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Mender vs Golioth

How Mender and Golioth differ on target hardware, rollback, deployment and cost.

MenderGolioth
TypeLinux OTAMCU cloud
TargetsEmbedded LinuxMCU (Zephyr-first)
DeploymentSaaS + self-hostedSaaS
RollbackA/B partitions with automatic rollback on failed bootManual release targeting; rollback by publishing a prior artifact
How it worksWrites the new root filesystem to the inactive partition, reboots into it, and rolls back automatically if the device fails to check in. Delta updates and phased rollouts sit in the paid tiers; the update mechanism itself is open source and self-hostable.One consumption meter instead of plans: $0.25 per connected device per month, $0.0095 per megabyte of OTA traffic, and separate rates for logs and streaming data. Every account gets the same features, which makes small fleets cheap and makes cost forecasting arithmetic rather than negotiation.
Pricing*OSS free; hosted from $34/mo$50 free credits; $0.25/device/mo + $0.0095/MB
Free tierYesYes
Open sourceApache-2.0 (client + server)Device SDK (Apache-2.0)
Best forLinux fleets that must never brickZephyr projects that want predictable unit cost

Mender

  • A/B rollback is the safest widely deployed model
  • Genuinely usable open-source edition, not a crippled demo
  • Self-host or hosted without changing the client
  • Dual partitions cost you flash — roughly double the rootfs
  • Not designed for constrained MCUs

Golioth

  • Cheapest credible option at small and mid scale
  • Cost is calculable before you commit
  • Deep Zephyr integration
  • Zephyr-centric — other RTOSes are less travelled
  • Metered bytes need watching on chatty fleets

Bottom line

Choose Mender for linux fleets that must never brick. Choose Golioth for zephyr projects that want predictable unit cost.

* Published list pricing (vendor pricing pages, August 2026).