QNX Neutrino and Green Hills INTEGRITY are commercial, microkernel-based real-time operating systems for embedded systems. QNX describes a design that runs drivers, applications, protocol stacks, and filesystems in protected user space, where components can be isolated and restarted. Green Hills emphasizes protected address spaces and partitions, guaranteed processor resources, and its separation-kernel architecture. The right choice depends on the exact product and release, target hardware, certification evidence, integration requirements, and project constraints; the available vendor information does not establish a universal performance or price winner.
How do QNX Neutrino and INTEGRITY differ architecturally?
Both vendors describe microkernel-oriented designs, but their product descriptions emphasize different aspects of isolation. These summaries are useful for framing an evaluation, not proof that the systems behave identically under a particular workload.
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QNX Neutrino: services in protected user space
QNX describes Neutrino as a “true microkernel operating system.” Its overview says drivers, applications, protocol stacks, and filesystems run outside the kernel in memory-protected user space. QNX also says a failed component can be automatically restarted without affecting other components or the kernel. That is a vendor description of the architecture, not a guarantee that every application fault is recoverable or that the entire system cannot fail. See the QNX Neutrino RTOS overview.
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Green Hills describes INTEGRITY as both a microkernel RTOS and a separation kernel. Its architecture supports multiple protected virtual address spaces, each of which can contain multiple application tasks. The vendor says hardware memory protection creates secure partitions that isolate applications and guarantee processor resources; it also lists hard real-time determinism, multicore utilization, POSIX, and AUTOSAR support. See the Green Hills INTEGRITY product page.
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For either platform, an engineering comparison should examine what runs in the privileged kernel, how services and applications are separated, how CPU and memory resources are allocated, what happens after component failure, and how those behaviors are evidenced for the intended system.
What certification evidence applies to each product?
Certification claims belong to specific products and configurations, not automatically to every release or system built from a vendor’s technology. A summary page is not a substitute for the applicable certificate, safety manual, or security evaluation.
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Green Hills INTEGRITY
Green Hills lists certifications and standards across safety and security domains, including FAA DO-178B/C DAL A for INTEGRITY-178 products, Common Criteria EAL 6+ and related security claims for INTEGRITY-178, industrial safety standards, medical-device approvals, and automotive ISO 26262 ASIL D and cybersecurity references. Confirm the exact product variant and certification package against the vendor’s INTEGRITY certifications information.
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QNX Neutrino is distinct from QNX’s separately named Secure Kernel and Safety products. Do not assume that a general Neutrino release carries the security or functional-safety status associated with a separate offering. Check the specific QNX product materials, release, hardware target, standard, and system boundary relevant to the project; the Neutrino overview is not by itself evidence that every Neutrino configuration has a particular certification.
For either vendor, request current certificates, safety manuals, supported-hardware information, and lifecycle evidence for the exact intended configuration before relying on a claim in a safety or security case.
Which platform is easier to integrate with an existing system?
The vendor pages point to different ecosystem details but do not provide a complete compatibility matrix. QNX positions Neutrino for a broad range of embedded systems and describes a POSIX-oriented development environment. Green Hills lists POSIX and AUTOSAR support for INTEGRITY and describes integration with its MULTI development environment. These are useful starting points, not guarantees that a particular application, board, or toolchain will work without adaptation.
Compare the platforms against the project’s actual requirements:
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- Compatibility needs for existing code, POSIX interfaces, or AUTOSAR components.
- Developer experience, debugging workflow, compiler and tool qualification needs, and supplier support.
- License terms and support arrangements for the required release and deployment.
QNX’s product information is available from its Neutrino RTOS overview; Green Hills describes INTEGRITY and its ecosystem on the INTEGRITY product page. Neither page settles every processor, board, API, middleware, or licensing question.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Does INTEGRITY support virtualization?
Green Hills documents INTEGRITY Multivisor as an optional virtualization service. It can host guest operating systems such as Linux or Android alongside native INTEGRITY tasks. Green Hills describes a user-space virtual-machine monitor, with isolation provided by the privileged separation microkernel. The INTEGRITY Multivisor page describes this capability.
This establishes a documented Green Hills option; it does not show that Multivisor is a better fit for every mixed-criticality system, or that QNX has no comparable option. For a project that needs guest operating systems, evaluate the exact supported guests, target hardware, performance requirements, and separation evidence for each candidate.
How should you choose between QNX and INTEGRITY?
Neither name alone determines the best fit. Evaluate the product release and configuration against the system you need to build, using vendor documentation and project-specific evidence.
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- Check target support. Confirm processor and board support, drivers, middleware, and required lifecycle coverage for the exact release.
- Map isolation and recovery requirements. Ask how each candidate separates kernel services, applications, and critical functions; how resource allocation works; and what fault recovery is supported and evidenced.
- Validate integration. Check existing code, POSIX or AUTOSAR needs, development tools, debugging, compiler qualification, and supplier support with the vendors.
- Test the intended workload and obtain commercial terms. Measure project-relevant performance on the target rather than inferring it from architecture descriptions, and request current licensing and support terms.
The reviewed vendor materials do not provide a matched performance benchmark or comparable pricing, so those questions require target-specific evaluation and current vendor information.
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