Memfault vs Pinscope: which one fits

Memfault and Pinscope both report crashes, collect metrics and update firmware on devices in the field. They are built for different teams and priced very differently. This is an honest comparison, with sources.

In one paragraph each

Memfault is a device observability platform for large fleets: coredumps with variable state, issues grouped across the fleet, metrics and fleet charts, OTA with cohorts, staged rollouts and delta updates, for MCUs, Linux and Android. Nordic Semiconductor acquired Memfault in June 2025 and is integrating it into nRF Cloud.

Pinscope keeps one outbound connection from each device and gives you the device itself: its own web server at an HTTPS address, live and stored logs, metrics, crash reports decoded with your ELF, and OTA updates in waves, in about 9 KB of RAM on an ESP32, without a TLS library. It is self-serve, with prices from €29 a month.

Side by side

	Memfault	Pinscope
Price	Developer free (up to 10 development devices, aimed at Nordic-based teams); Growth $3,495/month; Scale $6,695/month; Enterprise custom (pricing)	Free for 3 devices; Maker €29/month (10 devices), Team €69 (30), Business €229 (150); every feature on every plan
Billed by	Monthly active devices, with a number included per plan	Devices registered in the account
Reach the device's own web UI or API	Not among the features listed in its documentation	Yes: HTTPS address per device, share links, API tokens
Crashes	Full coredumps with registers and variables, grouped into issues	Reason, task and backtrace decoded to function and line with the ELF
Logs	Yes	Live tail and stored history of the device's log output
OTA	Cohorts, staged rollouts, delta releases	Waves that stop on a failure or rollback; from the dashboard or CI; no delta updates
Platforms	RTOS-based MCUs (including ESP-IDF and Zephyr), Linux, Android	ESP32 (ESP-IDF, Arduino, PlatformIO); in beta Zephyr, Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W, Linux, ESP8266
Data retention	30 to 60 days by plan	Logs and metrics 7 days (free), 30 days (Maker, Team), 90 days (Business)
Team members	10 to 50 users by plan	1 (free), 3, 10, unlimited (Business)

When Memfault is the better choice

You need coredumps with variable values and crashes grouped into issues across tens of thousands of devices.
You ship Linux or Android devices alongside MCUs and want one tool for all of them.
Delta OTA updates matter, for example on cellular data.
You build on Nordic chips and want what Nordic integrates into nRF Cloud.

When Pinscope is the better choice

You want to open the device's own web page or API from anywhere, behind NAT or 4G, without a VPN or port forwarding.
Your fleet is tens or hundreds of devices, and a few thousand dollars a month is not in the budget.
RAM is tight: Pinscope needs about 9 KB on an ESP32, with no TLS library.
You want to start today, self-serve, with every feature on the free plan.

The two can run side by side: Pinscope for remote access and logs, Memfault for deep crash analysis.

Checked in November 2026 against the sources linked on this page; prices and features change, so check them before you decide. Memfault, Golioth, nRF Cloud and Nordic Semiconductor are trademarks of their owners; this page is not affiliated with or endorsed by them. Found something out of date? Write to hello@pinscope.dev and we fix it.

Try Pinscope

Three devices are free, no card needed. Create an account, or open the live demo without one.