We introduce and study a remarkable family of real probability measures $\pi_{st}$ that we call free Bessel laws. These are related to the free Poisson law $\pi$ via the formulae $\pi_{s1}=\pi^{\boxtimes s}$ and ${\pi_{1t}=\pi^{\boxplus t}}$. Our study includes definition and basic properties, analytic aspects (supports, atoms, densities), combinatorial aspects (functional transforms, moments, partitions), and a discussion of the relation with random matrices and quantum groups.