Comparison

balena vs RIOT OS

No clear leader: balena (51.7) and RIOT OS (48.2) are within the 5-point margin; treat as a tie. The attribute-by-attribute breakdown below, with a source and date on every value, is the honest way to compare them.

balena full profile →RIOT OS full profile →

Machine formatsMarkdownJSONGraphQLMarkdown is open. JSON and GraphQL need a free key.

balena52

RIOT OS48

Attribute comparison across 2 tools
Attribute	balena	RIOT OS
vioscaleAI score	52 / 100low · 43%	48 / 100low · 29%
Pricing
Free tierpricing.free_tier	✓	✓
Modelpricing.model	freemium	open_source
Price levelpricing.price_level	high	free
Starting pricepricing.starting_price	$159	-
Transparentpricing.transparent	✓	-
Integrations
Countintegrations.count	2	2
Security
Disclosure policysecurity.disclosure_policy	✓	-
Gdprsecurity.gdpr	✓	✓
Trust centersecurity.trust_center	https://www.balena.io/security	-
Vulnerabilitiessecurity.vulnerabilities	-	Count: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Friot-os%2FRIOT&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0
Reliability
Status pagereliability.status_page	✓	-
Adoption
Dependent reposadoption.dependent_repos	-	0
Github starsadoption.github_stars	-	5,816
Activity
Commits last 30dactivity.commits_last_30d	-	100
Release
Cadence daysrelease.cadence_days	-	88
Historyrelease.history	-	20 items
License
Spdxlicense.spdx	-	LGPL-2.1
Language
Primarylanguage.primary	-	C
Market
Availabilitymarket.availability	Available worldwide · HQ GB	Available worldwide
Content
Faqcontent.faq	6 items	6 items

Score

vioscaleAI score

balena52 / 100low · 43%

RIOT OS48 / 100low · 29%

Pricing

Free tier

balena✓

RIOT OS✓

Model

balenafreemium

RIOT OSopen_source

Price level

balenahigh

RIOT OSfree

Starting price

balena$159

RIOT OS–

Transparent

balena✓

RIOT OS–

Integrations

Count

balena2

RIOT OS2

Security

Disclosure policy

balena✓

RIOT OS–

Gdpr

balena✓

RIOT OS✓

Trust center

balenahttps://www.balena.io/security

RIOT OS–

Vulnerabilities

balena–

RIOT OSCount: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Friot-os%2FRIOT&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0

Reliability

Status page

balena✓

RIOT OS–

Adoption

Dependent repos

balena–

RIOT OS0

Github stars

balena–

RIOT OS5,816

Activity

Commits last 30d

balena–

RIOT OS100

Release

Cadence days

balena–

RIOT OS88

History

balena–

RIOT OS20 items

License

Spdx

balena–

RIOT OSLGPL-2.1

Language

Primary

balena–

RIOT OSC

Market

Availability

balenaAvailable worldwide · HQ GB

RIOT OSAvailable worldwide

Content

Faq

balena6 items

RIOT OS6 items

Capabilities

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

Capability comparison for Embedded IOT Dev
Capability	balena	RIOT OS
Capabilities
Target class	-	Microcontroller/RTOS
Rtos type	-	-
Low power support	-	✓
Tls dtls stack	-	✓
Ota updates	✓	✓
Device management console	✓	-
Device provisioning	-	-
Open source	✓	✓
PSA certified	-	-
Rust support	-	✓

Capabilities

Target class

balena-

RIOT OSMicrocontroller/RTOS

Rtos type

balena-

RIOT OS-

Low power support

balena-

RIOT OS✓

Tls dtls stack

balena-

RIOT OS✓

Ota updates

balena✓

RIOT OS✓

Device management console

balena✓

RIOT OS-

Device provisioning

balena-

RIOT OS-

Open source

balena✓

RIOT OS✓

PSA certified

balena-

RIOT OS-

Rust support

balena-

RIOT OS✓

What each one is

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

balena

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.

Independently observed

RIOT OS

Free, open-source operating system for low-power IoT and embedded devices, enabling secure, connected applications with multi-threading, cryptographic modules, and firmware updates.

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 2026-08-19verify ↗

RIOT OS

Open sourceFree tier

as of 2026-08-20verify ↗

Platform & deployment

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

Platform and deployment support comparison
Supports	balena	RIOT OS
WebPlatforms	✓	✗
macOSPlatforms	✓	✓
WindowsPlatforms	✓	✓
LinuxPlatforms	✓	✓
CLIPlatforms	✓	✗
Cloud / SaaSDeployment	✓	✗
Self-hostedDeployment	✓	✓
On-premiseDeployment	✗	✓

Platforms

Web

balena✓

RIOT OS✗

macOS

balena✓

RIOT OS✓

Windows

balena✓

RIOT OS✓

Linux

balena✓

RIOT OS✓

CLI

balena✓

RIOT OS✗

Deployment

Cloud / SaaS

balena✓

RIOT OS✗

Self-hosted

balena✓

RIOT OS✓

On-premise

balena✗

RIOT OS✓

Integrations

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

balena

2 total

GitHub
Google

Independently observed

RIOT OS

3 total

LwM2M
wolfSSL
wolfCrypt

Independently observed

Still deciding?

balena or RIOT OS: which one depends on you

A composite score cannot know your constraints. Describe them and both get re-weighted against what you actually need, with the evidence behind every position.

Free to run, no account needed to start. How the evaluation works

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