Embeddable RTOS mature

FreeRTOS

Real-time operating system for microcontrollers

26.0K stars 100 contributors Since 2003
Website → GitHub

Real-time operating system for microcontrollers

License
MIT
Min RAM
1 MB
Min CPUs
1 core
Scaling
single_node
Complexity
expert
Performance
medium
Self-hostable
K8s native
Offline
Pricing
fully free
Docs quality
good
Vendor lock-in
none

Use cases

  • IoT device firmware
  • Industrial control systems
  • Sensor data collection
  • Automotive embedded systems

Anti-patterns / when NOT to use

  • No built-in networking (need libraries)
  • Manual memory management
  • Limited debugging tools

Compare with alternatives

Replaces / alternatives to

  • proprietary RTOS (VxWorks, QNX)

Technical specs

Language
C
API type
SDK
Protocols
HTTP
Deployment
source

Community

GitHub stars 26.0K
Contributors 100
Commit frequency weekly
Plugin ecosystem none
Backing AWS
Funding corporate

Release

Latest version
Last release
Since 2003

Best fit

Team size
solosmallmedium
Industries
iotautomotivemanufacturinghealthcare

Tags

  • rtos
  • microcontroller
  • embedded
  • real-time
  • iot
  • arm
  • risc-v
  • scheduling
  • semaphores