An alternative is an object or action which can be chosen. Alternative may also refer to:

Genres of music

• Alternative rock
• Alternative dance
• Alternative metal
• Alternative hip hop
• Alternative country

Other music

• Alternative (album), an album by the Pet Shop Boys
• Alternative Records, a record label

Mathematics and science

• Alternative algebra, an abstract algebra with alternative multiplication
• Alternate leaves, a classification in botanical phyllotaxis

Education

• Alternative education, non-traditional education
• Alternative school, a school geared towards students whose needs cannot be met in a traditional school

Culture and society

• Alternative comics, a genre of comic strips and books
• Alternative comedy, a range of styles used by comedians and writers in the 1980s
• Alternative culture, a variety of subcultures existing along the fringes of mainstream culture
• Alternative dispute resolution, processes and techniques outside the traditional mainstream of jurisprudence
• Alternative fashion, for example Goth fashion, Punk fashion, Fetish fashion.
• Alternative lifestyle, a lifestyle that it is not within the cultural norm
• Alternative media, media practices falling outside the mainstreams of corporate communication
• Alternative medicine, methods and practices which reject the scientific teachings on medicine
• Alternative society, different models for society and social change
• Alternative (Kamen Rider), a character in the Japanese TV series, Kamen Rider Ryuki