Is Vultr basically the only non-big-tech host with #FreeBSD images? I'm trying to word this carefully, because I expect that a modern host in 2026 shouldn't require me to spend an hour figuring how their flavor of Linux-based rescue environment + custom image delivery works and do a manual install myself.
I'm aware that AWS and probably GCP have FreeBSD images, but I'd prefer to not use them for a lot of reasons.
Hetzner used to support #FreeBSD but now you gotta do the rescue mode delivery. Similarly, Scaleway actually still claims support on their shiny marketing site (under the heading of Linux distros rofl), but their portal doesn't have it as a supported OS anymore. Looking online it seems this was silently dropped some time ago. Also their console is *completely* dysfunctional 😂
Vultr seems to have support out of the box and a nice admin console. But are there any others left?
@nicemicro ahh good memory! I also recall them having FreeBSD images some years ago. It looks like they phased them out in 2022 though :(
I’m a bit allergic to DO after several extremely bad support experiences. Seems like they spend considerably more on SEO marketing than they do on product quality.
@ianthetechie Yeah, Hetzner doesn’t provide images, but I found the process to install FreeBSD on Hetzner was pretty smooth. I’m using them currently and happy with it.
(I suppose the main downside is that you can’t really automate it.)
For VMs, most places support a ‘bring your own image’ option and it’s usually easy to either use the official project images or have Poudriere spit out one more tailored to what you want.
For dedicated servers it’s a lot more work if it isn’t an officially supported option. I have a FreeBSD machine with OVH and had to use their recovery image to drop the installer image on one disk and then boot from there and manually partition.
I've been pretty pleased with RackNerd, InterServer, and MassiveGrid, offering KVM VMs (which will run BSDs unlike OpenVZ), and also have "bring your own ISO" options.
OVH required rescue-environment hackery and they keep raising their prices (bi?)annually rather than respecting original pricing, so I'd not recommend them.
@gumnos Ooh, some new names in the mix! Thanks!
Yeah I’ve used OVH for some things in the past. Their prices are great for compute in the broader context but their support is pretty abysmal.
Ian Wagner
NiceMicro
ben
David Chisnall (*Now with 50% more sarcasm!*)
Ari Suutari
MadaMada
Alvin Thalberg
Tim Chase
Hypha