which Bluestacks has let me down.

Note: Remix OS Player development has been stopped. But you can enjoy previous versions.

Minimum System Requirements

• Memory Requirments: 4GB RAM
• Processor: Core i3 (Recommend Core i5 or Core i7)
• Operating System: Windows 7 (64-bit) or the latest
• Internet access for better connectivity
• 8GB Storage (Recommend 16GB)

#5 Gameloop/Tencent Gaming Buddy

Gameloop is another great gaming-oriented Bluestacks alternative that’s developed for players that desire to play with a range of Android games on desktop PCs. You may be surprised to find that Tencent has manufactured Gameloop with aa vision to acquire the PC market by allowing the PC users to play PUBG mobile. In the initial time, it was referred to as Tencent Gaming Buddy.

But its increased popularity made it support more widely played popular android games like Call of Duty and Mobile legends, etc. If you want to have Play Store in the Gameloop, then it is a separate module for that. Just install and get the Play Store benefits. If you were not using the BlueStacks to play android games, then Gameloop is just the perfect alternative for you.

Minimum System Requirements

• CPU: Dual-core from Intel or AMD at 1.8 GHz
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8600/9600GT, ATI/AMD Radeon HD2600/3600
• Memory: at least 3GB of RAM
• OS: Windows 10, 8.1, 8 and 7
• DirectX: Version 9.0c
• Storage: 1GB of free storage

#6 Genymotion

This one more for an Android Developer. Genymotion is the best alternative to BlueStacks if you want to test out your android apps on your PC. It has two different ways by which you can access the Genymotion, one is by installing it on your PC and the second one is by your web browser, making it be used on almost every platform including macOS, Linux, etc. It has the flexibility to be used on different Android versions from Android 4.1 to the latest Android. Additionally, by choosing your preferred GApps package, you can use the Google Play Store as well.

However, it would disappoint the games as you can’t install massive games like the Call of Duty Mobile or PUBG. One feature that can make the app developers use Genymotion is to integrate into the Android Studio, which will help you render your apps smoothly on your device over. Hence Genymotion could be your alternative to BlueStacks if you are an Android app developer.

Minimum System Requirements

• Memory Requirement: 2 GB RAM
• Hard disk space at least 8 GB
• 64 bit CPU with VT-x or AMD-V support
• Microsoft Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 (32 bit and 64 bit)
• Apple Mac OS X (Mountain Lion) version 10.8 or above

#7 YouWave Emulator

With easy-to-use and straightforward android experience, YouWave Emulator can also be used as a BlueStacks alternative. This emulator is nor different than BlueStack. Even this emulator has a much better android-like experience, which was is not available in BlueStacks. It has support for both 32-bit and 64-bit memory architecture and is compatible with almost every desktop.

Along with using it as a typical android emulator, you can also use it as a good android gaming machine. It comes with the support for online multiplayer gaming, custom keyboard mapping, etc. to fulfill the gamer’s need.

Minimum System Requirements

• Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, and 10
• 2.0GB DRAM, 500MB disk space
• Intel Pentium 1.6GHz CPU

#8 Droid4x

If you want just a clean and straightforward android emulator with not many features to keep the emulator lightweight on your desktop, then you can try the Droid4x Android emulator. BlueStacks is a heavy android emulator that requires a lot of RAM and storage of your PC, but with Droid4x Official, this thing can easily be solved.

Don’t judge Droid4x from its size as even after being lightweight, it has pretty cool and relevant features that an emulator should have. Its main features include full Android experience with adaptable touchscreen, support for external gamepad or keyboard customization, Unlimited android games support that can be imported through APKs, and a fully working Screen recorder.

Minimum System Requirements

• Minimum A Dual Core CPU supporting virtualization technology
• 32bit/64bit System
• Memory: 1GB Ram
• Graphics Chipset/Graphics Card supporting at least Open GL 2.0

#9 Andy Android Emulator

It is a very popular android emulator in the market and comes with a bunch of cool features. It has the potential to be used as one of the best BlueStacks alternatives. The Andy Emulator has aa feature that enables you to use your smartphone as a joystick. This feature proves to be very helpful while gaming as the smartphone as joystick makes the user have support for multitouch and gyroscope.

It also allows you to sync all your communication apps like WhatsApp, Snapchat, Viber, etc. to seamlessly stay connected while using the Android on your PC with Andy Emulator. If you want an all in one kind of Android Emulator for your PC with almost all android emulation features along with extra perks like the syncing of communication apps, etc. then Andy Emulator is just for you.

Minimum System Requirements

• Up to 20GB Free Disk Space
• Windows 7 and 8 – x86 or x64
• AMD or Intel Dual-Core CPU that supports Virtualization Technology
• Memory Requirement: 3GB RAM
• OpenGL ES 2.0 capable video card

#10 KoPlayer

Another gaming-specific android emulator that can be used as a BlueStack alternative is KoPlayer. The KoPlayer is already a very popular android emulator dedicated to android gaming on your desktop. All the gaming-related features that an emulator must have are available here, including Google Play Store, built-in video recording, etc.

It has a toolbar that gives quick access to some handy features like volume control, screens capturing, resolution adjustment of the emulator window, etc. All these features help a lot in direct customization. It also allows you to import or install APK files from your PC if any of the apps you want are not available on the Google Play Store.

Minimum System Requirements

• Dual-Core AMD or Intel CPU
• 2Gb of RAM; Andy uses less than 1Gb while running apps
• At least 10Gb of free disk space
• GPU with OpenGL 2.1 support
• Windows 7 SP1 / Windows 8.1 / Windows 10 / Ubuntu 14.04+ / OSX 10.8+

BlueStacks Android Emulator: FAQ

What Is BlueStacks?

BlueStack is a software available for both Windows and macOS and is used to emulate or run Android applications and games on your PC. This software is the work of Bluestack Systems, Inc., an American technology company, founded in 2009 by Jay Vaishnav, Suman Saraf, and Rosen Sharma, former CTO at McAfee and a board member of Cloud.com.

How to Root BlueStacks?

It has been a question of so many BlueStacks users that how they can root their BlueStacks as originally, the BlueStacks emulator is non-rooted, making the user’s access to internal files limited. The BlueStacks 4 and older can easily be rooted by using the KingRoot application very quickly.

Just download and install Kingroot APK. Open Kingroot and click on Try Root. It will take a couple of minutes to root your BlueStacks. You can also use the BS Tweaker for rooting, but that includes a bit advanced procedure.

How to Uninstall BlueStacks?

Uninstalling BlueStcks is just as simple as uninstalling any other software. Just go to the “Uninstall An App” section in the control panel, locate BlueStacks App Player, and click on Uninstall. To completely clear the BlueStacks files, go to the ProgramData folder of the windows-installed drive (e.g., the C:\ProgramData) and delete the “BlueStacksSetup” folder.

How To Install BlueStacks?

Installing BlueSacks is even simpler than its Uninstallation. Just go to bluestacks.com, click on the download button. It will download the BlueStacks installer. Launch the installer, and it will automatically install the BlueStack on your PC.

Which is the best android emulator for PC?

Well, the answer to this question depends on the different requirements and PC specifications. But as a general answer with keeping the performance and stability of an emulator in mind, the Nox player would be our suggestion. It has almost all the essential features along with low memory usage and best performance.

Bottom Line

There is no doubt that Bluestacks is a widely used Android Emulator. People highly prefer it to play Android games and other popular apps on PC more than any other available emulator.

But if you are looking for a change, you can try other Bluestacks alternatives mentioned above. Otherwise, Bluestacks is one of the best Android emulators available in the market to experience Android OS on your PC, whether it is Windows or Mac.