Install Freenet: Join River

Install Freenet and you’ll join the live chat room where the project’s developers and users talk. It’s the best way to see the network for real.

The room runs as a Freenet contract: code that lives across the peer-to-peer network instead of on a central server. No company hosts it, no account to make, no admin who can shut it down.

Want to look before installing? Try River in your browser, the same room on the same network with no download. It runs on a peer we host instead of one on your machine, so your keys live with us until you install.

Alpha notes: Freenet is under active development.

  • Auto-updates: your peer updates as the network evolves; older versions stop working over time.
  • Telemetry: your peer reports diagnostic data to help debug the network, including peer activity and general system info such as your OS.
  • Do not use alpha builds for anything sensitive yet.

Step 1: Install Freenet to enter the room

First install the app. It runs a local peer in the background, then opens apps like River in your browser.

Download for Windows

Run the installer. The setup wizard guides you through installation, then starts Freenet as a background service with a system tray icon.

Download for macOS

Open the DMG and drag Freenet into Applications. Launch it from Launchpad or Spotlight. A rabbit icon appears in the menu bar, and Freenet starts automatically at login from then on.

Already installed Freenet via install.sh? Uninstall the old version first so it doesn't conflict with the new app. See the legacy macOS uninstall steps.

Run this command in your terminal:

curl -fsSL https://freenet.org/install.sh | sh

This downloads and installs Freenet, then starts it as a background service.

Running a server, a NAS or a Raspberry Pi? There's an official container image that keeps itself updated: run Freenet in Docker.

Freenet runs on a desktop computer. It installs on Windows, macOS, or Linux, then opens apps like River in your browser. Open this page on your computer to get started. A mobile app isn't available yet.

Step 2: Join the room

Click below to join the Freenet Official room. A small daily limit helps protect the room from spam.

Join Freenet Official

Clicking the link opens River in your browser and automatically joins you to the room using the invite code.

Prefer the terminal? River has a full-featured CLI, riverctl. See the riverctl README for install and usage.

Troubleshooting

If you run into problems, join our Matrix chat for help, or see Report a Bug or Get Help for where to file a report.

Invite didn’t work? If River opened but you’re not in the room, try restarting Freenet (freenet service restart), then come back to this page and click the invite button again for a fresh invite code. If you see the room but can’t send messages, click the “i” icon next to the room name, click “Leave Room”, then get a new invite.

Containers & headless servers: There is an official container image, and it is the easier route on a server: see run Freenet in Docker. If you are instead running the installer inside an existing container or LXC and service installation fails, use the system-wide service: sudo freenet service install --system

Network requirements: Freenet uses UDP hole punching for peer-to-peer connections. Most home routers support this without configuration. Strict corporate firewalls may block connections. If yours does, the browser version usually still works, since it reaches the network over HTTPS through a peer we host.

Need to remove Freenet? See the uninstall guide.

What’s Next?

Run Freenet in Docker

Freenet publishes an official container image for every release. It is built for linux/amd64 and linux/arm64, so it runs on an ordinary server, a NAS, or a Raspberry Pi.

This page is for running a peer on a machine you administer. If you just want to use Freenet on your own computer, the normal install is simpler and does more for you.

Start a node

docker run -d --name freenet-node --network host \
  -v freenet-data:/data --restart unless-stopped \
  ghcr.io/freenet/freenet-core:latest

Then open http://127.0.0.1:7509/ to reach the node’s dashboard and any Freenet app it is serving.