<PAGE>

                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

                              --------------------
                                    FORM S-8

                             REGISTRATION STATEMENT
                                      UNDER
                           THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933


                                   ESOFT, INC.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
             (Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)


                                    Delaware
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
         (State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization)


                                   84-0938960
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                      (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)


        295 Interlocken Boulevard, Suite 500, Broomfield, Colorado 80021
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
               (Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code)


                        2000 Employee Stock Purchase Plan
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                            (Full Title of the Plan)


                                  Jeffrey Finn
                      President and Chief Executive Officer
                                   eSoft, Inc.
                      295 Interlocken Boulevard, Suite 500
                           Broomfield, Colorado 80021
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                     (Name and Address of Agent for Service)


                                 (303) 444-1600
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
          (Telephone Number, Including Area Code, of Agent for Service)


                                   Copies to:

                               Wendy W. Tuey, Esq.
                               Cooley Godward LLP
                        2595 Canyon Boulevard, Suite 250
                             Boulder, Colorado 80302
                                 (303) 546-4000

<PAGE>

                         CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                             Proposed Maximum         Proposed Maximum
Title of Securities      Amount to be         Offering Price          Aggregate Offering           Amount of
 to be Registered         Registered           Per Share (1)                Price              Registration Fee
-------------------      ------------        ----------------         ------------------       ----------------
<S>                      <C>                 <C>                      <C>                      <C>
Common Stock ($.01
par value per share)       1,244,592            $1.71095                 $2,129,434.68             $562.17

</TABLE>

(1)  Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the amount of the
     registration fee pursuant to Rule 457(h). The price per share and aggregate
     offering price are based upon the average of the high and low prices of our
     common stock on November 30, 2000, as reported on the Nasdaq National
     Market.


                                       2
<PAGE>

                 INCORPORATION OF CERTAIN DOCUMENTS BY REFERENCE

     The following documents filed by us with the Securities and Exchange
Commission are incorporated by reference into this Registration Statement:

     (a)  Our latest annual report on Form 10-KSB filed pursuant to Section
13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange
Act").

     (b)  All other reports filed pursuant to Sections 13(a) or 15(d) of the
Exchange Act since the end of the fiscal year covered by the annual reports, the
prospectus or the registration statement referred to in (a) above.

     (c)  The description of our Common Stock which is contained in a
registration statement filed under the Exchange Act, including any amendment or
report filed for the purpose of updating such description.

     (d)  All documents subsequently filed by us pursuant to Sections 13(a),
13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Exchange Act, prior to the filing of a post-effective
amendment which indicates that all of the securities offered hereby have been
sold or which deregisters all such securities then remaining unsold, shall be
deemed to be incorporated by reference herein and to be a part of this
registration statement from the date of the filing of such reports and
documents.

     Any statement contained in a document incorporated, or deemed to be
incorporated, by reference herein or contained in this Registration Statement
shall be deemed to be modified or superseded for purposes of this Registration
Statement to the extent that a statement contained herein or in any other
subsequently filed document which also is, or is deemed to be, incorporated by
reference herein modifies or supersedes such statement. Any such statement so
modified or superseded shall not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded,
to constitute a part of this Registration Statement.

                            DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES

     Not applicable.

                     INTERESTS OF NAMED EXPERTS AND COUNSEL

     Not applicable.

                    INDEMNIFICATION OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS

     The Company's Bylaws and Certificate of Incorporation provide that the
Company shall, to the full extent permitted by the General Corporation Law of
the State of Delaware, as amended from time to time, indemnify all directors and
officers of the Company. Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law
provides in part that a corporation shall have the power to indemnify any person
who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened,
pending or completed action, suit or proceeding (other than an action by or in
the right of the corporation) by reason of the fact that such person is or was a
director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation or is or was serving at
the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of
another corporation or other enterprise, against expenses (including attorneys'
fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably
incurred by him in connection with such action, suit or proceeding if he acted
in good faith and in a manner he reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to
the best interests of the

                                       3
<PAGE>

corporation, and with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had no
reasonable cause to believe his conduct was unlawful.

     Similar indemnity is authorized for such persons against expenses
(including attorneys' fees) actually and reasonably incurred in defense or
settlement of any threatened, pending or completed action or suit by or in the
right of the corporation, if such person acted in good faith and in a manner he
reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the
corporation, and provided further that (unless a court of competent jurisdiction
otherwise provides) such person shall not have been adjudged liable to the
corporation. Any such indemnification may be made only as authorized in each
specific case upon a determination by the stockholders or disinterested
directors that indemnification is proper because the indemnitee has met the
applicable standard of conduct.

     Additionally, the Certificate of Incorporation eliminates in certain
circumstances the monetary liability of directors of the Company for a breach of
their fiduciary duty as directors. This provision does not eliminate the
liability of a director (i) for a breach of the director's duty of loyalty to
the Company or its stockholders; (ii) for acts or omissions by the director not
in good faith or which involve intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of
law; (iii) for liability arising under Section 174 of the Delaware General
Corporation Law (relating to the declaration of dividends and purchase or
redemption of shares in violation of the Delaware General Corporation Law); or
(iv) for any transaction from which the director derived an improper personal
benefit.

                       EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION CLAIMED

     Not applicable.

                                    EXHIBITS

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Exhibit Number      Description
--------------      -----------
<S>                 <C>
 5.1                Opinion of Cooley Godward LLP.
23.1                Consent of BDO Seidman, LLP.
23.2                Consent of Cooley Godward LLP (included in Exhibit 5.1).
24                  Power of Attorney (included on Pages 6 and 7).
99.1                2000 Employee Stock Purchase Plan.

</TABLE>

                                  UNDERTAKINGS

     1.   The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes:

          (a)  To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being
     made, a post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement:

               (i)  To include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of
          the Securities Act;

                                       4
<PAGE>

               (ii) To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising
          after the effective date of the Registration Statement (or the most
          recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the
          aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth
          in the Registration Statement;

               (iii) To include any material information with respect to the
          plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the Registration
          Statement or any material change to such information in the
          Registration Statement;

     provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(i) and (a)(ii) do not apply if the
     information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those
     paragraphs is contained in periodic reports filed with or furnished to the
     Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the
     Exchange Act that are incorporated by reference in the Registration
     Statement.

          (b)  That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the
     Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a
     new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and
     the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the
     initial bona fide offering thereof.

          (c)  To remove from registration by means of a post-effective
     amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the
     termination of the offering.

     2.   The Registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any
liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the Registrant's annual
report pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act (and, where
applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan's annual report pursuant to
Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act) that is incorporated by reference in the
Registration Statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement
relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities
at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

     3.   Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the
Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons
of the Registrant, the Registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the
Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy
as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the
event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the
payment by the Registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or
controlling person of the Registrant in the successful defense of any action,
suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person
in connection with the securities being registered, the Registrant will, unless
in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling
precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether
such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the
Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

                                       5
<PAGE>

                                   SIGNATURES

     Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the
Registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all
of the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this Registration
Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly
authorized, in the City of Broomfield, State of Colorado, on the 5th day of
December, 2000.


                                       ESOFT, INC.


                                       By: /s/ Jeffrey Finn
                                           ----------------------------
                                           Jeffrey Finn
                                           President and Chief Executive Officer


                                POWER OF ATTORNEY

     KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature
appears below constitutes and appoints Jeffrey Finn and Amy Beth Hansman, and
each of them, as his true and lawful attorneys-in-fact and agents, with full
power of substitution and resubstitution, for him and in his name, place and
stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any and all amendments (including
post-effective amendments) to this Registration Statement, and to file the same,
with all exhibits thereto, and all documents in connection therewith, with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and
agents full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing
requisite and necessary to be done in connection therewith, as fully to all
intents and purposes as he might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and
confirming all that said attorneys-in-fact and agents, or any of them, or their
or his substitutes or substitute, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue
hereof.

                                       6
<PAGE>

     Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended,
this Registration Statement has been signed by the following persons in the
capacities and on the dates indicated.


      Signature                    Title                             Date
      ---------                    -----                             ----

/s/ Jeffrey Finn         President, Chief Executive           December 5, 2000
--------------------     Officer and Director (Principal
Jeffrey Finn             Executive Officer)


/s/ Amy Beth Hansman     Chief Accounting Officer             December 5, 2000
--------------------     (Principal Financial and
Amy Beth Hansman         Accounting Officer)


/s/ Richard Eyestone     Director                             December 5, 2000
--------------------
Richard Eyestone


                         Director                             December ___, 2000
--------------------
Frederick Frank


/s/ Richard Rice         Director                             December 5, 2000
--------------------
Richard Rice


/s/ James DeSorrento     Director                             December 5, 2000
--------------------
James DeSorrento



                                       7
<PAGE>

                                  EXHIBIT INDEX

<TABLE>
<S>            <C>
 5.1           Opinion of Cooley Godward LLP.

23.1           Consent of BDO Seidman, LLP.

23.2           Consent of Cooley Godward LLP (included in Exhibit 5.1).

24             Power of Attorney (included on Page 6).

99.1           2000 Employee Stock Purchase Plan.
</TABLE>


                                       8
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{"company-data": {"conformed-name": "ESOFT INC", "cik": "0001047406", "assigned-sic": "7372", "irs-number": "841093721", "state-of-incorporation": "DE", "fiscal-year-end": "1231"}, "filing-values": {"form-type": "S-8", "act": "33", "file-number": "333-51312", "film-number": "783827"}, "business-address": {"street1": "295 INTERLOCKEN BOULEVARD SUITE 500", "city": "BROOMFIELD", "state": "CO", "zip": "80021", "phone": "3034441600"}, "mail-address": {"street1": "295 INTERLOCKEN BOULEVARD SUITE 500", "city": "BROOMFIELD", "state": "CO", "zip": "80021"}}
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

                              --------------------
                                    FORM S-8

                             REGISTRATION STATEMENT
                                      UNDER
                           THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

                                   ESOFT, INC.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
             (Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

                                    Delaware
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
         (State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization)

                                   84-0938960
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                      (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

        295 Interlocken Boulevard, Suite 500, Broomfield, Colorado 80021
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
               (Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code)

                        2000 Employee Stock Purchase Plan
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                            (Full Title of the Plan)

                                  Jeffrey Finn
                      President and Chief Executive Officer
                                   eSoft, Inc.
                      295 Interlocken Boulevard, Suite 500
                           Broomfield, Colorado 80021
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                     (Name and Address of Agent for Service)

                                 (303) 444-1600
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
          (Telephone Number, Including Area Code, of Agent for Service)

                                   Copies to:

                               Wendy W. Tuey, Esq.
                               Cooley Godward LLP
                        2595 Canyon Boulevard, Suite 250
                             Boulder, Colorado 80302
                                 (303) 546-4000
CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE
Proposed Maximum         Proposed Maximum
Title of Securities      Amount to be         Offering Price          Aggregate Offering           Amount of
 to be Registered         Registered           Per Share (1)                Price              Registration Fee
-------------------      ------------        ----------------         ------------------       ----------------
Common Stock ($.01
par value per share)       1,244,592            $1.71095                 $2,129,434.68             $562.17
(1)  Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the amount of the
     registration fee pursuant to Rule 457(h). The price per share and aggregate
     offering price are based upon the average of the high and low prices of our
     common stock on November 30, 2000, as reported on the Nasdaq National
     Market.

                                       2
INCORPORATION OF CERTAIN DOCUMENTS BY REFERENCE

     The following documents filed by us with the Securities and Exchange
Commission are incorporated by reference into this Registration Statement:

     (a)  Our latest annual report on Form 10-KSB filed pursuant to Section
13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange
Act").

     (b)  All other reports filed pursuant to Sections 13(a) or 15(d) of the
Exchange Act since the end of the fiscal year covered by the annual reports, the
prospectus or the registration statement referred to in (a) above.

     (c)  The description of our Common Stock which is contained in a
registration statement filed under the Exchange Act, including any amendment or
report filed for the purpose of updating such description.

     (d)  All documents subsequently filed by us pursuant to Sections 13(a),
13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Exchange Act, prior to the filing of a post-effective
amendment which indicates that all of the securities offered hereby have been
sold or which deregisters all such securities then remaining unsold, shall be
deemed to be incorporated by reference herein and to be a part of this
registration statement from the date of the filing of such reports and
documents.

     Any statement contained in a document incorporated, or deemed to be
incorporated, by reference herein or contained in this Registration Statement
shall be deemed to be modified or superseded for purposes of this Registration
Statement to the extent that a statement contained herein or in any other
subsequently filed document which also is, or is deemed to be, incorporated by
reference herein modifies or supersedes such statement. Any such statement so
modified or superseded shall not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded,
to constitute a part of this Registration Statement.

                            DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES

     Not applicable.

                     INTERESTS OF NAMED EXPERTS AND COUNSEL

     Not applicable.

                    INDEMNIFICATION OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS

     The Company's Bylaws and Certificate of Incorporation provide that the
Company shall, to the full extent permitted by the General Corporation Law of
the State of Delaware, as amended from time to time, indemnify all directors and
officers of the Company. Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law
provides in part that a corporation shall have the power to indemnify any person
who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened,
pending or completed action, suit or proceeding (other than an action by or in
the right of the corporation) by reason of the fact that such person is or was a
director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation or is or was serving at
the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of
another corporation or other enterprise, against expenses (including attorneys'
fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably
incurred by him in connection with such action, suit or proceeding if he acted
in good faith and in a manner he reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to
the best interests of the

                                       3
corporation, and with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had no
reasonable cause to believe his conduct was unlawful.

     Similar indemnity is authorized for such persons against expenses
(including attorneys' fees) actually and reasonably incurred in defense or
settlement of any threatened, pending or completed action or suit by or in the
right of the corporation, if such person acted in good faith and in a manner he
reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the
corporation, and provided further that (unless a court of competent jurisdiction
otherwise provides) such person shall not have been adjudged liable to the
corporation. Any such indemnification may be made only as authorized in each
specific case upon a determination by the stockholders or disinterested
directors that indemnification is proper because the indemnitee has met the
applicable standard of conduct.

     Additionally, the Certificate of Incorporation eliminates in certain
circumstances the monetary liability of directors of the Company for a breach of
their fiduciary duty as directors. This provision does not eliminate the
liability of a director (i) for a breach of the director's duty of loyalty to
the Company or its stockholders; (ii) for acts or omissions by the director not
in good faith or which involve intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of
law; (iii) for liability arising under Section 174 of the Delaware General
Corporation Law (relating to the declaration of dividends and purchase or
redemption of shares in violation of the Delaware General Corporation Law); or
(iv) for any transaction from which the director derived an improper personal
benefit.

                       EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION CLAIMED

     Not applicable.

                                    EXHIBITS
Exhibit Number      Description
--------------      -----------
5.1                Opinion of Cooley Godward LLP.
23.1                Consent of BDO Seidman, LLP.
23.2                Consent of Cooley Godward LLP (included in Exhibit 5.1).
24                  Power of Attorney (included on Pages 6 and 7).
99.1                2000 Employee Stock Purchase Plan.
UNDERTAKINGS

     1.   The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes:

          (a)  To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being
     made, a post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement:

               (i)  To include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of
          the Securities Act;

                                       4
(ii) To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising
          after the effective date of the Registration Statement (or the most
          recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the
          aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth
          in the Registration Statement;

               (iii) To include any material information with respect to the
          plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the Registration
          Statement or any material change to such information in the
          Registration Statement;

     provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(i) and (a)(ii) do not apply if the
     information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those
     paragraphs is contained in periodic reports filed with or furnished to the
     Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the
     Exchange Act that are incorporated by reference in the Registration
     Statement.

          (b)  That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the
     Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a
     new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and
     the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the
     initial bona fide offering thereof.

          (c)  To remove from registration by means of a post-effective
     amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the
     termination of the offering.

     2.   The Registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any
liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the Registrant's annual
report pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act (and, where
applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan's annual report pursuant to
Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act) that is incorporated by reference in the
Registration Statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement
relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities
at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

     3.   Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the
Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons
of the Registrant, the Registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the
Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy
as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the
event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the
payment by the Registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or
controlling person of the Registrant in the successful defense of any action,
suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person
in connection with the securities being registered, the Registrant will, unless
in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling
precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether
such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the
Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

                                       5
SIGNATURES

     Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the
Registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all
of the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this Registration
Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly
authorized, in the City of Broomfield, State of Colorado, on the 5th day of
December, 2000.

                                       ESOFT, INC.

                                       By: /s/ Jeffrey Finn
                                           ----------------------------
                                           Jeffrey Finn
                                           President and Chief Executive Officer

                                POWER OF ATTORNEY

     KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature
appears below constitutes and appoints Jeffrey Finn and Amy Beth Hansman, and
each of them, as his true and lawful attorneys-in-fact and agents, with full
power of substitution and resubstitution, for him and in his name, place and
stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any and all amendments (including
post-effective amendments) to this Registration Statement, and to file the same,
with all exhibits thereto, and all documents in connection therewith, with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and
agents full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing
requisite and necessary to be done in connection therewith, as fully to all
intents and purposes as he might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and
confirming all that said attorneys-in-fact and agents, or any of them, or their
or his substitutes or substitute, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue
hereof.

                                       6
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended,
this Registration Statement has been signed by the following persons in the
capacities and on the dates indicated.

      Signature                    Title                             Date
      ---------                    -----                             ----

/s/ Jeffrey Finn         President, Chief Executive           December 5, 2000
--------------------     Officer and Director (Principal
Jeffrey Finn             Executive Officer)

/s/ Amy Beth Hansman     Chief Accounting Officer             December 5, 2000
--------------------     (Principal Financial and
Amy Beth Hansman         Accounting Officer)

/s/ Richard Eyestone     Director                             December 5, 2000
--------------------
Richard Eyestone

                         Director                             December ___, 2000
--------------------
Frederick Frank

/s/ Richard Rice         Director                             December 5, 2000
--------------------
Richard Rice

/s/ James DeSorrento     Director                             December 5, 2000
--------------------
James DeSorrento

                                       7
EXHIBIT INDEX
5.1           Opinion of Cooley Godward LLP.

23.1           Consent of BDO Seidman, LLP.

23.2           Consent of Cooley Godward LLP (included in Exhibit 5.1).

24             Power of Attorney (included on Page 6).

99.1           2000 Employee Stock Purchase Plan.
8