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A Powerful, Open Source
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Download FreeBSD 15.0
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15.0: 2025-12 - 14.4: 2026-03

Why FreeBSD?

There are many reasons to choose FreeBSD. Browse highlights below or explore features for more insights.

Native ZFS

OpenZFS is an outstanding storage platform that encompasses the functionality of traditional filesystems, volume managers, and more. FreeBSD is one of the few operating systems to offer it as a fully integrated feature, meaning you won’t have to worry during system upgrades.

Virtualization

FreeBSD comes with bhyve, a feature-rich type 2 hypervisor. bhyve supports virtio hardware, PCI passthrough, and high-performance emulated NVMe. Run bhyve(8) directly, or leverage tools like vm-bhyve(8) to simplify management of virtual machines.

Jails

FreeBSD jails enable you to partition your system’s workload within isolated environments. Want to run a web server with its own isolated file system and networking? Put it in a jail. Use the built-in jail(8) command or leverage alternative tools to make jail management trivial.

Networking

The technology industry has long known FreeBSD for its excellent networking performance. Today, globally significant companies rely on the performance and stability of FreeBSD’s network stack to handle some of the most demanding loads in the world.

Documentation

FreeBSD prides itself on having comprehensive, well-written documentation. There’s the dedicated documentation home, and perhaps more importantly, it is a part of the operating system itself. Tools like apropos(1) make finding answers simple.

Community

The FreeBSD community is vibrant and collaborative. Groups are active across many mediums, from real-time communications to mailing lists and newsgroups. Be sure to check out the community engagement that is driven by the FreeBSD Foundation.