# AWS IoT Core vs Zephyr RTOS

| Attribute | AWS IoT Core | Zephyr RTOS |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 70.6 (34% (low)) | 52.8 (40% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | - | 100 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | - | 0 |
| adoption.github_stars | - | 16,315 |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true}` | `{"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | A fully managed AWS service that enables secure device-to-cloud communication using MQTT protocol. Handles millions of simultaneous device connections and trillions of messages without requiring infrastructure management. | 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. |
| features.capabilities | - | `{"open_source":true,"target_class":"both"}` |
| integrations.count | - | 1 |
| integrations.list | - | `[{"name":"PlatformIO"}]` |
| language.primary | - | C |
| license.spdx | - | Apache-2.0 |
| market.availability | `{"hqCountry":"US","primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` | - |
| pricing | `{"type":"usage","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Free Tier","summary":"12 months free","features":["Device connectivity","MQTT messaging","Rules engine","Basic Device Advisor testing","Device Location lookups (up to 1,000)","AWS IoT Core for Amazon Sidewalk (100,000 messages)"],"description":"12 months free usage for new AWS customers, plus up to $200 in credits for first 6 months"},{"free":false,"name":"Pay-as-you-go","summary":"From $0.08 per 1M connection-minutes; messaging at $1.00 per 1M messages","components":[{"per":{"qty":1000000,"unit":"minutes"},"kind":"metered","amount":0.08,"currency":"USD","description":"Device connectivity (connection-time based)"},{"per":{"qty":1000000,"unit":"messages"},"kind":"metered","amount":1,"currency":"USD","description":"MQTT/HTTP messaging (first 1 billion messages per month)"},{"per":{"qty":1000000,"unit":"messages"},"kind":"metered","amount":6,"currency":"USD","description":"AWS IoT Core for Amazon Sidewalk messaging"},{"per":{"qty":1000,"unit":"locations"},"kind":"metered","amount":1,"currency":"USD","description":"Device Location lookups (beyond free tier)"}],"description":"Usage-based pricing after free tier expires"}],"summary":"Free tier for 12 months, then usage-based from $0.08 per 1M connection-minutes","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://aws.amazon.com/iot-core/pricing/?nc=sn&loc=4","retrievedAt":"2026-08-19T09:07:32.398Z","freeTrialDays":365,"startingPrice":{"unit":"minutes","amount":0.08,"currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month"]}` | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://zephyrproject.org","retrievedAt":"2026-08-21T13:40:59.448Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | freemium | commercial |
| pricing.price_level | low | free |
| pricing.starting_price | `{"amount":0.08,"currency":"USD"}` | - |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| release.cadence_days | - | 6 |
| release.history | - | `[{"url":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/releases/tag/v4.4.2","date":"2026-08-07T15:36:32Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.4.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/releases/tag/v3.7.3-rc1","date":"2026-08-06T00:38:42Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v3.7.3-rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/releases/tag/v4.4.2-rc1","date":"2026-07-29T20:54:38Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v4.4.2-rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/releases/tag/v4.3.1","date":"2026-06-23T12:27:28Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.3.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/releases/tag/v4.3.1-rc1","date":"2026-06-13T07:08:30Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v4.3.1-rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/releases/tag/v4.4.1","date":"2026-06-10T18:06:45Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.4.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/releases/tag/v4.4.1-rc1","date":"2026-06-03T21:23:41Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v4.4.1-rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/releases/tag/v4.4.0","date":"2026-04-14T21:33:16Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.4.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/releases/tag/v4.4.0-rc3","date":"2026-04-08T20:33:53Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v4.4.0-rc3"},{"url":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/releases/tag/v4.4.0-rc2","date":"2026-04-02T21:06:28Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v4.4.0-rc2"},{"url":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/releases/tag/v3.7.2","date":"2026-03-31T19:09:36Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.7.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/releases/tag/v4.4.0-rc1","date":"2026-03-24T23:16:10Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v4.4.0-rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/releases/tag/v4.2.2","date":"2026-03-23T16:05:02Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.2.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/releases/tag/v3.7.2-rc2","date":"2026-03-14T12:19:10Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v3.7.2-rc2"},{"url":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/releases/tag/v4.3.0","date":"2025-11-13T19:56:12Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.3.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/releases/tag/v4.3.0-rc3","date":"2025-11-08T14:43:55Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v4.3.0-rc3"},{"url":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/releases/tag/v4.3.0-rc2","date":"2025-11-01T14:49:19Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v4.3.0-rc2"},{"url":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/releases/tag/v4.3.0-rc1","date":"2025-10-25T14:38:11Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v4.3.0-rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/releases/tag/v4.2.1","date":"2025-10-07T22:55:23Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.2.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/releases/tag/v4.2.0","date":"2025-07-19T01:11:16Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.2.0"}]` |
| security.fedramp | yes | - |
| security.gdpr | yes | - |
| security.hipaa | yes | - |
| security.pci | yes | - |
| security.scorecard | - | 7.1 |
| security.vulnerabilities | - | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fzephyrproject-RTOS%2Fzephyr&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` |

## Capabilities (Embedded IOT Dev)

| Capability | AWS IoT Core | Zephyr RTOS |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **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: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T17:18:34.523Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*