Linux (Yocto)
Linux SoC
arm64 armv7 x86_64
Stable ~2 MB
Why OTA-Pulse?
Production firmware OTA is a solved problem — until it isn't. Here's how OTA-Pulse compares to the alternatives, and why we built it anyway.
How OTA-Pulse compares
An honest look at the capabilities that matter most for production embedded fleets.
| Capability | OTA-Pulse | Mender | RAUC | SWUpdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Artifact signing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ 1 |
| Delta updates | ✗ 10 | ✓ | ~ 2 | ~ 2 |
| A/B partition rollback | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ 3 |
| Coredump capture | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Multi-tenant RBAC | ✓ | ~ 4 | ✗ | ✗ |
| MCU support | ~ 5 | ✗ | ✗ | ~ 6 |
| Hosted / cloud offering | ✓ | ✓ 7 | ✗ | ✗ |
| Open source (OSS) core | ~ 9 | ~ 8 | ✓ | ✓ |
✓ Supported
~ Partial / conditional
✗ Not available
- 1.
- SWUpdate supports PKCS#11 / RSA / ECDSA signing but configuration is manual; no built-in key-management UI.
- 2.
- RAUC and SWUpdate support delta via external casync/bsdiff tools; integration requires extra toolchain setup.
- 3.
- SWUpdate can write to two slots but does not manage boot-flag switching itself; requires a custom U-Boot script or Barebox integration.
- 4.
- Mender RBAC is Enterprise-tier only; the open-source server (mender-server) has no multi-tenant access control.
- 5.
- OTA-Pulse MCU has shipped and is in beta, with a C device SDK porting to ESP-IDF and Zephyr; Linux SoC targets remain the stable, production-hardened path. Remote SSH and crash reporting are Linux-only, and automatic multi-phase campaign advance on MCU is still in beta.
- 6.
- SWUpdate has experimental Zephyr DFU support via USB/UART; no hosted management plane.
- 7.
- Mender Hosted is a commercial SaaS; free tier is limited to 10 devices.
- 8.
- Mender's device-side agent is Apache 2.0; the server (mender-server) is SSPL-licensed, which restricts offering it as a hosted service.
- 9.
- OTA-Pulse's device-side agent is Apache 2.0 and available at github.com/binaryblack/OTA-Pulse; the server and console are proprietary and not source-available.
- 10.
- OTA-Pulse does not support delta or differential updates on either platform today; every device receives the complete image.
Supported platforms
OTA-Pulse ships on embedded Linux today, with microcontroller support in beta. Adding a platform to our source of truth makes it appear here automatically.
Linux (Buildroot)
Linux SoC
arm64 armv7 x86_64
Stable ~2 MB
ESP32 (ESP-IDF)
Microcontroller
xtensa riscv
Beta No heap; varies by build
Zephyr RTOS (nRF / STM32)
Microcontroller
cortex-m
Beta No heap; varies by build
Also managing microcontroller firmware?
OTA-Pulse MCU brings the same OTA workflow to ESP32, Nordic and STM32 fleets — managed under the same organization as your existing Linux fleet, not a separate account or a separate console to learn. It is in beta, and Remote SSH and coredump capture stay Linux-only.
Get started in 5 minutes.
Register your first device, push a firmware update, and watch it land — without touching a serial console.
Open source agent · Self-host or cloud · No vendor lock-in