VxWorks
Ranked 6 of 6 real-time operating systems by recommenders
Long-used real-time OS praised for a slim footprint and reliability in embedded systems. Critics note its POSIX support is loose.
Long-used real-time OS praised for a slim footprint and reliability in embedded systems. Critics note its POSIX support is loose.
6 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 83%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Slim footprint suits small systems
“VxWorks has a really slim profile and thus this helps keep the size manageable to continue doing science experiments.”
Comment from 11 Jun 2026 in “How JPL Keeps the 13-Year-Old Curiosity Rover Doing Science” “technically slimmer and more reliable”
Comment from 27 Dec 2025 in “QNX Self-Hosted Developer Desktop” Consistent, repeatable, reliable behavior
“Even back in the 1990's real software (e.g., I used VxWorks every day) was built for consistency, functionality, and repeatability”
Comment from 5 Apr 2026 in “Software never had a soul” “technically slimmer and more reliable”
Comment from 27 Dec 2025 in “QNX Self-Hosted Developer Desktop” Long-standing choice for embedded projects
“Even back in the 1990's real software (e.g., I used VxWorks every day) was built for consistency, functionality, and repeatability”
Comment from 5 Apr 2026 in “Software never had a soul” “You just required a much bigger SBC to run it, and that's why we used VxWorks in the first place.”
Comment from 27 Dec 2025 in “QNX Self-Hosted Developer Desktop”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
POSIX compatibility is loose
“"posix inspired" at best - fds actually were pointers”
Comment from 27 Feb 2026 in “What does " 2>&1 " mean?”
Other real-time operating systems people recommend
The four most recommended other real-time operating systems, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QNX Neutrino RTOS | 47 | 12 | 80% | 12 | 10 yrs3 owners | Approved |
| Zephyr RTOS | 14 | 5 | 74% | 11 | — | Approved |
| FreeRTOS | 9 | 3 | 75% | 6 | — | — |
| Hubris RTOS | 6 | 0 | 100% | 6 | — | — |
| VxWorksThis page | 5 | 1 | 83% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
6 of the 7 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Somehow VxWorks has better marketing and more sales, because their product is cheaper.”
“VxWorks has a really slim profile and thus this helps keep the size manageable to continue doing science experiments.”
“Even back in the 1990's real software (e.g., I used VxWorks every day) was built for consistency, functionality, and repeatability”
“"posix inspired" at best - fds actually were pointers”
“You just required a much bigger SBC to run it, and that's why we used VxWorks in the first place.”
“technically slimmer and more reliable”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.