FreeBSD Alternatives for BSD

There are many alternatives to FreeBSD for BSD if you are looking for a replacement. The best BSD alternative is Debian, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to FreeBSD and 16 are available for BSD so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting BSD alternatives to FreeBSD are Gentoo, OpenBSD, GhostBSD and NetBSD.

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Alternatives list

  1. Debian icon
     1173 likes

    The Debian Project is an association of individuals who have made common cause to create a free operating system. This operating system that we have created is called Debian.

    205 Debian alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Self-Hosted
     
  2. Gentoo icon
     166 likes

    Gentoo Linux is a versatile, fast, highly configurable and completely free Linux and FreeBSD distribution geared towards developers and network professionals.

    196 Gentoo alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD
    • FreeBSD
     
  3. OpenBSD icon
     68 likes

    The OpenBSD project produces a FREE, multi-platform 4.4BSD-based UNIX-like operating system. Our efforts emphasize portability, standardization, correctness, proactive security and integrated cryptography.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • BSD
     
  4. GhostBSD icon
     20 likes

    GhostBSD is a user friendly desktop operating system based on FreeBSD , which attempts to conform to the Single Unix Specification. FreeBSD is known for its stability and security in server environments, which, incidentally, provides an...

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • BSD
     
  5. NetBSD icon
     15 likes

    NetBSD is a free, fast, secure, and highly portable Unix-like Open Source operating system. It is available for a wide range of platforms, from large-scale servers and powerful desktop systems to handheld and embedded devices.

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • BSD
     
  6. NixBSD icon
     4 likes

    NixBSD is an attempt to make a reproducible and declarable BSD, based on NixOS. Although theoretically much of this work could be copied to build other BSDs, all work thus far has been focused on building a FreeBSD distribution.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • BSD
    • FreeBSD
     
  7. NomadBSD icon
     8 likes

    NomadBSD is a persistent live system for USB flash drives, based on FreeBSD. Together with automatic hardware detection and setup, it is configured to be used as a desktop system that works out of the box, but can also be used for data...

    163 NomadBSD alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • BSD
     
  8. MINIX 3 icon
     10 likes

    MINIX is a POSIX-compliant Unix-like operating system based on a tiny microkernel running in kernel mode with the rest of the operating system running as a number of isolated, protected, processes in user mode.

    151 MINIX 3 alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Self-Hosted
     
  9. DragonFly BSD icon
     9 likes

    DragonFly belongs to the same class of operating systems as other BSD-derived systems and Linux. It is based on the same UNIX ideals and APIs and shares ancestor code with other BSD operating systems. DragonFly provides an opportunity for the BSD base to grow in an entirely...

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • BSD
     
  10. Xinuos OpenServer™ 10 is a 64-bit operating system based on the popular FreeBSD and designed to support business applications within an enterprise environment.

    158 Xinuos OpenServer™ 10 alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Self-Hosted
     
  11. IBM AIX icon
     Like

    AIX is a series of proprietary Unix operating systems developed and sold by IBM for several of its computer platforms. Originally released for the IBM RT PC RISC workstation, AIX now supports or has supported a wide variety of hardware platforms, including the IBM RS/6000 series...

    69 IBM AIX alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Self-Hosted
     
  12. HP-UX icon
     Like

    HP-UX is Hewlett Packard Enterprise's proprietary implementation of the Unix operating system, based on UNIX System V (initially System III) and first released in 1984. Recent versions support the HP 9000 series of computer systems, based on the PA-RISC instruction set...

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Self-Hosted
     
12 of 16 FreeBSD alternatives