# balena vs Memfault

| Attribute | balena | Memfault |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 51.7 (43% (low)) | 51.6 (55% (medium)) |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"Balena is a platform and toolkit for developing, deploying, and managing containerized applications on IoT devices at scale. It includes SDKs, CLI tools, cloud hosting (balenaCloud), and an open-source self-hosted option (open-balena). It is indexed under Embedded IOT Dev.","source":"https://www.balena.io","question":"What is balena?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"balena offers a free tier, so you can start without paying. Paid plans start at $2 per device per month. Prices are published openly on the vendor's own pricing page. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://www.balena.io/pricing","question":"Is balena free?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"balena supports the web and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://www.balena.io/pricing","question":"What platforms does balena support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. balena can be deployed cloud / SaaS and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://www.balena.io","question":"Can balena be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed GDPR for balena. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as balena not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://www.balena.io/security","question":"What security certifications does balena have?","confidence":0.7},{"answer":"balena is available worldwide. The vendor is headquartered in the United Kingdom.","source":"https://www.balena.io/pricing","question":"Where is balena available?","confidence":0.75}]` | `[{"answer":"Provides SDKs and services for observability, crash reporting, logging, and over-the-air updates across embedded systems, embedded Linux, and Android devices. It is indexed under Embedded IOT Dev.","source":"https://memfault.com","question":"What is Memfault?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Memfault offers a free tier, so you can start without paying. Paid plans start at $6695 per month. Prices are published openly on the vendor's own pricing page. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://memfault.com/pricing/","question":"Is Memfault free?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Memfault supports Linux, Android and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://memfault.com","question":"What platforms does Memfault support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have only confirmed a cloud / SaaS deployment for Memfault, so it appears to be vendor-hosted. If a self-hosted option exists we have not found it documented publicly.","source":"https://memfault.com/pricing/","question":"Can Memfault be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 6 integrations for Memfault, including 1NCE, Jira, Golioth, Texas Instruments, Google and NXP. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://memfault.com/pricing/","question":"What does Memfault integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed SOC 2 and GDPR for Memfault. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as Memfault not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://memfault.com/news/memfault-achieves-soc-2-type-ii-compliance/","question":"What security certifications does Memfault have?","confidence":0.7},{"answer":"Memfault is available worldwide. The vendor is headquartered in the United States.","source":"https://memfault.com/pricing/","question":"Where is Memfault available?","confidence":0.75}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true,"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true}` |
| description.long | Balena is an IoT device management platform that helps developers containerize and deploy applications to edge devices with built-in security controls. It provides fleet management capabilities, remote updates, device lifecycle security, and compliance features for IoT deployments. | A cloud platform for monitoring deployed IoT and embedded device health with crash reporting, logging analytics, and over-the-air updates. It enables device manufacturers to ensure security compliance and troubleshoot fleet issues efficiently. |
| features.capabilities | `{"open_source":true,"ota_updates":true,"device_management_console":true}` | `{"open_source":true,"ota_updates":true,"target_class":"both","device_management_console":true}` |
| integrations.count | 2 | 6 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"GitHub","native":true,"category":"auth","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"Google","native":true,"category":"auth","direction":"inbound"}]` | `[{"name":"1NCE"},{"name":"Jira"},{"name":"Golioth"},{"name":"Texas Instruments"},{"name":"Google"},{"name":"NXP"}]` |
| market.availability | `{"hqCountry":"GB","primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | `{"hqCountry":"US","primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"mac":true,"web":true,"linux":true,"windows":true}` | `{"cli":true,"web":true,"linux":true,"android":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"subscription","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Free","summary":"$0/year, up to 10 devices","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":0,"period":"year","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"devices":"10"}},{"free":false,"name":"Prototype","summary":"$159/month ($1,720/year with $188 savings), includes 30 devices, $3/month per additional device","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":159,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"device","amount":3,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"devices":"30"}},{"free":false,"name":"Pilot","summary":"$329/month ($3,588/year with $360 savings), includes 60 devices, $2/month per additional device","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":329,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"device","amount":2,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"devices":"60"}},{"free":false,"name":"Production","summary":"$1,439/month ($15,588/year with $1,680 savings), includes 110 devices, $2/month per additional device, annual commitment required","commitment":"annual","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":1439,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"device","amount":2,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"devices":"110"}},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise","summary":"Custom pricing and deployment options including 24/7 dedicated support","contactSales":true}],"summary":"Free tier with 10 devices. Paid plans from $159/month. Annual billing available with discounts.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.balena.io/pricing","retrievedAt":"2026-08-19T09:04:42.975Z","startingPrice":{"amount":159,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month","year"]}` | `{"type":"subscription","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Developer","summary":"Free for up to 10 development devices, then pay-as-you-go","features":["1,000 reporting devices","2 monitored chips per device","2 product architectures","20 users","Standard user roles","Google SSO","10 metrics","20 custom metric charts","Staged rollouts","Delta updates","Log collection","OTA update management"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":0,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Free tier for teams building on Nordic low-power wireless solutions","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"development_devices":"10"}},{"free":false,"name":"Growth","summary":"$3,495/month. 30-day data retention with core features.","features":["1,000 reporting devices","2 monitored chips per device","2 product architectures","10 users","Standard user roles","Google SSO","10 metrics","20 custom metric charts","Staged rollouts","Delta updates","Log collection","OTA update management","Standard support","Jira integration"],"minSeats":10,"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":3495,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"For teams growing their device fleet with basic observability features","contactSales":true,"includedLimits":{"chip_integrations":"2","reporting_devices":"1,000","data_retention_days":"30","device_architectures":"1"}},{"free":false,"name":"Scale","summary":"$6,695/month. Advanced features for multiple product lines.","features":["Everything in Growth","45 days data retention","2 chip integrations","2 device architectures","25 users","Advanced user roles","SAML SSO","20 metrics","Unlimited metric charts","50 device attributes","Accelerated update delivery","Priority support","Cloud service SLA"],"minSeats":25,"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":6695,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"For teams operating multiple product lines at scale","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"chip_integrations":"2","reporting_devices":"1,000","data_retention_days":"45","device_architectures":"2"}},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise","summary":"Custom pricing. Full platform access with dedicated support.","features":["Everything in Scale","60 days data retention","Uncapped chip integrations","Uncapped product architectures","50 users","Advanced permissions","50 metrics","Unlimited custom alerts","Unlimited cohorts","150 device attributes","Enterprise SLA","Dedicated Slack support"],"minSeats":50,"description":"For large organizations deploying across all product lines with custom requirements","contactSales":true,"includedLimits":{"data_retention_days":"60"}}],"summary":"From $3,495/month. Free developer tier for up to 10 development devices.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://memfault.com/pricing/","retrievedAt":"2026-08-20T12:18:03.942Z","startingPrice":{"amount":6695,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month"]}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | freemium | freemium |
| pricing.price_level | high | high |
| pricing.starting_price | `{"amount":159,"currency":"USD"}` | `{"amount":6695,"currency":"USD"}` |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| reliability.status_page | yes | - |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | - |
| security.gdpr | yes | yes |
| security.soc2 | - | yes |
| security.trust_center | https://www.balena.io/security | https://memfault.com/blog/q3-launch-week-wrap-up-improving-security-compliance-logging-analytics-and-partnerships/ |

## Capabilities (Embedded IOT Dev)

| Capability | balena | Memfault |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **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 2026-10-16T19:27:13.548Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*