Software Alternatives & Reviews

PureOS VS CalyxOS

Compare PureOS VS CalyxOS and see what are their differences

PureOS logo PureOS

A user friendly, secure and freedom respecting OS for your daily usage

CalyxOS logo CalyxOS

Privacy-focused operating system for smartphones based on Android and microG
  • PureOS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-03-20
  • CalyxOS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-01

PureOS videos

PureOS 8.0 - Based on Debian 10 Buster and Using GNOME 3.30 as Default Desktop Environment

More videos:

  • Review - Is PureOS Really a Secure and Private OS?

CalyxOS videos

CalyxOS Review: The Private & Secure Android ROM For Everyone!

More videos:

  • Review - GrapheneOS vs CalyxOS ULTIMATE COMPARISON (Battery & Speed Ft. Stock Android & iPhone)

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to PureOS and CalyxOS)
Mobile OS
12 12%
88% 88
Mobile SDK
13 13%
87% 87
Operating Systems
100 100%
0% 0
Roms
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare PureOS and CalyxOS

PureOS Reviews

The 10 Best Immutable Linux Distributions in 2024
Why it’s on the list: PureOS offers a great balance of immutability and usability. While not fully immutable, it incorporates many immutable principles, particularly in handling software updates and system stability.
The 5 Best Privacy-Focused Operating Systems
PureOS is a privacy-focused Linux distribution developed by Purism, a company committed to user privacy and open-source software. It comes pre-installed on Purism's Librem laptops and is designed to provide a secure and privacy-conscious computing environment.
Open Source Mobile OS Alternatives To Android
It’s more of a Linux-based smartphone rather than a Linux-based smartphone OS, but I believe that the convergent PureOS should be able to run on other devices with some tweaks.
Source: itsfoss.com
Top 15 Best Security-Centric Linux Distributions of 2020
PureOS is a user-friendly Debian-based distribution built with a focus on user privacy and security by Purism – the company behind Liberem computers and smartphones.
Source: www.tecmint.com

CalyxOS Reviews

Android Alternative: Top 12 Mobile Operating Systems
It ships with Signal for encrypted messaging; Tor browser to access the web without any tracking; a free and trusted VPN from the Calyx Institute; the open-source Aurora Store, a Play Store alternative, and more. There are no Google services included in CalyxOS but if you want, you can sideload microG to get some of the Google services without sacrificing your anonymity. To...
Source: beebom.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, CalyxOS seems to be a lot more popular than PureOS. While we know about 190 links to CalyxOS, we've tracked only 13 mentions of PureOS. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

PureOS mentions (13)

  • Laptops with Linux
    Librem 14 by Purism, can't recall the specifics for this one; sorry*. I do remember that we owe PureOS to them. Source: about 1 year ago
  • I am losing my mind while protecting my online privacy
    Another option is PureOS, and you might even consider buying privacy-oriented hardware, such as the Libram product line of computers, laptops, smartphones from Purism, which is just one among many manufacturers in this market. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Are there any useable Linux phone Os besides Ubuntu Touch
    There's ClearOS https://www.clearos.com/products/clearos-editions/clearos-mobile and PureOS https://pureos.net/ which the Librem 5 uses. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • GNOME is on which tablets or phones?
    Check following link. You can order gnome phone here. Https://pureos.net/. Source: over 2 years ago
  • How to keep Debian FSF "approved"?
    If you can actually use a FSF distribution (you don’t need proprietary drivers) you can use PureOS from Purism. It is based on Debian and up streams all their work back to it. https://pureos.net/. Source: over 2 years ago
View more

CalyxOS mentions (190)

  • Debloat non-rooted Android devices
    For example https://androidauthority.com/grapheneos-3287030/ > "Even if you stomach the Pixel-only requirement" I have not and will not stomach that at all, nope! https://grapheneos.org/faq#supported-devices Nope! I wasn't paying attention, but if I remember, Alphabet/Google was funded to deploy/release Android operating system, and they also were financed to deploy some hardware phones before disappearing to let... - Source: Hacker News / about 2 months ago
  • Apple Confirms Governments Using Push Notifications to Surveil Users
    I'm sure you did your research. I'm writing for other readers who are interested. There are a few alternatives, more can be found but this is a selection of the most prominent offerings. /e/OS: https://e.foundation/e-os/ GrapheneOS: https://grapheneos.org/ LineageOS: https://lineageos.org/ CalyxOS: https://calyxos.org/ PostmarketOS (based on Alpine Linux rather than Android): https://postmarketos.org/ (for some... - Source: Hacker News / 5 months ago
  • us What's a good (under $500, preferably lower than $200 though) android for geeks?
    Ironically, Pixels are the best for de-Googling. GrapheneOS requires a Pixel, as does CalyxOS for the most part. If you don't want your money going to Google, a used/refurb Pixel gets around that in my opinion. Source: 10 months ago
  • Youtube Premium via VPN
    Oh I see makes sense, one closed system needs another 😅 but if you look at Android, look at https://grapheneos.org/ and https://calyxos.org/. Source: 11 months ago
  • Android vs Apple phones
    I agree with your point, but wanted to ask, have you considered using a device with a degoogled AOSP-based OS like GrapheneOS or CalyxOS? Source: 12 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing PureOS and CalyxOS, you can also consider the following products

Android - Android is an open source mobile operating system initially released by Google in 2008 and has since become of the most widely used operating systems on any platform.

GrapheneOS - GrapheneOS is an open source privacy and security focused mobile OS with Android app compatibility.

LineageOS - Operating system for smartphones and tablet computers, based on the Android

Mobian - Mobian, Debian for mobile devices

Ubuntu Touch - Read more about Ubuntu Touch. Our free and open source mobile OS is made and maintained by UBports! We care about your freedom and privacy.

e.foundation /e/ - /e/ is a fork of LineageOS that aims to be completely free of everything Google.