Proxmox VE is the virtualization layer many administrators reach for when they want commercial-hypervisor capabilities on open source foundations. Installed on bare metal, it presents a web interface from which you create and manage KVM and QEMU virtual machines alongside LXC system containers, mixing both freely on the same Debian-based host. Clustering is native: several nodes can be joined together, guests migrated between them while running, and high availability configured so workloads restart elsewhere after a failure. It speaks modern storage fluently, from local ZFS pools with snapshots to hyperconverged Ceph, and its scheduled backup and restore tooling is widely respected. Everything is scriptable through a documented API, while the enterprise repository subscription remains optional rather than required. The learning curve is real but well documented. Walking through the console inside an OpenFactory browser VM is a sensible rehearsal before installing it on a physical box.
Select a version of Proxmox VE to try online:
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Need Proxmox VE for more than a quick browser preview?
The buttons above launch an ephemeral browser VM, perfect for kicking the tires. Paid plans unlock the things you'd actually use it for:
- ✓Persistent VMs you can SSH into and customize
- ✓Snapshots, your own packages, a downloadable ISO
- ✓Fleet deployment to your own machines (on-prem or cloud)