!TockOS by tock
A secure embedded operating system for microcontrollers
About !TockOS
From the project's README at github.com/tock/tock. Lightly cleaned for readability; for the full source see the upstream repo.
Tock is an embedded operating system designed for running multiple concurrent, mutually distrustful applications on Cortex-M and RISC-V based embedded platforms. Tock's design centers around protection, both from potentially malicious applications and from device drivers. Tock uses two mechanisms to protect different components of the operating system. First, the kernel and device drivers are written in Rust, a systems programming language that provides compile-time memory safety and type safety. Tock uses Rust to protect the kernel (e.g. the scheduler and hardware abstraction layer) from platform specific device drivers as well as isolate device drivers from each other. Second, Tock uses memory protection units to isolate applications from each other and the kernel.
[tock-ci]: https://github.com/tock/tock/actions/workflows/ci.yml
Tock is now on its second major release! For a summary of the latest new features and improvements, check out the changelog.
There are a variety of resources for learning about Tock, contributing to the project, and getting help. About Tock [The Tock Book][tock-book]: on
Health score breakdown
6-dimension composite. See methodology for formula and weights.
Adoption signals
Real-world usage data, pulled from each registry. The bigger the numbers, the more battle-tested the project.
| Signal | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | 6.3k | github.com/tock/tock |
| GitHub forks | 824 | github.com/tock/tock |
| CRATES downloads (last month) | 152 | tock |
Release & maintenance
Is this project actively maintained, or about to die? Check the recency of last commit and last release.
| Project age | 11.0 years | since May 2015 |
| Last commit | 2 days ago | May 5, 2026 |
| Releases shipped | 28 | last: 1.3 years ago |
| Security policy | SECURITY.md | declared by maintainers |
| Funding links | 2 | declared by maintainers |
Self-hosting cost across providers
Detected requirements: 4GB RAM, 40GB disk minimum. Cheapest plan per provider that meets the requirement.
| Provider | Plan | Specs | Monthly | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| hetzner | CAX11 | 2c · 4GB · 40GB | $4.13 USD | Deploy → |
| vultr | VC2 | 1c · 1GB · 25GB | $5 USD | Deploy → |
| linode | Nanode 1GB | 1c · 1GB · 25GB | $5.12 USD | Deploy → |
| digitalocean | Basic Regular 1GB | 1c · 1GB · 25GB | $6 USD | Deploy → |
What people say on Hacker News
Ready to self-host !TockOS?
Spin up a hetzner CAX11 (4GB RAM, 40GB disk) for $4.13/mo and follow the project's official install docs.
Data last refreshed May 7, 2026.
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