Eddystone vs AltBeacon

Eddystone vs AltBeacon: A Comprehensive Comparison

Eddystone and AltBeacon are both open-source BLE beacon advertising specifications that serve as alternatives to Apple's proprietary iBeacon format. Despite sharing the "open alternative" positioning, they reflect very different design philosophies: Eddystone prioritizes data richness and multi-frame flexibility; AltBeacon prioritizes iBeacon-compatible simplicity with an open license.

Overview

Eddystone (Google, 2015) is an extensible multi-frame beacon specification. It defines four frame types: Eddystone-UID (namespace + instance identifier), Eddystone-URL (compressed web URL), Eddystone-TLM (telemetry: battery, temperature, uptime), and Eddystone-EID (rotating ephemeral identifier for security). Eddystone uses the BLE Service ATT">UUID field (0xFEAA) and is designed to broadcast different types of information from a single beacon device by rotating frame types in the advertising interval.

AltBeacon (Radius Networks, 2014) is a minimal open-source specification that replicates iBeacon's payload structure using an open license. It uses the BLE Manufacturer Specific Data field with a deployer-defined Company ID and the 0xBEAC type code. Its payload is structurally analogous to iBeacon: 16-byte Beacon Code, 4-byte ID1, 4-byte ID2, 1-byte reference RSSI, and 1-byte manufacturer-reserved data. AltBeacon has no URL, telemetry, or rotating identifier frame types.

Key Differences

• Frame type variety: Eddystone defines four frame types; AltBeacon defines exactly one. Eddystone's multi-frame approach enables a single beacon to broadcast identity, URL, and telemetry from the same hardware by rotating frame types.
• URL broadcasting: Eddystone-URL can encode a compressed web URL and broadcast it in the advertising packet — enabling Physical Web experiences on Android Nearby. AltBeacon has no URL capability.
• Telemetry: Eddystone-TLM broadcasts battery voltage, temperature, and packet count. AltBeacon has a single 1-byte manufacturer-reserved field and no standardized telemetry structure.
• Ephemeral / secure IDs: Eddystone-EID rotates the beacon identifier using an ECDH-derived key, enabling the beacon to be untrackable by unauthorized scanners. AltBeacon's identifier is static.
• AD type: Eddystone uses the Service Data AD type (Service UUID 0xFEAA) — more universally parseable across platforms. AltBeacon uses Manufacturer Specific Data — the same AD type as iBeacon, requiring the Company ID to be registered with the Bluetooth SIG.
• Identifier structure: AltBeacon uses 16-byte Beacon Code + 4-byte ID1 + 4-byte ID2 (compatible with iBeacon's UUID/Major/Minor paradigm but with 32-bit Major/Minor). Eddystone-UID uses a 10-byte Namespace + 6-byte Instance — designed for global uniqueness without a UUID registry.
• Android SDK support: Both are supported by the Android Beacon Library (Radius Networks). Eddystone also has native Android support via the Nearby API.
• iOS support: Both require third-party libraries on iOS (neither uses Core Location like iBeacon). Eddystone also has CoreBluetooth-based libraries.

Technical Comparison

Use Cases

When Eddystone Excels

• Physical Web and URL-aware deployments: Eddystone-URL is the only standard format that can broadcast a clickable web URL in the BLE advertising packet. Museum exhibits, product information displays, and public information kiosks targeting Android users benefit uniquely from Eddystone-URL.
• Infrastructure monitoring: Large beacon deployments (airports, hospitals, retail malls) that need to monitor battery health and beacon uptime benefit from Eddystone-TLM's standardized telemetry structure — enabling automated replacement alerts and environmental monitoring.
• Secure anti-tracking deployments: Eddystone-EID's rotating ephemeral identifier is the only standardized mechanism in either format that prevents unauthorized entities from tracking specific beacons over time. Healthcare, government, and financial deployments benefit from EID.
• Multi-purpose beacons: A single Eddystone-capable beacon broadcasting UID + TLM + URL in rotation provides identity, health telemetry, and URL content from a single device — AltBeacon requires separate hardware for equivalent functionality.
• Service UUID parsing simplicity: Eddystone's Service Data AD type (0xFEAA) is easier to filter and parse across different BLE stacks than Manufacturer Specific Data, which requires additional filtering on Company ID.

When AltBeacon Excels

• iBeacon migration paths: Organizations migrating from iBeacon deployments that need an open-source format with the same conceptual UUID/Major/Minor identifier hierarchy can adopt AltBeacon with minimal application logic changes.
• Simplest possible proximity implementation: If the only requirement is "broadcast a beacon identifier that Android and iOS apps can detect and range," AltBeacon's single-frame format is marginally simpler to implement and deploy than Eddystone's multi-frame system.
• Android Beacon Library compatibility: AltBeacon is the native format of the Android Beacon Library, making it the path of least resistance for Android developers already using that SDK.
• Manufacturer-reserved data: The 1-byte MFG RESERVED field enables simple device state signaling (0x00 = normal, 0x01 = charging, 0x02 = error) without additional frames or a connection.

When to Choose Each

Choose Eddystone when: - URL broadcasting to Android Nearby is a required feature - Infrastructure health monitoring via telemetry is needed - Security requires rotating identifiers (EID) to prevent beacon tracking - A single beacon needs to broadcast multiple types of information - Avoiding Company ID Bluetooth SIG registration is preferable

Choose AltBeacon when: - The application logic mirrors iBeacon's UUID/Major/Minor hierarchy and migration from iBeacon is a consideration - The team is already using Android Beacon Library and AltBeacon is the simplest integration - Minimal advertising stack complexity is preferred - The 1-byte manufacturer-reserved data byte provides needed custom signaling

Conclusion

Eddystone and AltBeacon are both open-source iBeacon alternatives, but they occupy different niches. Eddystone is the richer, more extensible format — offering URL broadcasting, telemetry, rotating identifiers, and multi-frame rotation that AltBeacon simply does not provide. AltBeacon is the more conservative format — simpler, iBeacon-compatible in concept, and focused purely on proximity identification. For new deployments requiring any of Eddystone's extended features (URL, TLM, EID), Eddystone is the clear choice. For deployments that need only a proximity identifier with an open license and the closest possible structural analogy to iBeacon, AltBeacon is the pragmatic option.