# AWS IoT Core vs Zephyr RTOS

| Attribute | AWS IoT Core | Zephyr RTOS |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 53.4 (56% (medium)) | 48.6 (35% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | - | 100 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | - | 0 |
| adoption.github_stars | - | 16,789 |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"Provides managed connectivity for IoT devices with separate usage-based charges for connection time, message throughput, device metadata storage, and message routing logic. It is indexed under Embedded IOT Dev.","source":"https://aws.amazon.com/iot-core/pricing/?nc=sn&loc=4","question":"What is AWS IoT Core?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"AWS IoT Core offers a free tier, so you can start without paying. Paid plans start at $0.08. Prices are published openly on the vendor's own pricing page. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://aws.amazon.com/iot-core/pricing/?nc=sn&loc=4","question":"Is AWS IoT Core free?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"AWS IoT Core supports the web and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://aws.amazon.com/iot-core/pricing/?nc=sn&loc=4","question":"What platforms does AWS IoT Core support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have only confirmed a cloud / SaaS deployment for AWS IoT Core, so it appears to be vendor-hosted. If a self-hosted option exists we have not found it documented publicly.","source":"https://aws.amazon.com/iot-core/pricing/?nc=sn&loc=4","question":"Can AWS IoT Core be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed HIPAA and GDPR for AWS IoT Core. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as AWS IoT Core not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://aws.amazon.com/trust-center/?nc1=f_cc","question":"What security certifications does AWS IoT Core have?","confidence":0.7}]` | `[{"answer":"Zephyr is a real-time operating system optimized for resource-constrained embedded devices, ranging from simple sensors to sophisticated IoT devices and gateways. It provides a small-footprint kernel supporting multiple processor architectures and is built with security and long-product-lifecycle support as core design principles. It is indexed under Embedded IOT Dev.","source":"https://zephyrproject.org","question":"What is Zephyr RTOS?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Zephyr RTOS is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the Apache-2.0 licence. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://zephyrproject.org","question":"Is Zephyr RTOS free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Zephyr RTOS can be deployed self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://zephyrproject.org","question":"Can Zephyr RTOS be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Zephyr RTOS is published under the Apache-2.0 licence, a permissive licence that generally allows commercial use and modification. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr","question":"Is Zephyr RTOS open source?","confidence":0.95}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true}` | `{"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | An AWS cloud service providing a managed MQTT message broker for securely connecting millions of IoT devices using end-to-end encryption and mutual authentication, with message routing and fleet management capabilities. | An RTOS that enables real-time task management on memory and power-limited embedded devices, supporting a wide range of processor architectures from simple sensors to network-connected applications. |
| features.capabilities | `{"ota_updates":true,"tls_dtls_stack":true}` | `{"open_source":true,"target_class":"both"}` |
| integrations.count | 2 | 1 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Amazon S3","native":true,"category":"storage","direction":"outbound"},{"name":"Amazon CloudWatch","native":true,"category":"monitoring","direction":"outbound"}]` | `[{"name":"PlatformIO"}]` |
| language.primary | - | C |
| license.spdx | - | Apache-2.0 |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"web":true}` | - |
| pricing | `{"type":"usage","plans":[{"free":false,"name":"Pay-as-You-Go","features":["Device connectivity","MQTT and HTTP messaging","Device Shadow state storage","Device registry","Rules engine for message transformation and routing","LoRaWAN support","Amazon Sidewalk connectivity","BLE location resolution","Firmware over-the-air updates"],"components":[{"per":{"qty":1000000,"unit":"connection-minutes"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.08,"currency":"USD"},{"per":{"qty":1000000,"unit":"messages"},"kind":"metered","amount":1,"currency":"USD"},{"per":{"qty":1000000,"unit":"operations"},"kind":"metered","amount":1.25,"currency":"USD"},{"per":{"qty":1000000,"unit":"rules-or-actions"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.15,"currency":"USD"}],"description":"Usage-based pricing with no minimum fees","contactSales":false}],"addOns":[{"name":"BLE Location Lookups","components":[{"per":{"qty":1000,"unit":"locations"},"kind":"metered","amount":1,"currency":"USD"}]},{"name":"Semtech Advanced Transport Services","components":[{"per":{"qty":1,"unit":"MB"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.145,"currency":"USD"}]}],"summary":"Usage-based pricing. Connectivity from $0.08/million connection-minutes, messaging from $1/million messages. 12-month free tier included for new AWS accounts.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://aws.amazon.com/iot-core/pricing/?nc=sn&loc=4","retrievedAt":"2026-09-05T16:14:49.313Z","freeTrialDays":365,"startingPrice":{"unit":"connection-minutes","amount":0.08,"currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month"]}` | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://zephyrproject.org","retrievedAt":"2026-08-21T13:40:59.448Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | freemium | commercial |
| pricing.price_level | low | free |
| pricing.starting_price | `{"amount":0.08,"currency":"USD"}` | - |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| release.cadence_days | - | 6 |
| release.history | - | `[{"url":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/releases/tag/v4.4.2","date":"2026-08-07T15:36:32Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.4.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/releases/tag/v3.7.3-rc1","date":"2026-08-06T00:38:42Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v3.7.3-rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/releases/tag/v4.4.2-rc1","date":"2026-07-29T20:54:38Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v4.4.2-rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/releases/tag/v4.3.1","date":"2026-06-23T12:27:28Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.3.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/releases/tag/v4.3.1-rc1","date":"2026-06-13T07:08:30Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v4.3.1-rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/releases/tag/v4.4.1","date":"2026-06-10T18:06:45Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.4.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/releases/tag/v4.4.1-rc1","date":"2026-06-03T21:23:41Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v4.4.1-rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/releases/tag/v4.4.0","date":"2026-04-14T21:33:16Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.4.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/releases/tag/v4.4.0-rc3","date":"2026-04-08T20:33:53Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v4.4.0-rc3"},{"url":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/releases/tag/v4.4.0-rc2","date":"2026-04-02T21:06:28Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v4.4.0-rc2"},{"url":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/releases/tag/v3.7.2","date":"2026-03-31T19:09:36Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.7.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/releases/tag/v4.4.0-rc1","date":"2026-03-24T23:16:10Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v4.4.0-rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/releases/tag/v4.2.2","date":"2026-03-23T16:05:02Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.2.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/releases/tag/v3.7.2-rc2","date":"2026-03-14T12:19:10Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v3.7.2-rc2"},{"url":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/releases/tag/v4.3.0","date":"2025-11-13T19:56:12Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.3.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/releases/tag/v4.3.0-rc3","date":"2025-11-08T14:43:55Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v4.3.0-rc3"},{"url":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/releases/tag/v4.3.0-rc2","date":"2025-11-01T14:49:19Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v4.3.0-rc2"},{"url":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/releases/tag/v4.3.0-rc1","date":"2025-10-25T14:38:11Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v4.3.0-rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/releases/tag/v4.2.1","date":"2025-10-07T22:55:23Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.2.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/releases/tag/v4.2.0","date":"2025-07-19T01:11:16Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.2.0"}]` |
| security.certifications | `[{"name":"PCI-DSS"},{"name":"HIPAA/HITECH"},{"name":"FedRAMP"},{"name":"GDPR"},{"name":"FIPS 140-3"},{"name":"NIST 800-171"}]` | - |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | - |
| security.fedramp | yes | - |
| security.gdpr | yes | - |
| security.hipaa | yes | - |
| security.pci | yes | - |
| security.scorecard | - | 7.1 |
| security.trust_center | https://aws.amazon.com/security/ | - |
| security.vulnerabilities | - | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fzephyrproject-rtos%2FZephyr&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` |

## Capabilities (Embedded IOT Dev)

| Capability | AWS IoT Core | Zephyr RTOS |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Capabilities** |  |  |
| Target class | - | Both |
| Rtos type | - | - |
| Low power support | - | - |
| Tls dtls stack | ✓ | - |
| Ota updates | ✓ | - |
| Device management console | - | - |
| Device provisioning | - | - |
| Open source | - | ✓ |
| PSA certified | - | - |
| Rust support | - | - |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T20:02:31.293Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*