Welcome to the NetBeans Community

Most developers recognize NetBeans as the original free Java IDE. It is that, and so much more. NetBeans is an open-source project dedicated to providing rock solid software development products (such as NetBeans IDE and NetBeans Platform) that address the needs of developers, users and the businesses who rely on NetBeans as a basis for their products. The NetBeans project is also a vibrant community where people from just about any country you can think of, have the ability to ask questions, give advice, make a wide variety of contributions and ultimately share in the success of our products. On our mailing list, you will find posts from students, developers from top companies, and individuals looking to sharpen their skills.

In June NetBeans was made open source by Sun Microsystems, which remains the project sponsor. Please see our History section for a more detailed information.

The two base products are NetBeans IDE and NetBeans Platform. Both products are free for commercial and non-commercial use. The source code to both is available to anyone to reuse as they see fit within the terms of use. The legal section contains all information regarding licensings, copyright issues, privacy policy and terms of use. Complete product information can be found under in the Products section.

The NetBeans community is healthy and growing thanks to the individuals, companies and complementing products (see the Partners page) that are making NetBeans a success. If you want to join, you may register for free.

With over 12 million downloads of the NetBeans IDE to date, and over 500,000 developers participating, the netbeans project is thriving. Each month visitors from over 130 identifiable countries use and contribute to NetBeans.

In Press Center you can find and review NetBeans press releases and articles where NetBeans' name has appeared in the media. If we have missed something let us know and we will add it to our news section.