# RIOT OS vs Zephyr RTOS

**Leader by Vioscale score:** Zephyr RTOS

| Attribute | RIOT OS | Zephyr RTOS |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 36.2 (23% (low)) | 52.8 (40% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 100 | 100 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 0 | 0 |
| adoption.github_stars | 5,778 | 16,315 |
| deployment.options | `{"on_prem":true,"self_hosted":true}` | `{"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | 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. | 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 | 1 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"LwM2M"}]` | `[{"name":"PlatformIO"}]` |
| language.primary | C | C |
| license.spdx | LGPL-2.1 | Apache-2.0 |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"mac":true,"linux":true,"windows":true}` | - |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://riot-os.org","retrievedAt":"2026-08-20T16:36:24.432Z"}` | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://zephyrproject.org","retrievedAt":"2026-08-21T13:40:59.448Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | open_source | commercial |
| pricing.price_level | free | free |
| pricing.transparent | - | yes |
| release.cadence_days | 88 | 6 |
| 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"}]` | `[{"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.gdpr | yes | - |
| security.scorecard | - | 7.1 |
| 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}` | `{"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 | RIOT OS | 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 2026-09-01T17:11:12.229Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*