rtl_433 is a command-line utility that receives and decodes radio transmissions from low-power devices operating on common ISM bands.
It supports frequencies including 433.92 MHz, 868 MHz, 315 MHz, 345 MHz, and 915 MHz, and works with RTL-SDR and SoapySDR compatible hardware. The software is designed for capturing, decoding, and processing RF data from a wide range of devices, while remaining lightweight enough to run on Linux systems including embedded hardware.
This is free and open source software.
Key Features
- Reads live data from supported SDR hardware as well as recorded sample files.
- Includes a pulse analyzer to inspect signals and help investigate unsupported devices.
- Supports multiple structured output formats including JSON, CSV, MQTT, InfluxDB, syslog, and HTTP.
- Can poll multiple frequencies with configurable hopping intervals.
- Supports configuration files for repeatable monitoring and decoding setups.
- Low resource requirements and few dependencies.
- Cross-platform support – runs under Linux, macOS, and Windows.
Website: github.com/merbanan/rtl_433
Support:
Developer: Benjamin Larsson and contributors
License: GNU General Public License v2.0
rtl_433 is written in C. Learn C with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
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Read our verdict in the software roundup.
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