These two share a name and a heritage, and almost nothing else — and being clear about that protects you from the internet’s most common Snes9x download mistake. Snes9x is the mainline emulator from the Snes9x project: version 1.63, released July 2024, for Windows, macOS and Linux. Snes9x EX+ is a separate Android app by independent developer Robert Broglia. The mainline 1.63 release contains no Android build at all. EX+ is not "the official Android version by the Snes9x team"; it is a well-regarded third-party port in the Snes9x family, and our flagship Snes9x for Android page covers it in full. This comparison is part of our comparisons hub; desktop downloads are on our download page.
Who makes each one, and from what code
Desktop Snes9x comes from the snes9xgit project on GitHub — the current, upstream codebase, where 1.63 is the latest stable release. Snes9x EX+ is developed by Robert Broglia (of the EX / Imagine engine family of emulators) and distributed through his own channels: it is free on Google Play, where the listing shows it still being updated. The Play listing historically described EX+ as based on Snes9x 1.55 — the current listing no longer states a base version, so the honest statement is that EX+ grows from an older Snes9x codebase, maintained on Broglia’s own track, rather than tracking desktop 1.63 feature for feature. One more licensing note, because Play copy can mislead: the underlying Snes9x core is freeware for personal, non-commercial use with publicly available source — not OSI open source — whatever shorthand an app-store page uses.
The experience: desk versus pocket
Desktop Snes9x is a menu-driven program built for a keyboard, mouse and gamepad on a big screen: Direct3D, OpenGL and Vulkan output, Cg/GLSL/slang shaders, up to 100 save states across 10 banks, its own rewind (once you enable the buffer), cheats with a built-in search, and hotkeys for everything. EX+ is built for a phone in your hands: an on-screen touch control overlay for touchscreen play, support for physical Bluetooth and USB HID gamepads when you want real buttons, and Android-native file handling built on the Storage Access Framework, so it works with the scoped-storage rules of modern Android versions instead of expecting a desktop-style folder tree.
Neither experience is a lesser version of the other; they are shaped by their hardware. What you should not expect is parity of settings screens or behaviour. A desktop Snes9x guide — including most guides on this site — describes the desktop program. EX+ has its own menus and options, and where they differ, EX+ is not "wrong"; it is simply a different application by a different developer.
Moving your games and saves between them
Your ROM files are the same files on both — EX+ and desktop Snes9x read the same common SNES formats. Saves need one distinction. Battery saves (.srm) are your portable progress: the Snes9x readme notes that .srm files are compatible with all SNES emulators, and EX+ uses the same convention, so a game’s in-cart saves can move between your phone and your PC — copy the .srm alongside the ROM, keep the base filename matched to the ROM’s, and load the game on the other device.
- Do move: ROMs, and the matching
.srmbattery save for each game — that is where RPG progress and unlocks actually live. - Do not rely on moving: save states. State formats are tied to the emulator and build that created them — Snes9x’s own snapshot format has changed across its history — so treat states as a convenience on the device where you made them, not as portable saves.
- Expect to reconfigure: controls, video options and folders do not travel; each app keeps its own settings, and on Android your ROM and save locations are governed by the file access you grant EX+ through the Storage Access Framework.
Which one should you install?
- You play at a desk, on Windows, Mac or Linux: desktop Snes9x 1.63 — the current upstream release, from the project’s official GitHub releases page.
- You play on an Android phone or tablet: Snes9x EX+ from Google Play — free, touch-first, gamepad-friendly, and honest about being Broglia’s separate app. It is also the main channel our Android download link points to.
- You play in both places: install both, standardise on
.srmsaves as your transfer format, and accept save states as per-device. Many players in this cluster also weigh the alternative Android route — the Snes9x core inside RetroArch — which standalone vs libretro core and the field guide cover.
Verdict
Desktop Snes9x is the original and the most current; Snes9x EX+ is a separate, respected Android adaptation by Robert Broglia, based on older Snes9x code and built around touch and Android storage rules. Pick by where you play, not by which name sounds more official — and be wary of any site that blurs the two, especially one offering a "Snes9x Android APK from the Snes9x team," because no such mainline product exists. For the rest of the landscape, see Snes9x vs RetroArch and Snes9x vs bsnes.
What each one costs, and what neither costs
Money settles nothing here, in a good way. Desktop Snes9x is freeware for personal, non-commercial use, downloaded at no cost from the project’s GitHub releases — any site charging you for the emulator itself is selling you something the project gives away. Snes9x EX+ is likewise free on Google Play, as its listing states, so the Android choice costs nothing either. What each asks of you instead is different in kind: the desktop program asks for a computer and a few minutes with a ZIP file, while EX+ asks for an Android device and your comfort with granting a phone app access to the folders holding your games and saves. Judge sites accordingly — the trustworthy ones for both programs are the ones that send desktop users to the project’s own releases and Android users to Broglia’s Play listing, rather than to an unofficial APK mirror.