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SmartOS vs Xen Project: catalog facts
SmartOS	Xen Project
Free The SmartOS ISO is free and open source; Triton offers paid private and hosted cloud…	Free Free and open source, developed under the Linux Foundation.
Self-hosted	Self-hosted
Runs zones and KVM or bhyve VMs on the same host ZFS and DTrace built in	Type-1 hypervisor with strong isolation between guests Used in servers, embedded and safety-critical systems
Illumos base is less familiar than Linux Cloud management features require Triton on top	Installed on bare metal, so setup is more involved than desktop VM apps Aimed at infrastructure builders rather than casual users
Operating system	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License not stated	License not stated
No account needed	No account needed
Not stated if it works offline	Works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 23, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 23, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.