This paper presents three-dimensional free vibration analysis of isotropic rectangular plates with any thicknesses and arbitrary boundary conditions using the B-spline Ritz method based on the theory of elasticity. The proposed method is formulated by the Ritz procedure with a triplicate series of B-spline functions as amplitude displacement components. The geometric boundary conditions are numerically satisfied by the method of artificial spring. To demonstrate the convergence and accuracy of the present method, several examples with various boundary conditions are solved, and the results are compared with other published solutions by exact and other numerical methods based on the theory of elasticity and various plate theories. Rapid, stable convergences as well as high accuracy are obtained by the present method. The effects of geometric parameters on the vibrational behavior of cantilevered rectangular plates are also investigated. The results reported here may serve as benchmark data for finite element solutions and future developments in numerical methods. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.