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Arduino Cloud vs Eclipse Mosquitto

Arduino Cloud logo

Arduino Cloud

Smart Home

Cloud platform for Arduino IoT devices and applications

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Eclipse Mosquitto logo

Eclipse Mosquitto

Networking

Small, EPL-licensed MQTT broker that runs on hardware other brokers cannot

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Arduino Cloud the free plan allows 2 connected devices, 5 variables each and one day of data retention; Eclipse Mosquitto there is no clustering: Mosquitto is a single process, so high availability means building your own failover and accepting session loss on switchover.
  • They diverge on capability: Arduino Cloud covers Device Connectivity, Eclipse Mosquitto covers MQTT 5.0 support.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Arduino Cloud and Eclipse Mosquitto actually diverge.

Attributes where Arduino Cloud and Eclipse Mosquitto differ
AttributeArduino CloudEclipse Mosquitto
Pricing modelsubscriptionOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsArduino devices, Cloud, Mobile app, Web dashboardLinux, Windows, macOS, Docker
CategorySmart HomeNetworking
Founded2005Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Arduino Cloud

  • Device Connectivity
  • Cloud Storage
  • Real-Time Sync
  • Security
  • Arduino IDE
  • Mobile app
  • REST API
  • Integration services

Only in Eclipse Mosquitto

  • MQTT 5.0 support
  • Very small footprint
  • Bridging
  • WebSockets listener
  • Command line clients
  • Dynamic security plugin

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Arduino Cloud

  • Connecting Arduino boards to a cloud dashboardnot Eclipse Mosquitto
  • Over-the-air firmware updates to deployed devicesnot Eclipse Mosquitto
  • Logging sensor data and charting it over timenot Eclipse Mosquitto
  • Triggering notifications from device thresholdsnot Eclipse Mosquitto
  • Classroom IoT projects on the School plannot Eclipse Mosquitto

Eclipse Mosquitto

  • A home or building automation stack where the broker must run on the same small computer as everything elsenot Arduino Cloud
  • An industrial gateway that buffers local telemetry and bridges selected topics to a cloud brokernot Arduino Cloud
  • Local development and testing of MQTT clients without provisioning a cloud IoT servicenot Arduino Cloud
  • An air-gapped deployment where a broker with no licence server and no phone-home behaviour is a requirementnot Arduino Cloud

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Arduino Cloud

  • The free plan allows 2 connected devices, 5 variables each and one day of data retention
  • Free accounts are limited to 25 compilations a day and 10 trigger notifications a day
  • The Maker plan at $72 a year lifts devices to 25 and retention to 3 months, still for a single user
  • Team pricing jumps to $1,000 a year
  • Two years of data retention and unlimited ingestion require Enterprise

Eclipse Mosquitto

  • There is no clustering: Mosquitto is a single process, so high availability means building your own failover and accepting session loss on switchover.
  • Persistence is a local file rather than a replicated store, so a disk failure or an unclean shutdown can lose retained messages and queued QoS traffic.
  • Practical capacity is a few thousand concurrent clients on typical hardware, so a growing device fleet eventually forces a migration to a clustered broker.
  • The Eclipse Public Licence is weak copyleft rather than permissive, which some legal teams treat as a blocker when embedding the broker in a shipped commercial product.
  • There is no commercial support to buy from the project, so production incidents rely on community mailing lists or on paying a third party who happens to know the codebase.

Pricing, plan by plan

Arduino Cloud

Free
  • MakerFree
    • 2 devices
    • Basic features
    • Cloud access
  • Maker Plus$7/month
    • Up to 10 devices
    • Advanced features
    • Better storage

Eclipse Mosquitto

Free
  • Eclipse MosquittoFree
    • Eclipse Public License 2.0 with Eclipse Distribution Licence
    • MQTT 5.0, 3.1.1 and 3.1
    • No client or message limits beyond your hardware

Which should you pick?

Choose Arduino Cloud if

  • You need device connectivity.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Arduino devices, Cloud, Mobile app, Web dashboard.
  • You also want cloud storage.
Arduino Cloud review

Choose Eclipse Mosquitto if

  • You need mqtt 5.0 support.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, macOS, Docker.
  • You also want very small footprint.
Eclipse Mosquitto review

Questions people ask

Is Arduino Cloud or Eclipse Mosquitto better?
Neither clearly leads. Arduino Cloud starts at Free and Eclipse Mosquitto at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Arduino Cloud or Eclipse Mosquitto?
Arduino Cloud starts at Free and Eclipse Mosquitto at Free.
Does Arduino Cloud or Eclipse Mosquitto run on more platforms?
Arduino Cloud runs on Arduino devices, Cloud, Mobile app, Web dashboard. Eclipse Mosquitto runs on Linux, Windows, macOS, Docker.
Can I use Arduino Cloud for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Arduino Cloud best used for?
Arduino Cloud is most often used for connecting arduino boards to a cloud dashboard, over-the-air firmware updates to deployed devices, logging sensor data and charting it over time, triggering notifications from device thresholds. Of those, connecting arduino boards to a cloud dashboard and over-the-air firmware updates to deployed devices are not what Eclipse Mosquitto is typically brought in for.
What can Arduino Cloud do that Eclipse Mosquitto cannot?
Arduino Cloud covers Device Connectivity, Cloud Storage, Real-Time Sync, Security. Eclipse Mosquitto covers MQTT 5.0 support, Very small footprint, Bridging, WebSockets listener.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Eclipse Mosquitto: Can Mosquitto be clustered?

No. It is a single process. High availability requires an external failover arrangement you build yourself.

Eclipse Mosquitto: What licence is it?

Eclipse Public License 2.0 alongside the Eclipse Distribution License, a weak copyleft rather than a permissive licence.

Eclipse Mosquitto: How many clients can it handle?

A few thousand concurrent connections on ordinary hardware; beyond that, use a clustered broker.

Eclipse Mosquitto: Does it support MQTT 5?

Yes, along with 3.1.1 and 3.1.

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