Betaflight vs. Cleanflight

Betaflight and Cleanflight are two popular open source firmware options for drone flight controllers. While they share similarities, there are also notable differences between the two. Let's compare Betaflight and Cleanflight based on key aspects:

1. Development and Community Support:

   • Betaflight: Betaflight originated from Cleanflight as a fork, specifically focusing on improving performance and flight characteristics for multirotor drones. It has a dedicated development team and an active community of contributors and users, resulting in frequent updates, bug fixes, and feature enhancements.
   • Cleanflight: Cleanflight was the original firmware that Betaflight forked from. While it may not receive as frequent updates and new features as Betaflight, it still has an active user base and community support.
      

2. Features and Customization:

   • Betaflight: Betaflight offers a wide range of features and customization options for multirotor drones. It includes advanced PID tuning, flight modes, OSD (On-Screen Display) integration, Blackbox logging, and more. Betaflight provides an extensive configuration interface that allows users to fine-tune their drone's performance and behavior.
   • Cleanflight: Cleanflight offers similar features to Betaflight, including PID tuning, flight modes, and OSD integration. However, it may not have all the latest features and enhancements that Betaflight offers due to the development focus shifting to Betaflight.
      

3. Flight Performance:

   • Betaflight: One of the primary focuses of Betaflight is optimizing flight performance for multirotor drones. It continually introduces new algorithms and improvements to enhance stability, maneuverability, and responsiveness during flight.
   • Cleanflight: Cleanflight also provides stable flight performance, but it may not have the same level of optimization and responsiveness as Betaflight, especially when it comes to the latest advancements.
      

4. Hardware Support:

   • Betaflight: Betaflight supports a wide range of flight controller boards, including popular brands such as Omnibus, Matek, and FlightOne. It offers compatibility with various sensors, GPS modules, and telemetry systems.
   • Cleanflight: Cleanflight also supports numerous flight controller boards, including Naze32, SPRacingF3, and others. However, as Betaflight has gained popularity, some newer flight controller models may have better compatibility with Betaflight.
      

5. User Interface and Configuration:

   • Betaflight: Betaflight has a user-friendly and feature-rich configuration interface known as Betaflight Configurator. It provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for easy configuration, firmware updates, and parameter adjustments.
   • Cleanflight: Cleanflight offers a similar configuration interface, known as Cleanflight Configurator, which allows users to adjust settings, calibrate sensors, and update firmware.

In summary, Betaflight and Cleanflight are closely related open source flight controller firmware options. Betaflight has gained more popularity due to its focus on performance improvements, frequent updates, and a robust community. It offers a broader range of features and customization options for multirotor drones. Cleanflight, on the other hand, still has an active user base and provides stable flight performance but may not receive as many updates or have the latest advancements seen in Betaflight. Ultimately, the choice between the two depends on individual preferences, hardware compatibility, and specific requirements.