Comparison of real-time operating systems

This is a list of real-time operating systems (RTOSs). This is an operating system in which the time taken to process an input stimulus is less than the time lapsed until the next input stimulus of the same type.


Name License Source model Target uses Status Platforms
Apache Mynewt Apache 2.0 open source embedded active ARM Cortex-M, MIPS32, Microchip PIC32, RISC-V
BeRTOS Modified GNU GPL open source embedded archived ARM, Cortex-M3, ARM ARM7TDMI, Atmel AVR, PowerPC (emu), x86 (emu), x86-64 (emu)
CapROS GNU GPL open source embedded active IA-32, ARM9
ChibiOS/RT Dual, GNU GPL or proprietary open source embedded, small footprint active x86, ARM7, ARM9, Cortex-M0-M3-M4, PowerPC e200z, STM8, STM32, AVR, MSP430, ColdFire, H8S
ChorusOS ? ? ? defunct SPARC, x86, PowerPC
Concurrent CP/M,
became MP/M
Proprietary closed (meanwhile: open source) general purpose, industrial historic 8080, Z80, 8086
Concurrent DOS,
became Multiuser DOS
Proprietary closed defunct 8086, 286, 386, 68000, (also 8080/Z80 in dual-processor variants)
Contiki BSD open source embedded, WSN active MSP430, AVR, ARM
Data General RDOS Proprietary ? general purpose defunct Data General Nova, Data General Eclipse
Deos Proprietary closed safety critical active x86, PowerPC, ARM, MIPS
DioneOS Proprietary available for licensee embedded MSP430, MSP430x
DMERT
(Duplex Multi-Environment Real-Time)
Proprietary(Bell Labs) closed OS for long-distance telephone switching systems inactive Bell Labs 3B20D
(a proprietary, VAX-like system with redundant [duplex] processors)
DNIX Proprietary closed general purpose defunct 68000
GEC DOS Proprietary closed process control defunct GEC 4000 series
DSOS Proprietary closed ? defunct TI-980A minicomputer
DSP/BIOS Proprietary closed, available with license general purpose maintenance only Mostly Texas Instruments C2800, C5500, C6000 and OMAP DSP cores. Replaced by TI-RTOS, but available for download.
DSPnano RTOS Proprietary open source MCU, DSC, DSP SoC active R8C, M16C, PIC24, dsPIC33
eCos Modified GNU GPL open source embedded inactive ARM-XScale-Cortex-M, CalmRISC, 680x0-ColdFire, fr30, FR-V, H8, IA-32, MIPS, MN10300, OpenRISC, PowerPC, SPARC, SuperH, V8xx
eCosPro Modified GNU GPL or eCosPro license open source with non-free portions active ARM7-9, Cortex-A5-A9-M3-M4-M7, 680x0-ColdFire, H8-H8S, IA-32, MIPS32, MIPS64, microMIPS, NIOS II, OpenRISC, PowerPC, SPARC, SH4/4A, TILE-Gx, XScale
embOS Proprietary closed, available to customers, free object code for non-commercial use embedded, industrial, IoT, safety critical active ARM7/9/11, ARM Cortex-A/R/M, AVR, AVR32, C16x, CR16C, ColdFire, H8, HCS12, M16C, M32C, MSP430, NIOS2, PIC18/24/32, R32C, R8C, RISC-V, RL78, RH850, RX100/200/600/700, RZ, SH2A, STM8, ST7, V850, 78K0, 8051
ERIKA Enterprise GPL and GPL linking exception open source embedded ARM7, ARM Cortex-M, ARM Cortex-A (on Jailhouse hypervisor), Hitachi H8, Altera Nios2, Microchip dsPIC (including dsPIC30, dsPIC33, and PIC24), Microchip PIC32, ST Microelectronics ST10, Infineon C167, Infineon Tricore, Freescale PPC e200 (MPC 56xx) (including PPC e200 z0, z6, z7), Freescale S12XS, EnSilica eSi-RISC, AVR, Lattice Mico32, MSP430, Renesas RX200, x86-64 (on Jailhouse hypervisor)
EROS Modified GNU GPL open source experimental
research use
dormant IA-32
FlexOS Proprietary closed general purpose, industrial, POS defunct 186, 286, 386, V60, V70, 68000
Flexible Safety RTOS Proprietary closed, available to customers embedded, safety critical active Altera/Intel NIOS II, ARM9, ARM Cortex-M, ARM Cortex-R, ARM Cortex-A, Infineon TriCore, Infineon AURIX, NXP ColdFire, NXP Kinetis, NXP PowerPC e200, NXP QorIQ, STMicroelectronics STM32, Xilinx/AMD MicroBlaze
FreeRTOS MIT open source embedded active ARM, AVR, AVR32, ColdFire, ESP32, HCS12, IA-32, Cortex-M3-M4-M7, Infineon XMC4000, MicroBlaze, MSP430, PIC, PIC32, Renesas H8/S, RISC-V, RX100-200-600-700, 8052, STM32, TriCore, EFM32
Fuchsia Varies embedded AArch64, x86-64
Keil RTX Apache 2.0 open source embedded Arm Cortex-M
FunkOS Modified Sleepycat License open source embedded AVR, MSP430, Cortex-M3
HeartOS Proprietary closed safety critical x86, PowerPC, ARM
Huawei LiteOS BSD open source embedded defunct ARM (M0/3/4/7, A7/17/53, ARM9/11), x86, RISC-V
HarmonyOS Proprietary closed embedded active AArch64, x86-64, RISC-V, LingxiISA
IBM 4680 OS Proprietary closed general purpose, industrial, POS defunct 286
IBM 4690 OS Proprietary active 286, 386
INTEGRITY Proprietary embedded ARM, XScale, Blackfin, ColdFire, MIPS, PowerPC, x86
INtime Proprietary x86
ITRON T-License varies embedded ARM, MIPS, x86, Renesas RX100-200-600-700-others
Kaspersky OS Proprietary open source safety critical, virtualization x86, x86_64, ARMV5, ARMV7, ARMV8, MIPS32
KolibriOS GNU GPL embeddable x86
LynxOS Proprietary source available embedded Motorola 68010, x86/IA-32, ARM, Freescale PowerPC, PowerPC 970, LEON
Mbed OS Apache 2.0 open source embedded Arm Cortex-M
MenuetOS GNU GPL open source ? IA-32
MERT Proprietary(Bell Labs) closed OS for long-distance telephone switching systems inactive PDP-11
MicroC/OS-III Apache 2.0 open source embedded active ARM7-9-11/Cortex-M1-3-4-A8/9, AVR, HC11/12/S12, ColdFire, Blackfin, MicroBlaze, NIOS, 8051, x86, Win32, H8S, M16C, M32C, MIPS, 68000, PIC24/dsPIC33/PIC32, MSP430, PowerPC, SH, StarCore, Renesas RX100-200-600-700, RL; STM32, ...
MontaVista Linux GNU GPL open source embedded ?
MP/M Proprietary closed (meanwhile: open source) general purpose, industrial defunct 8080, Z80, 8086
M-RTOS Proprietary closed safety critical, embedded active PowerPC, ARM, MIPS
MQX Proprietary complimentary source available embedded active Freescale Power, ColdFire, Kinetis Cortex ARM, List of Freescale products
Multiuser DOS Proprietary closed general-purpose, industrial defunct 386
Nano-RK Dual, GPL or commercial open source embedded, WSN defunct AVR, MSP430
Neutrino Proprietary some source provided microkernel, embedded, industrial active ARM, ARM64, MIPS, PPC, SH, x86, x86-64, XScale
Nucleus RTOS Proprietary source provided embedded ARM (Cortex-M3-M4-R4-R4F-A8-A9, ARM7-9-11), PowerPC, MIPS32-16e, microMIPS, ColdFire, SuperH
NUT Proprietary open source embedded, industrial ARM-M0, ARM-M0+, ARM Cortex-M3, ARM9, ARM Cortex-M7, Cortex-M3
Nut/OS BSD embedded, industrial AVR, AVR32, ARM7, ARM9, Cortex-M3
NuttX Apache 2.0 open source embedded, small footprint Linux user mode, ARM7-9, Cortex-A5-A8-A9-M0-M3-M4-M7, 8052, Espressif ESP32, Lattice LM32, Renesas MC16C/26/SH-1, RISC-V, Zilog Z16F, Zilog eZ80 Acclaim!, Zilog Z8Encore!, Z80, MIPS PIC32MX, PIC32MZ
OpenComRTOS Proprietary source provided embedded Freescale PowerPC, Texas Instruments C66xxx DSP, ARM, XMOS, MicroBlaze, LEON, NXP CoolFlux DSP, Melexis MLX16, Win32, Linux
OS2000 Proprietary ? embedded active MIPS (Baget variant), KOMDIV-32, KOMDIV-64, Intel BSPs (x86)
OS4000 Proprietary closed process control maintenance only GEC 4000 series
OSE Proprietary available to customers general purpose active ARM, PowerPC, x86, TI OMAP, ...
OS-9 Proprietary available to customers embedded ARM-strongARM, MIPS, PowerPC, SuperH, x86/Pentium, XSCALE, Motorola 6809, 680x0, SPARC
OSEK Dual, GPL or commercial specification engine control units
Phoenix-RTOS BSD open source embedded active ARMv7 Cortex-M, ARMv7 Cortex-A, IA-32, RISC V
PikeOS Proprietary available to customers certifiable safety & security, embedded virtualisation PPC, x86, ARM, MIPS, SPARC-LEON, RISC-V
Protothreads BSD open source general purpose active Architecture independent
pSOS Proprietary ? ? discontinued 680x0
PX5 RTOS Proprietary royalty-free licensing embedded active Embedded MCU and MPU architectures. ARM's Cortex-M, Cortex-R, Cortex-A, RISC-V. AMP and SMP configurations.
QNX Proprietary ? microkernel, embedded, industrial active
QP Dual, GPL or commercial dual MCU, DSC, DSP SoC ARM7/9, ARM Cortex-M3-M0, MSP430, TMS320C28x, AVR, AVRXmega, ColdFire, 68HC08, M16C/R8C, H8, 8051, 80251, PIC18, PIC24/dsPIC33, Nios II, PSoC1
REAL/32 Proprietary closed general-purpose, industrial 386
Real-time Linux (PREEMPT RT) GNU GPLv2 open source general purpose x86, x86_64, RISC-V and ARM64 (ARM and POWER in the -rt branch)[1]
RedHawk Linux RTOS Proprietary closed hardware-in-the-loop, software-in-the-loop, general purpose active Intel, AMD, ARM, NVIDIA Drive, NVIDIA Jetson Orin
REX OS Proprietary closed, available with license embedded inactive ARM
RIOT GNU LGPL open source active ARM7, ARM Cortex M, MSP430, AVR, RISC-V, Xtensa
RMX Proprietary closed defunct Intel 8080, 8086, 80386, higher
RODOS BSD source provided active ARMv7 (M3, A8, A9), AVR32, PowerPC 405, SPARC64

Platforms: SmartFusion2, RaspberryPi, STM32 On an OS: Linux, Windows, macOS, FreeRTOS, RTEMS

RSX-11 Proprietary ? ? historic PDP-11
RT-11 Proprietary ? general purpose defunct PDP-11
RTAI GNU GPL open source general purpose active x86 (with and without FPU and TSC), x86-64, PowerPC, ARM (StrongARM; ARM7: clps711x-family, Cirrus Logic EP7xxx, CS89712, PXA25x), m68k (supporting both MMU and NOMMU cpus)
RTEMS BSD embedded AArch64, ARM, Blackfin, ColdFire, TI C3x/C4x, H8/300, x86, x86_64, 68k, Microblaze, Milkymist SoC, MIPS, Nios II, PowerPC, SuperH, SPARC, ERC32, LEON, Mongoose-V
RTLinux GNU GPL general purpose inactive same as Linux
RT-Kernel Proprietary source provided embedded active ARM, Blackfin
RT-Thread Apache 2.0 open source embedded active ARM, ARM Cortex-M0-M3-R4-M4-M7, IA-32, AVR32, Blackfin, nios, PPC, M16C, MIPS (loongson-1b-1c, PIC32,xburst), MicroBlaze, V850, unicore32,
RTXC Quadros Proprietary source available embedded ARM - Atmel/Freescale/NXP/ST/TI, Blackfin, 680x0-ColdFire, PowerPC, StarCore, TI-Luminary Stellaris, TI OMAP, XScale
RTX, RTX64 Proprietary closed MS Windows extension x86, x86-64
RX116 ? ? embedded, industrial defunct NEC V20, NEC V30, NEC V40, NEC V50
RX616 ? ? safety critical, embedded, industrial NEC V60, NEC V70
RX-UX832 ? ? embedded, industrial, general-purpose NEC V60, NEC V70
SafeRTOS Proprietary source code & Design Assurance Pack available embedded, safety critical active Same as FreeRTOS
SHaRK GNU GPL open source ? inactive ?
Simulink Real-Time Proprietary closed real-time testing-embedded active x86
SINTRAN III Proprietary ? ? ? Norsk Data computers
Symbian OS Eclipse open source embedded defunct ARM
T-Kernel T-License source available embedded RTOS active ARM, MIPS, SH, more
THEOS Proprietary ? ? ? ?
ThreadX MIT open source ? active ARC, ARM/Thumb, AVR32, BlackFin, 680x0-ColdFire, H8-300H, Luminary Micro Stellaris, M-CORE, MicroBlaze, PIC24-dsPIC, PIC32, MIPS, V8xx, Nios II, PowerPC, Renesas RX100, RX200, RX600, RX700, Synergy, SH, SHARC, StarCore, STM32, StrongARM, TMS320C54x, TMS320C6x, x86/x386, XScale, Xtensa/Diamond, ZSP
TI-RTOS Kernel (SYS/BIOS) BSD open source embedded Mostly Texas Instruments: MSP430-432, C2000-5000-6000, TI's ARM families (Cortex M3-4F-R4-A8-A15), SimpleLink Wireless CC2xxx-CC3xxx
TizenRT Apache 2.0 open source embedded active
Transaction Processing Facility Proprietary mixed general purpose active IBM Z series
TRON project Free mixed mixed active any: is a specification, not an implementation
UNIX-RTR ? ? ? defunct PDP-11
UNOS ? ? ? historic 680x0
UniProton Free open source embedded active AArch64 (Kunpeng), x86-64 on openEuler community & ARM, RISC-V, x86, x64 and LoongArch on OpenHarmony and Oniro OS as add-on kernel
μITRON T-License open source embedded active ARM, MIPS, x86, Renesas RX100-200-600-700-others
μ-velOSity Proprietary ? microkernel active ?
velOSity Proprietary ? ? Power ISA, ARM/XScale, MIPS, x86/Pentium, ColdFire, Blackfin, OMAP, DaVinci
VAXELN Proprietary closed source ? historic VAX
VRTX Proprietary ? ? superseded by Nucleus RTOS ARM, MIPS, PowerPC, RISC
VxWorks Proprietary ? embedded active ARM, IA-32, Intel 64, MIPS, PowerPC, SH-4, StrongARM, xScale
Windows CE Proprietary Microsoft Shared Source x86, MIPS, ARM, SuperH
Windows 10 IoT Proprietary ? Intel Atom, Celeron, Pentium; Qualcomm Snapdragon, Broadcom, NXP i.MX
Xenomai GNU GPLv2 open source general x86, x86-64, PowerPC, ARM, Analog Devices Blackfin BF52x, BF53x, BF54x and BF56x
XINU Free embedded active x86, MIPS, ARM, AVR
XMK BSD open source embedded inactive
Zephyr Apache 2.0 open source embedded active ARM (Cortex-M0, -M3, -M4, -M23, -M33, -R4, -R5, -A53), x86, ARC, RISC-V, Nios II, Xtensa, SPARC

References