MacVisor vs. Anka

Native GUI library, settings, dashboard, snapshot list, and display windows, plus the mvz CLI.

CLI-first, with Anka.app for creating and viewing VMs, VNC set up in every new VM, and a web UI in the Build Cloud Controller.

macOS 14, 15, 26 and 27 from Apple's installers, your own IPSW or a registry image such as Tart's, with accelerated graphics, and set up for you on macOS 27 (account, SSH and the MacVisor Agent). Apple allows two macOS VMs at a time.

macOS only, from a version name or an IPSW: anka create installs it unattended with an anka user, VNC and SIP off, and reuses that build for later VMs (3.10). Apple's limit of two macOS VMs per Mac applies.

Any ARM64 distribution: a signed catalogue of cloud images (Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, Rocky, Alma, openSUSE, Alpine and more) set up by cloud-init, a registry image, or any ARM64 ISO. Rosetta runs x86-64 Linux programs, and a TPM 2.0 is there if you turn it on (27.2.1).

Not supported: Anka runs macOS guests only.

Windows 11 on ARM, installed unattended from Microsoft's ISO with your account, Remote Desktop, optional SSH, the MacVisor Agent and sound. UEFI Secure Boot and a TPM 2.0 sealed to the Mac's Secure Enclave, so BitLocker unlocks from the TPM; mvz tpm export and import move it to another Mac (27.2.1). Tested on macOS 27.2. No GPU acceleration or TPM attestation.

Not supported.

FreeBSD 15.1 and 16.0-CURRENT from FreeBSD's cloud images, with your SSH keys, the MacVisor Agent and snapshots. Console and SSH only, with no desktop, shared folders or clipboard.

Not supported.

FreeBSD- and Linux-based firewalls and routers, and appliances such as Home Assistant OS, booted as they are from their ARM64 images, with USB passthrough for Zigbee and Z-Wave radios.

Not supported.

A signed catalogue of vendor cloud images (Linux and FreeBSD), your own raw, ASIF or qcow2 image, or a VM image from any OCI registry, Tart's included (27.2.1). cloud-init sets up your account, SSH keys, container runtime and home folder share from the New VM form or mvz create.

No Linux cloud images or cloud-init. An Ankafile builds a macOS VM from a base and a list of thin tags.

Docker, Podman, containerd or k3s, opt-in when you create the VM. The Docker or Podman socket and the k3s kubeconfig reach the Mac with no network setup.

Not a feature: Anka runs macOS guests only.

Clipboard, file transfer, port forwards, guest addresses and a clean shutdown over a virtual socket, with no network needed; VirtioFS shared folders, ISOs attached to a running VM, and Rosetta for Linux.

anka run and anka cp through Anka's guest addons, host folder mounts (3.9), and SSH and VNC set up by anka create.

The mvz CLI covers nearly everything the app does, from creating VMs to snapshots, backups, registry images, TPMs, networks, firewall rules and the MCP server, with --json output and documented exit codes.

A full anka CLI on each Mac (create, clone, run, cp, push, pull, mount, usb), and the Build Cloud Controller's REST API for fleets.

mvz scripts a throwaway VM from a template (clone, start, exec, delete); no packaged CI runner integration yet.

GitHub Actions (anka-actions through the Controller, or Anklet, which runs ephemeral runners from the anka CLI on each Mac), Jenkins, TeamCity, GitLab custom executor, Buildkite and Azure DevOps.

No Packer plugin or image recipe file: set up a VM by hand or with mvz, save it as a template, and push it to an OCI registry.

A Packer plugin (anka-vm-create and anka-vm-clone builders, registry push; thin OCI tags from 4.7.0, 30 October 2026) and Ankafiles.

Pulls VM images from any OCI registry as templates, Tart's included, and pushes VMs and templates in MacVisor's own format; a linked clone goes as layers. It doesn't read Anka's tags.

Full tags in the Anka Registry or any OCI registry (3.9), and thin tags (3.10) that carry a tool's files as OCI layers, stacked on a full tag in the order pulled. The Anka Registry stores full tags only.

Live (with memory) and disk-only snapshots of running VMs for every guest, near-free on APFS, plus automatic snapshots hourly, daily or weekly (27.2.1); suspend and resume; and shut down or suspend at logout, your choice.

No snapshots. On Apple silicon, suspend works from Anka.app; from the CLI it stops the VM, and a suspended VM can't move to another host. Known states are kept as registry tags.

Templates and instant linked clones that store only their own changes; every cloud-image VM is a linked clone of its image. From 27.2.1, templates pull from OCI registries and VMs push to them.

anka clone, and Templates and Tags in the Anka Registry or an OCI registry, distributed to Build Cloud nodes by the Controller.

Several storage locations on internal, external or network volumes; a running VM moves between them in one step (suspend, move, resume).

One VM library per user, set in anka config (root and other users have separate ones). Export and import (Build Enterprise and higher) and registry push and pull move VMs.

USB passthrough for devices such as Zigbee or Z-Wave radios, security keys and serial adapters, reattached whenever the VM runs (from 27.2.1). No audio devices or webcams.

On Apple silicon from 3.10, chosen in the macOS Virtual Machine Accessories menu, not the CLI. Needs macOS 27 on the Mac, macOS 27.0.1 in the VM, and a Flow or Build Enterprise license; no iPhones, webcams or audio devices.

macOS guests get accelerated graphics on the Mac's GPU. Linux and Windows guests have no GPU acceleration, so no 3D; Windows takes the window's exact size as you resize it, on MacVisor's own display device. One display per VM.

Paravirtualized graphics (Metal) on by default for macOS VMs on Apple silicon; Veertu notes that Metal Performance Shaders support may be limited.

NAT, bridged (also to a VLAN), and named shared and host-only networks, with up to four adapters per VM; every VM answers as <vm>.mvz.

Per-VM modes: shared (NAT and DHCP), host (no outside access), bridged, disconnected, and an experimental nat mode on Apple silicon. One shared and one host network per Mac, not named segments.

Creates 802.1Q VLAN interfaces on the Mac (tags 1-4094) for VMs to bridge to, or for a shared network to use as its uplink.

A bridged VM can take an 802.1Q VLAN ID (anka modify network --vlan), which the Controller can also set; the Mac's adapter or switch must carry tagged frames. Creating VLAN interfaces on the Mac isn't documented.

Per-network DHCP with MAC-to-IPv4 reservations, by hand or made for cloud-init VMs automatically (within macOS 27's network limits).

macOS's DHCP server on the shared and host networks, with a configurable shared subnet; a VM with a fixed MAC gets a unique address from Anka, but address reservations aren't documented.

TCP and UDP forwards on shared networks, reachable from other devices, plus per-VM forwards through the MacVisor Agent; Linux VMs forward their listening ports to the Mac automatically.

Per-VM TCP port forwards from the Mac to a guest port (anka modify port); UDP isn't documented. Bridged VMs need none.

Allow and deny rules per network (protocol, address range, port), enforced by the Mac's packet filter outside the guest, even with the app closed. IPv4 only.

IP filtering with ipf.conf-style rules per VM or for the whole Mac, block local to cut VM-to-VM traffic, and ARP spoofing protection. Rules are per VM, not per network, and need a Build Enterprise or Enterprise Plus license.

Per-network switches for DHCP, DNS, NAT44, NAT66 and IPv6 router advertisements, plus the subnet, IPv6 prefix, MTU and uplink.

The network mode and the shared subnet; no per-network switches for DHCP, DNS, NAT44, NAT66 or IPv6 router advertisements.

A built-in MCP server (Tech Preview), set up in one click for Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and other agents. They use only the VMs you open to them, to run commands, read, write and copy files, take snapshots and roll back, or see the screen. Local only, with every call logged.

Anka MCP (MIT): agents list templates, start a clone, get SSH access and delete it, on one Mac or through the Build Cloud Controller. It deliberately has no tool that runs arbitrary anka commands.

Per VM: Off (the default), View (state, screenshots, reading files) or Control (power, commands, files, snapshots, keyboard and mouse), set in VM Settings or with mvz set. Agents can't open a VM themselves, delete your snapshots, read stored passwords, or delete a VM you protected.

Per-client tokens that see only the VMs they created, a cap on running VMs (2 by default), templates never changed, and a revoked token's VMs ended. No per-VM View or Control levels.

AI sandboxes (Tech Preview): coding agents such as Claude Code and Codex run in a disposable Linux or macOS VM with a copy of your project, API keys kept on the Mac and allow-listed internet; you review the diff before it lands.

Anka Crypt (MIT) runs Claude Code, Codex, Grok Build, Cursor Agent and others unattended in a disposable clone of a macOS VM you prepare. Host folders mount writable only if you ask; IP filtering needs an Enterprise license; no reviewed diff.

Runs unattended with the app closed: VMs start at login, and High Availability restarts one that crashes. From 27.2.1, a watchdog, health checks and hooks restart VMs that stop responding.

Built for ephemeral CI VMs: the Controller starts and ends instances on request and can run highly available. Restarting a long-lived VM after a crash, a watchdog and guest health checks aren't documented, and headless Macs must unlock the login keychain after each reboot.

Built in from 27.2.1: daily, weekly or on demand, to another drive or a network share, running VMs included, checked by SHA-256 and restorable on any Mac.

No backup feature. Pushing a tag to a registry keeps a copy of a VM; scheduling is left to you.

Not available today.

Anka Build Cloud schedules VMs across Mac nodes, with node groups and priority scheduling (Enterprise), SSO and permission groups (Enterprise Plus), and API event logs.

No AMI or hourly AWS license; MacVisor is licensed per Mac and needs macOS 27.

Marketplace AMIs with Anka, billed hourly through AWS with no separate license, or community AMIs with your own Flow or Build license, running several VMs per instance.

Per-VM CPU, memory, GPU, disk and network readings, a host dashboard of what VMs use against what the Mac has, a menu bar menu for headless Macs, and a task history.

The Controller's web UI and centralized logs, and a Prometheus exporter for node capacity and instance metrics (4.3.6, 11 November 2026).

Not a feature.

Anka Scan checks macOS images and templates at rest for known CVEs inside your network; EC2 Mac AMI Scan inspects AMIs without booting them.

Apple Silicon with macOS 27.

Apple silicon and T2 Intel Macs on macOS 13 or later, with VM creation on macOS 27 from 3.9.3. Develop activates only on MacBooks, and Flow only on MacBooks and iMacs; Build runs on any Mac.

Free 30-day trial, no card needed. MacVisor 27 Pro is one-time: $59 for one Mac, $79 for two Macs (launch prices until 1 December 2026, then $69, $99), with every single-Mac feature and every 27.x update. MacVisor Business is $79 per Mac a year from 3 Macs ($119 from 1 December 2026), with new major versions, email support (first reply within 2 business days, IST) and help deploying through your MDM. Enterprise support by quote.

Anka Develop is free on MacBooks, one VM at a time, with no suspend or registry. Flow and Build (Basic, Enterprise, Enterprise Plus) are yearly subscriptions priced per Mac by model, quoted by Veertu, with 30-day trials. On EC2 Mac, AWS bills Marketplace AMIs by the hour.