Comparison

RIOT OS vs Zephyr RTOS

On the evidence we track, Zephyr RTOS leads this comparison with a composite score of 53/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

Machine formatsJSONMarkdownGraphQLor send Accept: application/json
RIOT OS36
Zephyr RTOS53
Score
Vioscale score
RIOT OS36 / 100low · 23%
Zephyr RTOS53 / 100low · 40%
Pricing
Free tier
RIOT OS
Zephyr RTOS
Model
Zephyr RTOScommercial
Price level
RIOT OSfree
Zephyr RTOSfree
Transparent
RIOT OS
Zephyr RTOS
Integrations
Count
RIOT OS1
Zephyr RTOS1
Adoption
Dependent repos
RIOT OS0
Zephyr RTOS0
Github stars
RIOT OS5,778
Zephyr RTOS16,315
Activity
Commits last 30d
RIOT OS100
Zephyr RTOS100
Release
Cadence days
RIOT OS88
Zephyr RTOS6
History
RIOT OS20 items
Zephyr RTOS20 items
License
Spdx
RIOT OSLGPL-2.1
Zephyr RTOSApache-2.0
Language
Primary
RIOT OSC
Zephyr RTOSC
Market
Availability

Capabilities

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

Capabilities
Target class
RIOT OS-
Zephyr RTOSBoth
Rtos type
RIOT OS-
Zephyr RTOS-
Low power support
RIOT OS-
Zephyr RTOS-
Tls dtls stack
RIOT OS-
Zephyr RTOS-
Ota updates
RIOT OS-
Zephyr RTOS-
Device management console
RIOT OS-
Zephyr RTOS-
Device provisioning
RIOT OS-
Zephyr RTOS-
Open source
RIOT OS-
Zephyr RTOS
PSA certified
RIOT OS-
Zephyr RTOS-
Rust support
RIOT OS-
Zephyr RTOS-

What each one is

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

RIOT OS

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.

Independently observed

Zephyr RTOS

Leader

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.

Independently observed

Pricing

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

RIOT OS

Open sourceFree tier
as of verify ↗

Zephyr RTOS

Leader
Open sourceFree tier
as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

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

Platforms
macOS
RIOT OS
Zephyr RTOS
Windows
RIOT OS
Zephyr RTOS
Linux
RIOT OS
Zephyr RTOS
Deployment
Self-hosted
RIOT OS
Zephyr RTOS
On-premise
RIOT OS
Zephyr RTOS

Integrations

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

RIOT OS

1 total
  • LwM2M
Independently observed

Zephyr RTOS

Leader
1 total
  • PlatformIO
Independently observed

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