Azure Automation vs Canonical MAAS
Azure Automation
azure.microsoft.com
Canonical MAAS
canonical.comSide by side
| Figure | Azure Automation | Canonical MAAS |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $2.50/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 8 | 8 |
| Spec score · IT Automation Software | 9.0 (#5) | 9.3 (#2) |
| Company legal name | Crunchbase lists the legal name as Microsoft Corporation. | Crunchbase lists the maker's legal name as Canonical Ltd. |
| Documentation depth | Microsoft Learn provides overview, runbook authoring, runtime, authentication, hybrid-worker, limits, networking and REST API documentation. | The documentation is organized into tutorials, how-to guides, explanations and reference material, including installation, API, Terraform, troubleshooting, metrics, logging and security-hardening sections. |
| What it does | Azure Automation runs recurring cloud and IT-management tasks in Azure, on-premises systems and other clouds. | MAAS is Canonical's private-cloud infrastructure manager that turns physical servers into cloud-like, repeatably deployable resources. |
Plans
Azure Automation
- Process automation — job run timePriced on request
- Process automation — watchersFree
- Configuration management — Azure nodePriced on request
- Configuration management — non-Azure nodePriced on request
- Update managementPriced on request
- Update managementFree
- Configuration management non-Azure nodePrice not published
- Process automation job runtimePrice not published
Canonical MAAS
- FreeFree
- Self-supportFree
- Essential$30 a year
- Essential$30 a year
- Standard$50 a year
- Standard$50 a year
- Advanced$100 a year
- Advanced$100 a year
In their own words
Azure Automation
Azure Automation is a cloud service for process automation, configuration management, patch management, and remediation automation on Windows and Linux. Process automation is divided into job run time and watchers: the job run time plan includes 500 minutes per month, while the watchers plan is listed at free with 744 hours included monthly. Configuration management has separate Azure-node and non-Azure-node plans. The Azure-node option includes a configuration pull service and change tracking; the non-Azure-node option includes five nodes per month. An Update management plan lists update visibility and update deployment. These options cover automating processes, managing configuration, and handling updates across both supported operating systems. Azure Automation uses a cloud deployment model. The pricing model is listed as freemium, although the facts also state there is no free plan.
Canonical MAAS
Canonical MAAS is an open source platform for provisioning physical servers as centrally managed cloud resources. It automates server discovery, inventory, commissioning, deployment, and decommissioning, and lets operators manage nodes through a web interface, command line, or API. Hardware discovery uses PXE boot and supports IPMI-enabled machines, as well as subnets, VLANs, and switch fabrics. MAAS integrates with Terraform, Juju, and Ansible for infrastructure automation. It can configure networking and storage, run hardware tests, and manage LXD and KVM virtual machines. Listed images include Ubuntu, CentOS, Windows, and RHEL; images can be synchronized or served from an onsite mirror for offline use. Canonical describes MAAS for private cloud with OpenStack, server automation, and bare-metal Kubernetes. A free self-support plan covers all machines but excludes HA support, RBAC, Knowledge Base, a Sev 1 response SLA, phone support, and ticket support. Paid plans start at $30 a year per managed machine. Ubuntu Pro is required for MAAS controllers; Canonical says it provides security patching and enterprise support for controllers and Ubuntu machines.