Whonix is a free, open-source desktop operating system built for anonymity, based on Debian and the hardened Kicksecure project. It ships as two virtual machines, a Gateway and a Workstation, that run inside VirtualBox or KVM on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Whonix
whonix.org
Our take
Whonix forces every connection through Tor by splitting your system into a gateway and a workstation, so an app that gets compromised still cannot leak your real IP. That design is its strength and its cost: you run it inside a VM, everything is Tor-slow, and it is overkill for ordinary browsing. Reach for it when isolation from IP leaks genuinely matters; for a portable anonymous session on a borrowed machine, Tails fits the job better.
GitHub at a glance
Whonix/derivative-maker
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Whonix alternatives
Qubes OS Qubes OS: A reasonably secure operating system
Tails Tails: Portable, encrypted and secure through the Tor network
secureblue secureblue is a security-hardened immutable Linux OS built on Fedora Atomic Desktops. It ships as OCI bootable container images and applies kernel hardening, a hardened memory allocator from GrapheneOS, and a hardened Chromium browser called Trivalent.
Kicksecure Kicksecure is a security-hardened Debian-based Linux distribution that applies a broad set of kernel and userspace hardening settings out of the box, reducing the attack surface without requiring manual configuration. It also serves as the foundation for the Whonix anonymity OS.
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NixOS NixOS is a Linux distribution built entirely on the Nix package manager, where the whole system (kernel, packages, services, and configuration) is declared in a single set of files. Upgrades are atomic and fully reproducible rollbacks are a built-in feature.