nRF Cloud vs Pinscope: which one fits
nRF Cloud is Nordic Semiconductor's cloud for devices built on Nordic chips. Pinscope works across chips and operating systems. If your product is all Nordic, nRF Cloud has things Pinscope does not; if it is not, this is how they compare.
In one paragraph each
nRF Cloud is Nordic's cloud for its nRF91 cellular and nRF52, nRF53 and nRF54 wireless chips: firmware over the air, location services and device management, and since Nordic acquired Memfault in 2025, Memfault's observability. In March 2026 Nordic added a lifetime FOTA licence from $1 per device, aimed at the EU Cyber Resilience Act.
Pinscope is not tied to a chip vendor: the same dashboard for ESP32, Zephyr boards (Nordic, STM32, RP2040 and others), the Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W, Linux and the ESP8266. It gives each device an HTTPS address for its own web server, with logs, metrics, crash reports and OTA in waves.
Side by side
| nRF Cloud | Pinscope | |
|---|---|---|
| Chips | Nordic nRF91, nRF54, nRF53, nRF52 | Any: ESP32 family; in beta any Zephyr board with a network, Pico 2 W, Linux, ESP8266 |
| FOTA pricing | Lifetime licence from $1 per device, by fleet size (announcement) | Free for 3 devices; Maker €29/month (10 devices), Team €69 (30), Business €229 (150); every feature on every plan |
| Location (cellular, WiFi, GNSS assistance) | Yes | No |
| Reach the device's own web UI or API | Not among the features listed in its documentation | Yes, behind NAT and 4G |
| Crash reports and logs | Through the Memfault integration | Yes, decoded with your ELF; live logs |
| OTA | Yes, for Nordic devices | Yes, MCUboot on Zephyr, in waves that stop on failure |
When nRF Cloud is the better choice
- Every device is a Nordic chip, and you want the vendor's own cloud.
- You need location services for cellular trackers.
- A one-time lifetime FOTA licence per device fits your business model.
When Pinscope is the better choice
- Your products use more than one chip family, or may change vendor.
- You want to reach the device's own web page or API remotely.
- You want Linux gateways and microcontrollers in one dashboard.
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 Found something out of date?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.
More
- Remote access to an ESP32 without TLS: what it measured and what it costs
- Serial monitor in the browser for ESP32 and Zephyr, with crash decoding
- Pinscope now runs on Zephyr, Raspberry Pi Pico, Linux and ESP8266
- Zephyr devices in the field: logs, crashes and OTA over the internet
- Reading a Zephyr fatal error: fault, reason, CFSR and call trace
- MCUboot: are your images signed with the public development key?
- Zephyr fatal error decoder
- Cortex-M HardFault decoder
- MCUboot image inspector
- UF2 converter and inspector
- Zephyr flash partition checker
- Memfault vs Pinscope: which one fits
- Golioth vs Pinscope: which one fits
- Memfault, Golioth, nRF Cloud and Pinscope compared