MPLAB X IDE vs Zephyr SDK
| MPLAB X IDE | Zephyr SDK | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | No | No |
| Paid from | Free | Free |
| Open source | No | No |
| Platforms | Linux, macOS, Windows | Linux, macOS, Windows |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Debugger included | Yes | Yes |
| SDK components | peripheral libraries, drivers, system services, middleware, RTOS support, application examples | compiler, assembler, linker, GDB, QEMU, OpenOCD, BOSSA, Xilinx QEMU, Picolibc |
| Target architectures | 32-bit MIPS and Arm Cortex-based MCU and MPU families | ARC, ARM, MicroBlaze, MIPS, OpenRISC 1000, RISC-V, RX, SPARC, x86, Xtensa |
| Host platforms | Windows, Linux, macOS | Linux, macOS (AArch64), Windows (x86-64) |
| Build systems | MPLAB X IDE with MPLAB Code Configurator; IAR Embedded Workbench and Keil MDK workflows documented | CMake, west, Ninja |
| License model | commercial | open-source |
| Debug interfaces | — | QEMU GDB server, OpenOCD, GDB |
Both are listed in Best Embedded Systems Toolchains. On The Geeks Club, Zephyr SDK scores higher on our published basis.