The Commodore 64 is the best-selling single personal computer model of all time.  Released in August 1982 by Commodore Business Machines, the Commodore 64 is commonly referred to as the C64 (sometimes written C= 64 to mimic the Commodore company logo) and occasionally known as CBM 64 (its model designation), C-64 or VIC-64 (a label used by some users, magazine writers, third party advertisements and also by Commodore in Sweden. The original Commodore 64 casing has affectionately been nicknamed the "breadbox" and "bullnose" due to its shape. Introduced by Commodore Business Machines in August 1982 at a price of US$595, it offered 64 kibibytes of RAM with sound and graphics performance that were superior to IBM-compatible computers of that time. During the Commodore 64's lifetime (between 1982 and 1994), sales totaled around 17 million units.

Approximately 10,000 commercial software titles were made for the Commodore 64 including development tools, office applications, and games. The machine is also credited with popularizing the computer demo scene. The Commodore 64 is still used today by many computer hobbyists, and emulators (see here for a list) allow anyone with a modern computer (or even smartphones) to run these programs on their desktop (with varying degrees of success and functionality).

The Commodore 64 is commonly seen as an icon of the 1980s. An example is the introductory movie of the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, which features a Commodore 64 screen which later reveals the Rockstar North logo.