LumaFretsRocksmith on Linux: What Works and What to Use Instead
Published 14 October 2026. Details of other products were checked on their own sites on 14 October 2026.
Rocksmith has no Linux version. If you play guitar on a Linux computer, you have two routes: run the Windows version through a compatibility layer, or use an app that runs on Linux directly. This page covers both.
Which Rocksmith Runs Where
Rocksmith 2014 Edition Remastered is sold on Steam. Its store page lists Windows only, not Mac or Linux (Steam).
Rocksmith+ is Ubisoft's subscription service. Ubisoft offers it for PC through Ubisoft Connect, Android, iOS, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 (Ubisoft). Linux isn't on that list.
Running the Windows Version With Proton
Proton is Valve's tool for the Steam client that lets Windows-only games run on Linux. It's built on Wine (Proton on GitHub).
Rocksmith isn't an ordinary game, though. It needs your guitar signal to come in with little delay, and that signal passes through Wine as well as Linux's own audio system. Linux isn't a listed platform for Rocksmith, so if it doesn't work you're left with community guides. We haven't tried it, so we can't say how well it runs.
A Native Linux Option: LumaFrets
LumaFrets is a desktop app for Mac, Windows and Linux. On Linux it comes as an AppImage. Make it runnable with chmod +x LumaFrets-*.AppImage, or tick "Allow executing file as program" in its properties, then open it. It keeps itself up to date.
It shows a tab as a 3D note highway in time with the real song, from a YouTube video or your own audio file. You bring the tab. It opens Guitar Pro (3 to 7), MusicXML and TuxGuitar files. It doesn't sell or download tabs, so there's no song library like Rocksmith's.
You can slow the song from 25% to 100% with the pitch kept, loop a section, and use the speed trainer, which plays the loop a little faster each time round. Plug your guitar into an audio interface and play through the built-in amp: five amps, six cabinets and eight pedals. There's a tuner that follows the tab's tuning, a count-in and click, and scoring that listens to you play and marks each note hit or missed.
It isn't a lesson course. There are exercises, but no guided path from your first chord.
What Costs Money
LumaFrets is free. Pro is a one-time $39, with no subscription. Pro splits your audio file into vocals, guitar, bass, drums, piano and the rest, so you can solo the guitar, or mute it and play the part yourself. It also plays your own VST3 plugins, amp captures and impulse responses. On Linux it looks for VST3 plugins in ~/.vst3, /usr/lib/vst3 and /usr/local/lib/vst3. Songs are separated on your computer, and nothing is uploaded.
Which One Fits
- You already own Rocksmith 2014 and want its songs and lessons: try it through Proton, and expect some setup.
- You have your own tabs and want to play them over the real song in an app built for Linux: LumaFrets.
More options: Rocksmith alternatives for learning real songs, play Guitar Pro files over the real song and how to remove the guitar from a song.