What the Proton and WineHQ Quality Ratings Mean in Teleport's Results

Updated

Teleport scans the Windows apps installed on a machine and reports, for each one, whether a native Linux version exists and — if it doesn't — how well the app is likely to run through a compatibility layer, rated according to Proton and WineHQ data. The rating is a per-app signal of how usable that app is on Linux without a native build; it is not a score for Linux as a whole, and it is reported separately from native availability.

What Teleport actually does

According to the project page, Teleport is a Windows App Compatibility Analyzer. It scans the Windows apps already installed on a system and produces an analysis of which of them will run on Linux. For apps that are not available natively, it also reports their quality according to Proton, WineHQ, and similar compatibility projects. The tool is offered as a free download in .7z format, and the page links out to Proton, WineHQ, and a Linux compatibility resource.

Two things follow from that description:

  • The input is your own installed app list, not a catalog you browse. Results reflect what is on the machine you scan.
  • The output has two distinct parts: native availability, and compatibility-layer quality for everything else.

The two ratings, side by side

Rating source What it represents How to read it in Teleport's output
Proton Compatibility data for running Windows games and game-adjacent software on Linux, maintained around the Steam/Proton ecosystem A quality signal for apps that overlap with what Proton covers; useful mainly for games and launchers
WineHQ Community compatibility data for running general Windows applications under Wine A quality signal for non-game Windows software; the broader of the two for productivity apps

Both are compatibility layers, not emulators of a full Windows system: they translate Windows API calls so a Windows program can run on Linux. A rating drawn from either source is therefore an estimate of how well that translation works for a given app — how much of it functions, and how much friction a user should expect.

How to interpret a rating

Use the rating as a triage signal, in this order:

  1. Check native availability first. If Teleport reports a native Linux version, the compatibility rating is secondary — a native build is the cleaner path and the rating doesn't apply to it.
  2. For non-native apps, read the rating as a likelihood, not a guarantee. A strong Proton or WineHQ rating means the app is well covered by community testing; a weak or missing rating means it is untested or known to be problematic, not that it definitely fails.
  3. Weigh the rating against how you use the app. An app you open occasionally tolerates more friction than one you depend on daily. A middling rating on a secondary tool is usually acceptable; the same rating on your primary work application is a reason to look for an alternative.
  4. Treat the two sources as different lenses. A game rated well by Proton and an office app rated well by WineHQ are both good signs, but they come from different testing communities — don't compare a Proton score directly against a WineHQ score.

A concrete example

Suppose the scan lists three apps: an image editor with a native Linux build, a game with a strong Proton rating, and a niche accounting package with a weak WineHQ rating. The practical reading is: install the native editor normally; the game is likely playable through Proton with minor caveats; the accounting package is the one to plan around — check for a web version or a Linux alternative before committing to the switch. The ratings haven't told you Linux "works" or "doesn't"; they've told you where the risk sits in your app set.

Limits worth knowing before you decide

  • Ratings are aggregated from external projects, so their freshness and coverage depend on those communities, not on Teleport. An unrated app is unknown, not broken.
  • The scan covers installed apps only. Software you might adopt later isn't in the results.
  • A rating describes compatibility-layer behavior, which can vary with the layer's version and configuration. Treat it as a starting expectation to verify by actually running the app.
  • The page does not state pricing beyond a free download, so nothing here should be read as a claim about paid tiers or account requirements.

The short version: native availability answers "is there a Linux build?"; the Proton and WineHQ ratings answer "if not, how much will the workaround cost me?" — and that second answer is what should drive whether switching is practical for the apps you actually use.