vioscale
Comparison

balena vs FreeRTOS

No leader: the top candidate balena has only 0.33 confidence (low), below the 0.35 needed to declare a winner. The attribute-by-attribute breakdown below, with a source and date on every value, is the honest way to compare them.

balena full profile →FreeRTOS full profile →
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balena64
FreeRTOS47
Score
Vioscale score
balena64 / 100low · 33%updating
FreeRTOS47 / 100low · 29%updating
Pricing
Free tier
balena✓
FreeRTOS✓
Model
balenafreemium
FreeRTOScommercial
Price level
balenahigh
FreeRTOSfree
Starting price
balena$159
FreeRTOS–
Transparent
balena✓
FreeRTOS–
Integrations
Count
balena–
FreeRTOS8
Security
Disclosure policy
balena✓
FreeRTOS–
Gdpr
balena✓
FreeRTOS–
Reliability
Status page
balena✓
FreeRTOS–
Adoption
Github stars
balena–
FreeRTOS7,722
Activity
Commits last 30d
balena–
FreeRTOS2
Release
Cadence days
balena–
FreeRTOS83
History
balena–
FreeRTOS14 items
License
Spdx
balena–
FreeRTOSMIT
Language
Primary
balena–
FreeRTOSC
Market
Availability

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for embedded iot dev. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Capabilities
Target class
balena-
FreeRTOSMicrocontroller/RTOS
Rtos type
balena-
FreeRTOSPreemptive
Low power support
balena-
FreeRTOS-
Tls dtls stack
balena-
FreeRTOS✓
Ota updates
balena-
FreeRTOS✓
Device management console
balena-
FreeRTOS✓
Device provisioning
balena-
FreeRTOS✓
Open source
balena-
FreeRTOS✓
PSA certified
balena-
FreeRTOS✓
Rust support
balena-
FreeRTOS-

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

balena

A cloud-based platform for developing, deploying, and remotely managing fleets of Linux edge devices using container technology, with integrated security, updates, and fleet monitoring.

Independently observed

FreeRTOS

An open-source real-time operating system designed for resource-constrained microcontrollers and small processors. Offers kernel with multiprocessing, integrated TCP/IP networking with IPv6, and security-validated connectivity libraries for cloud integration.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

balena

from $159/moSubscriptionFree tier

Free tier with 10 devices. Paid plans from $159/month. Annual billing available with discounts.

  • FreeFree
  • Prototype$159/month ($1,720/year with $188 savings), includes 30 devices, $3/month per additional device
  • Pilot$329/month ($3,588/year with $360 savings), includes 60 devices, $2/month per additional device
  • Production$1,439/month ($15,588/year with $1,680 savings), includes 110 devices, $2/month per additional device, annual commitment required
  • EnterpriseContact sales
as of verify ↗

FreeRTOS

Open sourceFree tier

Free (MIT license); commercial support available via OpenRTOS

  • FreeRTOSFree
  • OpenRTOSContact sales
as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platforms
Web
balena✓
FreeRTOS–
CLI
balena✓
FreeRTOS–
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
balena✓
FreeRTOS✗
Self-hosted
balena✗
FreeRTOS✓

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

balena

Not documented yet.

FreeRTOS

8 total
  • AWS IoT Device Shadow
  • AWS IoT Jobs
  • AWS IoT Device Defender
  • AWS IoT Fleet Provisioning
  • AWS IoT OTA
  • MbedTLS
  • WolfSSL
  • Percepio Tracealyzer
Independently observed

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.