Run macOS, Linux & Windows VMs, natively on Apple Silicon
Native VM management with snapshots, templates, flexible
storage, advanced networking, guest tools, and CLI automation for Macs.
Operate as desktop virtualization, hypervisor or headless CI
automation. Designed for Mac as Infrastructure.
Run AI agents safely in a disposable Linux or macOS VM (AI sandboxes).
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Screenshots
One window for the whole fleet.
Linux VM
Account, containers, port forwards, guest tools, and live readings on one Overview tab.
macOS 27 guest
Installed from Apple's image, signed in, with the MacVisor Agent running.
Windows 11 (Tech Preview)
Installed unattended, with Remote Desktop, guest tools, and Windows in its own window.
AI sandbox
An agent's sandbox with its model, allow list, and changes to review, beside the AI settings.
Dashboard
The Mac at a glance: background service, resources given to VMs, inventory, and auto-start.
New VM
Pick a cloud image or installer; everything else has a default.
Templates
Cloud images, macOS installers, and your own templates, with their sizes.
Storage
Every bundle with its logical, on-disk, and private size.
Networks
Custom networks, VLANs, port groups, and which VM is attached where.
Guest operating systems
What you can run.
Native ARM64 guests on Apple's Virtualization framework. MacVisor downloads each
image or installer once, verifies it, and keeps it for every VM you make from it.
Supported
macOS
Native macOS VMs from Apple's own installers.
macOS 27, 26, 15 and 14 from the catalogue, or your own IPSW
Downloaded from Apple once, verified, and installed in 20 to 30 minutes
macOS 27 guests skip Setup Assistant and get the MacVisor Agent installed for you
cloud-init sets up your account, SSH keys and the guest agent, plus, when you ask, a container runtime (containerd, Docker, Podman or k3s, by distribution) and your home folder
Any ARM64 distribution from its installer ISO
Rosetta 2 for x86_64 Linux programs, and nested KVM on M3 or later
Experimental: FreeBSD 15.1 and 16.0-CURRENT, used over SSH only.
Mac and macOS are trademarks of Apple Inc.
Linux distribution and FreeBSD logos are trademarks of their respective owners.
Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
Built-in feature set
More than start and stop.
MacVisor brings desktop VM ergonomics and virtualization-platform
controls into one native app. These features reflect the current
beta implementation, not roadmap items.
MacVisor 27 requires macOS 27. Some features additionally depend on supported Apple Silicon hardware.
In 11 languages
The app, the VM window and the permission prompts follow your Mac's language: English, German,
Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Brazilian Portuguese, Romanian, Swedish and
Simplified Chinese. The mvz CLI stays in English.
Virtual hardware
Dynamic displays for macOS and Linux VMs; Remote Desktop through Microsoft's Windows App for Windows VMs
Accelerated Graphics (shared GPU) for macOS
Mac keyboard, trackpad, audio, and input capture
Virtio or NVMe disks, hot-plug USB disks and ISO media
Nested KVM for supported Linux guests
USB device passthrough and runtime device capture
Snapshots
Instant Disk-only and Live (disk and memory) snapshots
Safety snapshots before rollback (revert)
Create a VM from any snapshot
Reusable templates, copy-on-write clones, and instant linked clones
Plain-words recovery when a saved session will not restore: Try Again or Start from Disk
Advanced Networking
Default NAT plus named shared-NAT and host-only networks
Every VM reachable by name as <vm>.mvz; host.mvz.internal inside cloud-image Linux guests
Automatic TCP and UDP port forwarding for cloud-image VMs, plus manual per-VM forwards
Host 802.1Q VLAN creation and physical or VLAN bridge uplinks
Per-network DHCP and stable MAC/IP address reservations
TCP/UDP NAT forwarding and visual network topology
Individual DHCP, DNS proxy, NAT44, NAT66, and IPv6 RA controls
Host-enforced per-network IPv4 firewall policy, from the app or the CLI
Flexible Storage
ASIF sparse disks throughout, with in-place conversion of legacy raw disks
Cloud images downloaded once, verified against the vendor checksum, kept as templates; resumable downloads
Multiple internal or external storage locations
Cold migration for stopped VMs and templates
Warm migration for running VMs
Portable VM import and export workflows
Storage browser with logical, physical, and private sizes per location
Integration and operations
mvz shell and exec: an SSH shell in any VM over the guest agent, as your own account
A Docker socket and docker context per VM; kubeconfig for k3s VMs
Drag-and-drop files between macOS host and guests
Bidirectional files, clipboard, and port forwarding tunnels powered by guest tools
VirtioFS shared folders for macOS and Linux
Autostart, metrics, task progress, and runner health
The mvz CLI, serial console, and headless operation
The MacVisor Architecture
A control plane, not a window that happens to run VMs.
MacVisor separates management, clients, and VM execution. An always-running
control plane owns orchestration and policy. The native GUI and
mvz
CLI act as independent clients, while every VM runs in its own isolated process.
That same architecture works as a desktop app, a persistent local host, or a
CLI-driven virtualization platform.
MacVisor process model
One host, independent lifecycles
Always Online
01
Separate lifecycles
Restart the GUI, close a display, or run only the CLI without making those client lifecycles the VM lifecycle.
02
Crash isolation
Each VM has a dedicated runtime owner, so one runner failure does not take down every workload or the control plane.
03
One source of truth
GUI and CLI issue the same typed requests and receive the same state events from the service.
04
Service recovery
After a control-plane restart, MacVisor reconciles live runner records and removes stale processes from its registry.
One architecture, three operating modes
Use it like a desktop app or operate it like a platform.
The same VM can move between interactive and unattended workflows without
moving to a different runtime or management stack.
Interactive
Native desktop virtualization
Open a VM in its own Mac window with dynamic display sizing, input capture,
clipboard, shared folders, file transfer, audio, and USB passthrough.
Best for development, OS testing, and hands-on lab work.
Persistent
A local virtualization host
Start VMs headlessly, keep them running after windows close, enable login
autostart, and connect services through named networks and port forwards.
Best for always-on services, clusters, and multi-VM environments.
Programmable
CLI-driven infrastructure
Create a Linux dev VM from a cloud image in one command, open a shell
in it, and script lifecycle, snapshots, networks, port forwards,
autostart, and serial-console access through the bundled
mvz CLI.
Best for repeatable environments, automation, and local CI workflows.
AI Sandboxes
Tech Preview
Give AI agents a VM of their own.
Coding agents like Claude Code and Codex do their best work when they can run commands without asking you
first. On your Mac that is risky: they can reach your files, your keys and your network. MacVisor runs each
agent in its own VM instead, and you check what it changed before anything touches your project.
An agent on your Mac
The same agent in a sandbox
Can read your SSH keys, passwords and other projects.
Sees one copy of one project, and nothing else from your Mac.
Needs your API keys in its environment.
Never gets a key. MacVisor adds it to each request on the way out.
Can reach the internet, your network and the apps on your Mac.
Reaches only the sites you allow. Your Mac and your network are off limits.
Changes your files directly.
You see a diff first, and apply it when you are happy with it.
How it works
Your keys, your code and your models stay on the Mac
ModelsInternetYour code
Five steps
01 · Createmvz sandbox create ~/src/app --agent claude
Makes a Linux or macOS VM, copies your project in and installs the agent.
02 · Runmvz sandbox run app-1 -- "fix the failing test"
The agent works on its own. Watch it, or open a shell next to it.
03 · Reviewmvz sandbox diff app-1
See every changed file. Scripts, hooks and CI files are flagged.
04 · Applymvz sandbox apply app-1
Bring the changes into your project, or onto a new branch.
05 · Clean upmvz sandbox discard app-1
Throw the VM away, or roll back to a checkpoint and try again.
Prefer the app? Click New AI Sandbox... next to + in the sidebar.
The sandbox's Overview has buttons to run the agent, review its changes and apply them.
Local models
Use Ollama, LM Studio, oMLX or llama.cpp on your Mac. The model gets the Mac’s GPU and memory, and every sandbox shares it.
Cloud models
Use Claude, GPT or OpenRouter models. Your API keys stay in the Mac’s Keychain.
Five agents, ready to go
Claude Code, Codex, Goose, Aider and OpenCode are installed and set up for you. Or bring your own.
A short list for the internet
npm, PyPI, GitHub and your distribution’s mirrors are allowed. Add or remove sites at any time.
Undo in seconds
Checkpoints save the whole VM, memory included. Roll back when an agent goes off track.
Works with your tools
An MCP server lets agents on your Mac use sandboxes too, with screenshots and clicks in a macOS one.
New in 27.0.0 beta 5, as a Tech Preview. AI sandboxes are tested in every build,
but commands and defaults may still change. Models run on your Mac rather than in the VM, where they get the full GPU and memory.
MacVisor is licensed by the Mac, with no limit on VMs or users. The licenses differ only in how
they're billed and the support that comes with them. Start with the free 30-day trial: the full
app, with no payment details.
Prices are in US dollars, with tax included or added at checkout depending on your country.
We may offer periodic promotional pricing and discounts.
Pro and Business come with a 14-day money-back guarantee.
Compare licenses →
Compare macOS Virtualization
Pick the tool that matches the workload.
MacVisor is not a cross-architecture emulator, and its Windows 11 support is a Tech Preview rather than a Windows desktop product with accelerated graphics. See where it fits against desktop hypervisors, native macOS VM apps, and CI-focused runtimes.
MacVisor has no analytics and no telemetry. On its own it connects for two things only:
checking your license with ScaleNinja's licensing server, and checking whether a new version exists. Cloud images
and macOS installers are downloaded when you ask, from the vendor, and verified. Disks,
snapshots, and your guests' traffic never pass through us.
Notes from the team behind MacVisor: why a Mac makes a good virtualization host, how the app is
built around a background service, and what the public beta can do today.