# balena vs RIOT OS

| Attribute | balena | RIOT OS |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 51.7 (43% (low)) | 48.2 (29% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | - | 100 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | - | 0 |
| adoption.github_stars | - | 5,816 |
| 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":"A lightweight, modular OS designed to enable secure, distributed IoT applications across microcontrollers and edge devices. It abstracts hardware differences through vendor-agnostic APIs while supporting both cloud-connected and decentralized network architectures. It is indexed under Embedded IOT Dev.","source":"https://riot-os.org","question":"What is RIOT OS?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"RIOT OS is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the LGPL-2.1 licence. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://riot-os.org","question":"Is RIOT OS free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"RIOT OS supports Windows, macOS and Linux. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://riot-os.org","question":"What platforms does RIOT OS support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. RIOT OS can be deployed on-premise and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://riot-os.org","question":"Can RIOT OS be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed GDPR for RIOT OS. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as RIOT OS not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://riot-os.org/assets/keys/security.asc","question":"What security certifications does RIOT OS have?","confidence":0.7},{"answer":"Yes. RIOT OS is published under the LGPL-2.1 licence, a copyleft licence, so check its terms before embedding it in a closed-source product. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://github.com/riot-os/RIOT","question":"Is RIOT OS open source?","confidence":0.95}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true,"self_hosted":true}` | `{"on_prem":true,"self_hosted":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. | Free, open-source operating system for low-power IoT and embedded devices, enabling secure, connected applications with multi-threading, cryptographic modules, and firmware updates. |
| features.capabilities | `{"open_source":true,"ota_updates":true,"device_management_console":true}` | `{"open_source":true,"ota_updates":true,"rust_support":true,"target_class":"microcontroller/RTOS","tls_dtls_stack":true,"low_power_support":true}` |
| integrations.count | 2 | 2 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"GitHub","native":true,"category":"auth","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"Google","native":true,"category":"auth","direction":"inbound"}]` | `[{"name":"LwM2M"},{"name":"wolfSSL","native":true,"category":"security"},{"name":"wolfCrypt","native":true,"category":"security"}]` |
| language.primary | - | C |
| license.spdx | - | LGPL-2.1 |
| market.availability | `{"hqCountry":"GB","primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"mac":true,"web":true,"linux":true,"windows":true}` | `{"mac":true,"linux":true,"windows":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":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://riot-os.org","retrievedAt":"2026-08-20T16:36:24.432Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | freemium | open_source |
| pricing.price_level | high | free |
| pricing.starting_price | `{"amount":159,"currency":"USD"}` | - |
| pricing.transparent | yes | - |
| release.cadence_days | - | 88 |
| release.history | - | `[{"url":"https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT/releases/tag/2026.07","date":"2026-08-21T07:49:39Z","type":"stable","version":"2026.07"},{"url":"https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT/releases/tag/2026.04.01","date":"2026-05-22T09:39:42Z","type":"stable","version":"2026.04.01"},{"url":"https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT/releases/tag/2026.04","date":"2026-05-06T13:59:35Z","type":"stable","version":"2026.04"},{"url":"https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT/releases/tag/2026.01","date":"2026-02-10T09:28:23Z","type":"stable","version":"2026.01"},{"url":"https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT/releases/tag/2025.10","date":"2025-12-06T13:46:06Z","type":"stable","version":"2025.10"},{"url":"https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT/releases/tag/2025.07","date":"2025-08-04T07:31:31Z","type":"stable","version":"2025.07"},{"url":"https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT/releases/tag/2025.04","date":"2025-04-29T11:42:43Z","type":"stable","version":"2025.04"},{"url":"https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT/releases/tag/2025.01","date":"2025-02-04T15:34:41Z","type":"stable","version":"2025.01"},{"url":"https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT/releases/tag/2024.10","date":"2024-11-29T20:59:58Z","type":"stable","version":"2024.10"},{"url":"https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT/releases/tag/2024.07","date":"2024-07-31T07:55:30Z","type":"stable","version":"2024.07"},{"url":"https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT/releases/tag/2024.04","date":"2024-05-07T11:26:58Z","type":"stable","version":"2024.04"},{"url":"https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT/releases/tag/2024.01","date":"2024-02-08T16:58:21Z","type":"stable","version":"2024.01"},{"url":"https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT/releases/tag/2023.10","date":"2023-11-21T08:38:21Z","type":"stable","version":"2023.10"},{"url":"https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT/releases/tag/2023.07","date":"2023-08-13T19:23:37Z","type":"stable","version":"2023.07"},{"url":"https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT/releases/tag/2023.04","date":"2023-04-28T06:34:21Z","type":"stable","version":"2023.04"},{"url":"https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT/releases/tag/2023.01","date":"2023-01-31T15:06:45Z","type":"stable","version":"2023.01"},{"url":"https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT/releases/tag/2022.10","date":"2022-12-02T15:31:28Z","type":"stable","version":"2022.10"},{"url":"https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT/releases/tag/2022.07","date":"2022-08-29T13:47:12Z","type":"stable","version":"2022.07"},{"url":"https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT/releases/tag/2022.04","date":"2022-05-09T12:04:28Z","type":"stable","version":"2022.04"},{"url":"https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT/releases/tag/2022.01","date":"2022-02-01T11:43:13Z","type":"stable","version":"2022.01"}]` |
| reliability.status_page | yes | - |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | - |
| security.gdpr | yes | yes |
| security.trust_center | https://www.balena.io/security | - |
| security.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,"max_severity":null}` |

## Capabilities (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 | - | ✓ |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T02:36:19.877Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*