# balena-io/open-balena

Open source software to manage connected IoT devices at scale

Repository: https://github.com/balena-io/open-balena
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/open-balena
Homepage: https://balena.io/open
Language: Shell
License: AGPL-3.0
License Family: copyleft
Topics: iot, docker, raspberrypi, resin-io, balena, open-balena
Last push: 2026-08-26T00:05:35+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 95/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:39:23.370411+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 87, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3116, "days_push": 8, "days_rel": 8, "gap_med": 0.0, "n_releases_24m": 853}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1265, forks 199 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:10.987280+00:00)

## What it is
OpenBalena is an open-source platform for deploying and managing fleets of connected IoT devices running balenaOS, composed of backend services for device provisioning, remote updates, container image distribution, and built-in VPN access. It is the self-hosted counterpart to balenaCloud, managed via the balena CLI and API/SDK.

## Use cases
- self-host an IoT device fleet management server
- push containerized app updates to remote devices over the air
- provision and manage Raspberry Pi and other edge devices at scale
- remotely access devices behind NAT via built-in VPN
- avoid vendor lock-in with balenaCloud by hosting your own backend
- view logs and check status of distributed device fleets

## When to choose
- you want full control and self-hosting of your device management infrastructure
- you manage fleets of balenaOS devices and want to avoid cloud subscription costs
- you need OTA container updates and VPN access to edge devices on your own servers
- you want an API/SDK-extensible device management platform

## When to avoid
- you want a managed service with dashboards, billing, and support out of the box
- your devices do not run balenaOS
- you lack a Linux server, Docker, and DNS configuration capability
- you need a polished web UI, which openBalena does not include

## Facets
- artifact type: service
- maturity: active
- function: deployment, container-orchestration, api-framework, vpn, self-hosted, developer-tools
- domain: iot, self-hosted, infrastructure-as-code
- platform: self-hosted, cli
- tags: iot-device-management, fleet-management, balenaos, edge-computing, ota-updates, raspberry-pi, container-deployment, containers, devops, linux, docker

## Member repositories
- balena-io/open-balena (main) score 95

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:10.987280+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T05:03:50.849075+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/balena-io/open-balena (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:10.987280+00:00, sha 2192f2a30a38)
  - homepage: https://balena.io/open (fetched 2026-08-29T12:15:55.527605+00:00, sha cf7df21ff27e)
  - site_page: https://www.balena.io/docs/learn/getting-started/raspberrypi3/nodejs (fetched 2026-08-29T12:15:55.530445+00:00, sha 4e32c3ad4ce4)
  - site_page: https://docs.balena.io/learn/getting-started (fetched 2026-08-29T12:15:55.532496+00:00, sha 1686f84b4c52)
  - site_page: https://docs.balena.io/ (fetched 2026-08-29T12:15:55.534283+00:00, sha 0c2e782cbe57)
  - site_page: https://www.balena.io/open/docs/getting-started (fetched 2026-08-29T12:15:55.538502+00:00, sha d00504bf6e74)
  - site_page: https://www.balena.io/pricing (fetched 2026-08-29T12:15:55.535993+00:00, sha 9d2f8b4b2791)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.