BladeRF is the name of both a line of software-defined radios and the free software that drives them. This page covers the software side: the libbladeRF library, the bladeRF-cli command-line tool, the drivers, the USB controller firmware and the FPGA code, all published by Nuand in its GitHub repository. The repository history shows tagged releases going back to 2013. The software costs nothing, but it only works with a bladeRF board, which Nuand sells separately.
Each component carries its own licence, as set out in the COPYING file: LGPL v2.1 for libbladeRF, GPL v2 for bladeRF-cli and the Linux kernel driver, and MIT for the FPGA code and the FX3 firmware. Everything ships together in date-stamped releases. The latest, 2025.10, arrived in October 2025 with libbladeRF 2.6.0 and bladeRF-cli 1.10.0, and work on the repository has continued through 2026.
What BladeRF is for
A bladeRF board receives and transmits radio signals across a wide frequency span, from 47 MHz to 6 GHz for the bladeRF 2.0 micro according to the manufacturer’s specifications, with two receive and two transmit channels. It connects over USB 3.0 and exchanges streams of digital samples with the computer. The software bridges the two. libbladeRF offers a C programming interface for setting frequency, gain, bandwidth and sample rate, and for sending and receiving those samples.
bladeRF-cli is the everyday tool. It identifies attached boards, reports their versions, updates the FX3 firmware, loads the FPGA image and records or replays samples from a terminal. A recovery command rescues boards left stuck in the bootloader after an interrupted update. Python, MATLAB and Simulink bindings round out the package, and Nuand separately publishes an example FSK modem built on the library.
Like UHD for Ettus Research USRP radios, libbladeRF serves only its maker’s hardware. Everyday applications reach it through intermediate layers: gr-osmosdr for GNU Radio, and SoapySDR for many other programs, SigDigger among them. Nuand’s product page also lists SDR Console, SDR# and MATLAB as compatible software. Recordings in the bladeRF 16-bit format can also be opened directly in Inspectrum for closer analysis.
Who is it for?
The software is for bladeRF owners: radio system developers, researchers, students building wireless link prototypes and radio amateurs who want to transmit as well as receive. C programmers will appreciate the libbladeRF API documentation, and the repository wiki walks through installation on each operating system, including a page for checking that the board works properly.
Without a board the software is useless, and the board is a real expense: at the time of writing Nuand lists the bladeRF 2.0 micro at 540 dollars for the xA4 and 860 dollars for the xA9. bladeRF-cli is strictly a command-line tool, so viewing a spectrum or demodulating requires a third-party application. Rebuilding the FPGA image calls for the Quartus toolchain, which only matters if you are changing the board’s logic. Transmitting is also subject to radio regulations in every country. Owners of a USRP should turn to UHD instead.
Download BladeRF safely
On Windows, Nuand provides an installer of roughly 30 MB, linked from the win_installers page on nuand.com and hosted on the GitHub releases page. It bundles libbladeRF, bladeRF-cli, the drivers and MATLAB and Simulink support. On Ubuntu 20.04 and later, the nuandllc/bladerf PPA provides the bladerf package along with packages for the firmware and FPGA images. On macOS, the wiki recommends MacPorts. Building from source is documented for every platform, and prebuilt FPGA images and firmware are available on nuand.com.
All the software is free, only the board costs money. A program that rewrites the firmware of a USB device deserves complete trust, since a tampered FPGA image or firmware file can brick the board. Get them only from nuand.com or the Nuand/bladeRF repository, and ignore copies reposted on third-party sites.
Frequently asked questions
Is the bladeRF software free?
Yes. The libraries, utilities, firmware and FPGA code are released under open-source licences and can be downloaded at no cost. Only the bladeRF board itself has to be paid for.
Which boards does it support?
The Nuand range: the bladeRF 2.0 micro in its xA4 and xA9 versions, plus the first-generation bladeRF x40 and x115. It does not drive radios from other manufacturers.
Do I need to update the board after installing?
Often, yes. bladeRF-cli warns when the FX3 firmware is out of date and can flash a new one. The FPGA image, for its part, can be loaded automatically at every start once it is installed on the computer.
