# FreeRTOS vs RIOT OS

| Attribute | FreeRTOS | RIOT OS |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 47 (29% (low)) | 36.2 (23% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 2 | 100 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | - | 0 |
| adoption.github_stars | 7,722 | 5,778 |
| deployment.options | `{"self_hosted":true}` | `{"on_prem":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | An open-source real-time operating system designed for resource-constrained microcontrollers and small processors. Offers kernel with multiprocessing, integrated TCP/IP networking with IPv6, and security-validated connectivity libraries for cloud integration. | 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. |
| features.capabilities | `{"rtos_type":"preemptive","open_source":true,"ota_updates":true,"target_class":"microcontroller/RTOS","psa_certified":true,"tls_dtls_stack":true,"device_provisioning":true,"device_management_console":true}` | - |
| integrations.count | 8 | 1 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"AWS IoT Device Shadow"},{"name":"AWS IoT Jobs"},{"name":"AWS IoT Device Defender"},{"name":"AWS IoT Fleet Provisioning"},{"name":"AWS IoT OTA"},{"name":"MbedTLS"},{"name":"WolfSSL"},{"name":"Percepio Tracealyzer"}]` | `[{"name":"LwM2M"}]` |
| language.primary | C | C |
| license.spdx | MIT | LGPL-2.1 |
| market.availability | - | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | - | `{"mac":true,"linux":true,"windows":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"FreeRTOS","description":"Open-source under MIT license"},{"free":false,"name":"OpenRTOS","description":"Commercially licensed version with support from WITTENSTEIN high integrity systems","contactSales":true}],"summary":"Free (MIT license); commercial support available via OpenRTOS","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://freertos.org","retrievedAt":"2026-08-21T12:46:49.512Z"}` | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://riot-os.org","retrievedAt":"2026-08-20T16:36:24.432Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | commercial | open_source |
| pricing.price_level | free | free |
| release.cadence_days | 83 | 88 |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/FreeRTOS/FreeRTOS/releases/tag/202411.00","date":"2024-11-21T06:51:00Z","type":"stable","version":"202411.00"},{"url":"https://github.com/FreeRTOS/FreeRTOS/releases/tag/202212.01","date":"2023-03-03T23:12:52Z","type":"stable","version":"202212.01"},{"url":"https://github.com/FreeRTOS/FreeRTOS/releases/tag/202212.00","date":"2022-12-10T01:22:17Z","type":"stable","version":"202212.00"},{"url":"https://github.com/FreeRTOS/FreeRTOS/releases/tag/202112.00","date":"2021-12-22T17:24:30Z","type":"stable","version":"202112.00"},{"url":"https://github.com/FreeRTOS/FreeRTOS/releases/tag/202111.00","date":"2021-11-13T02:40:47Z","type":"stable","version":"202111.00"},{"url":"https://github.com/FreeRTOS/FreeRTOS/releases/tag/202107.00","date":"2021-07-24T00:35:47Z","type":"stable","version":"202107.00"},{"url":"https://github.com/FreeRTOS/FreeRTOS/releases/tag/202104.00","date":"2021-04-29T18:45:32Z","type":"stable","version":"202104.00"},{"url":"https://github.com/FreeRTOS/FreeRTOS/releases/tag/202012.00","date":"2020-12-15T22:39:49Z","type":"stable","version":"202012.00"},{"url":"https://github.com/FreeRTOS/FreeRTOS/releases/tag/202011.00","date":"2020-11-10T22:51:06Z","type":"stable","version":"202011.00"},{"url":"https://github.com/FreeRTOS/FreeRTOS/releases/tag/V10.4.1","date":"2020-09-17T23:19:59Z","type":"stable","version":"V10.4.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/FreeRTOS/FreeRTOS/releases/tag/V10.4.0","date":"2020-09-11T17:20:15Z","type":"stable","version":"V10.4.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/FreeRTOS/FreeRTOS/releases/tag/V200717_LTS_development_snapshot","date":"2020-07-17T22:42:06Z","type":"prerelease","version":"V200717_LTS_development_snapshot"},{"url":"https://github.com/FreeRTOS/FreeRTOS/releases/tag/V10.3.1","date":"2020-02-19T05:06:39Z","type":"stable","version":"V10.3.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/FreeRTOS/FreeRTOS/releases/tag/V200218_LTS_development_snapshot","date":"2020-02-19T05:09:57Z","type":"prerelease","version":"V200218_LTS_development_snapshot"}]` | `[{"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"}]` |
| security.gdpr | - | yes |
| security.vulnerabilities | - | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=cargo&package_name=riot&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` |

## Capabilities (Embedded IOT Dev)

| Capability | FreeRTOS | RIOT OS |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Capabilities** |  |  |
| Target class | Microcontroller/RTOS | - |
| Rtos type | Preemptive | - |
| Low power support | - | - |
| Tls dtls stack | ✓ | - |
| Ota updates | ✓ | - |
| Device management console | ✓ | - |
| Device provisioning | ✓ | - |
| Open source | ✓ | - |
| PSA certified | ✓ | - |
| Rust support | - | - |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T17:35:51.819Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*