Comparison of bootloaders

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The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of available bootloaders.

General information

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 KiewitzBen Rietbroek	?	?	?	GPL-3.0-or-later	No cost	Official website
AKernelLoader	?	?	?	?	GPL-2.0-or-later	No cost	Official website
Barebox	Sascha Hauerthe 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	2.12¹	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 ²		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	9.2.3³	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

Technical information

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
Name	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
Name	ESP (UEFI)	MBR	VBR	Floppy	Hard disk	Second Hard disk	Logical partitions	CD-ROM	Floppy	USB	Zip	LAN

Operating system support

Name	Can boot
Name	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	Partial⁴	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 Manager⁵	Yes	?	?	UEFI only	Yes⁶
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 bootloader⁷
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
Name	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
Name	FAT12	FAT16	FAT32	exFAT	Minix	ext2	btrfs	HFS	APFS	AFFS	F2FS	ZFS	NILFS	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 ⁸ ⁹	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	Yes¹⁰			?	?	Yes¹¹	Yes¹²	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
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	patch¹³	Yes¹⁴	No	Yes¹⁵	Yes¹⁶	Yes¹⁷	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Grub2Win	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
GRUB4DOS	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes¹⁸	No	Yes¹⁹	Yes²⁰	Yes²¹	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
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	Yes²²	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	Partial²³	Yes²⁴	Yes²⁵	?	?	?	?	?	?	Yes²⁶	?	?	?	?	?
rEFIt	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Simpleboot	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Smart Boot Manager	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
SPFdisk	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Syslinux	Yes	Yes	Partial²⁷	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

Name	cpio	tar	ISO 9660	romfs	SquashFS	cramfs
Acronis OS Selector	?	?	?	?	?	?
AiR-BOOT	?	?	?	?	?	?
AKernelLoader	?	?	?	?	?	?
Barebox	?	?	?	?	Yes²⁸	Yes
BOOTBOOT	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
BootIt Bare Metal	?	?	?	?	?	?
BootKey	?	?	?	?	?	?
bootload	?	?	?	?	?	?
BootManager	?	?	?	?	?	?
BootX (Apple)	?	?	?	?	?	?
BootX (Linux)	?	?	?	?	?	?
Clover	?	?	?	?	?	?
Darwin Boot Loader	?	?	?	?	?	?
Das U-Boot	?	?	?	?	Yes²⁹	Yes
extipl	?	?	?	?	?	?
FreeLoader (ReactOS)	?	?	?	?	?	?
GAG	?	?	?	?	?	?
GNU GRUB 2	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?
GRUB Legacy	?	?	Yes³⁰	?	?	?
Grub2Win	?	?	?	?	?	?
GRUB4DOS	?	?	Yes³¹	?	?	?
Gujin	?	?	?	?	?	?
systemd-boot / Gummiboot	?	?	?	?	?	?
iBoot	?	?	?	?	?	?
LILO	?	?	?	?	?	?
Limine	No	No	Yes	No	No	No
loader (FreeBSD)	?	?	?	?	?	?
loadlin	No	No	Yes³²	?	?	?
LOLO	?	?	?	?	?	?
MasterBooter	?	?	?	?	?	?
Multiple Boot Manager	?	?	?	?	?	?
NTLDR	?	?	?	?	?	?
OpenCore	?	?	?	?	?	?
OSL2000 Boot Manager	?	?	?	?	?	?
PLoP Boot Manager	?	?	?	?	?	?
RedBoot	?	?	?	?	?	?
rEFInd	?	?	Yes³³	?	?	?
rEFIt	?	?	?	?	?	?
Simpleboot	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Smart Boot Manager	?	?	?	?	?	?
SPFdisk	?	?	?	?	?	?
Syslinux	?	?	Yes	?	?	?
Tianocore EDK II	?	?	?	?	?	?
Windows Boot Manager	No	No	Yes	No	No	No
XOSL	?	?	?	?	?	?
yaboot	?	?	?	?	?	?

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 others³⁴	TFTP, HTTP³⁵	gzip, xz³⁶
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)³⁷	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,³⁸ Multiboot,³⁹ MBR image⁴⁰	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-V⁴¹	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, LoongArch⁴² ⁴³	Multiboot 1 and 2, Limine boot protocol, Linux zImage and bzImage⁴⁴	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

References

Daniel Kiper (20 December 2023). "GRUB 2.12 released". Retrieved 20 December 2023. https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/grub-devel/2023-12/msg00052.html ↩
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] /wiki/Linux_kernel ↩
"Release 9.2.3". 12 April 2025. Retrieved 27 April 2025. https://github.com/limine-bootloader/limine/releases/tag/v9.2.3 ↩
http://www.reactos.org/newsletter-37 - Freeloader can load Windows Server 2003 directly, as long as it is on a FAT32 partition http://www.reactos.org/newsletter-37 ↩
Rod Smith, "Managing EFI Boot Loaders for Linux: Using gummiboot", 5 November 2012. http://www.rodsbooks.com/efi-bootloaders/gummiboot.html ↩
Rod Smith, "Managing EFI Boot Loaders for Linux: Using gummiboot", 5 November 2012. http://www.rodsbooks.com/efi-bootloaders/gummiboot.html ↩
"Chain0 - OSx86". http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.php/Chain0 ↩
Larabel, Michael (2025-02-17). "Limine 9.0 Bootloader Drops EXT4 File-System Support". Phoronix. Retrieved 2025-02-17. https://www.phoronix.com/news/Limine-9.0-Released ↩
Schürrmann, Tim (2025-02-17). "Bootloader Limine 9.0.0 entfernt Unterstützung für Ext-Dateisysteme". Linux-Magazin. Retrieved 2025-03-07. https://www.linux-magazin.de/news/bootloader-limine-9-0-0-entfernt-unterstuetzung-fuer-ext-dateisysteme/ ↩
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/REFInd#Installing_the_rEFInd_Boot_Manager https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/REFInd#Installing_the_rEFInd_Boot_Manager ↩
rEFInd Features https://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/features.html ↩
rEFInd Features https://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/features.html ↩
Debian patch https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=511121#27 ↩
GNU GRUB 0.97 manual https://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/legacy/grub.html#Features ↩
GNU GRUB 0.97 manual https://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/legacy/grub.html#Features ↩
GNU GRUB 0.97 manual https://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/legacy/grub.html#Features ↩
GNU GRUB 0.97 manual https://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/legacy/grub.html#Features ↩
GNU GRUB 0.97 manual https://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/legacy/grub.html#Features ↩
GNU GRUB 0.97 manual https://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/legacy/grub.html#Features ↩
GNU GRUB 0.97 manual https://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/legacy/grub.html#Features ↩
GNU GRUB 0.97 manual https://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/legacy/grub.html#Features ↩
Requires a TSR, such as NTFSDOS /wiki/NTFSDOS ↩
rEFInd Features https://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/features.html ↩
rEFInd Features https://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/features.html ↩
rEFInd Features https://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/features.html ↩
rEFInd Features https://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/features.html ↩
https://wiki.syslinux.org/wiki/index.php?title=Filesystem#ext https://wiki.syslinux.org/wiki/index.php?title=Filesystem#ext ↩
https://git.lumina-sensum.com/LuminaSensum/barebox/blob/master/Documentation/filesystems/squashfs.rst https://git.lumina-sensum.com/LuminaSensum/barebox/blob/master/Documentation/filesystems/squashfs.rst ↩
https://github.com/u-boot/u-boot/commit/c51006130370b48b7eb5a93ada745385aa27f6bf https://github.com/u-boot/u-boot/commit/c51006130370b48b7eb5a93ada745385aa27f6bf ↩
http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/grub.git/tree/stage2/fsys_iso9660.c?h=grub-legacy http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/grub.git/tree/stage2/fsys_iso9660.c?h=grub-legacy ↩
http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/grub.git/tree/stage2/fsys_iso9660.c?h=grub-legacy http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/grub.git/tree/stage2/fsys_iso9660.c?h=grub-legacy ↩
Requires DOS support / TSR, such as MSCDEX /wiki/MSCDEX ↩
rEFInd Features https://www.rodsbooks.com/refind/features.html ↩
"GNU GRUB Manual 2.06: Supported kernels". GNU. Free Software Foundation, Inc. Retrieved 2021-06-24. https://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/grub/html_node/Supported-kernels.html ↩
"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'. https://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/grub/html_node/Device-syntax.html ↩
"GNU GRUB Manual 2.02: Features". https://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/html_node/Features.html ↩
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'. https://sourceforge.net/p/hacking-freebsd/wiki/Multiboot%20kFreeBSD/ ↩
"Can SYSLINUX Handle Large Kernels?". Syslinux Wiki. Retrieved 2021-06-24. https://wiki.syslinux.org/wiki/index.php?title=SYSLINUX#Can_SYSLINUX_Handle_Large_Kernels.3F ↩
"Mboot.c32 - Syslinux Wiki". www.syslinux.org. Retrieved 2018-10-12. https://www.syslinux.org/wiki/index.php?title=Mboot.c32 ↩
"Comboot/chain.c32". Syslinux Wiki. Retrieved 2021-06-24. https://wiki.syslinux.org/wiki/index.php?title=Comboot/chain.c32 ↩
"Documentation for Kdump - The kexec-based Crash Dumping Solution" (text/plain). The Linux Kernel Archives. Retrieved 2021-06-24. https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/kdump/kdump.txt ↩
Larabel, Michael (2024-08-03). "Limine 8.0 Bootloader Released With LoongArch Support". Phoronix. Retrieved 2025-02-09. https://www.phoronix.com/news/Limine-8.0-Bootloader ↩
Schürrmann, Tim (2024-08-06). "Alternativer Bootloader Limine 8.0.1 unterstützt LoongArch64-Systeme". Linux-Magazin. Retrieved 2025-03-07. https://www.linux-magazin.de/news/alternativer-bootloader-limine-8-0-1-unterstuetzt-loongarch64-systeme/ ↩
Holwerda, Thom (2024-08-04). "Limine: a modern, advanced, portable, multiprotocol bootloader and boot manager". OSNews. Retrieved 2025-03-07. https://www.osnews.com/story/140407/limine-a-modern-advanced-portable-multiprotocol-bootloader-and-boot-manager/ ↩