Canonical MAAS vs FOG Project
Canonical MAAS
canonical.com
FOG Project
fogproject.orgSide by side
| Figure | Canonical MAAS | FOG Project |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $2.50/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 8 | 2 |
| Spec score · OS Deployment Software | 9.3 (#1) | 8.7 (#4) |
| Spec score · Bare Metal Provisioning Software | 9.3 (#1) | 8.8 (#2) |
| Spec score · OS Imaging & Deployment Software | 9.3 (#1) | 8.7 (#4) |
| API | MAAS exposes a REST API with GET, POST, PUT and DELETE methods; version 2.0 is the documented supported API version. | The REST API exposes host, task, multicast-session, image and system-information routes. |
| API authentication | API authentication uses 0-legged OAuth, and the documentation provides Python, Ruby, cURL and HTTPie examples. | API requests can use a server API token plus per-user tokens; HTTP Basic authentication is also documented. |
| License | The MAAS source repository is distributed under the GNU Affero General Public License version 3. | The main project and its public repositories use GNU GPL version 3.0. |
| Purpose | MAAS is an open source platform for centrally managing and provisioning physical servers as cloud resources. | FOG Project is a free, open-source network computer cloning and management solution. |
| Rating on SourceForge | 0.0 out of 5 from 0 reviews; SourceForge says the software has not been reviewed yet. | 4.9 out of 5 stars from 61 reviews |
| Self-hosting | Installation is delivered as a MAAS snap and requires an Ubuntu LTS host, sudo access and PostgreSQL; the current guide uses MAAS 3.8 and PostgreSQL 16 snaps. | FOG is installed on a Linux server that administrators operate themselves. |
| What it does | MAAS is Canonical's private-cloud infrastructure manager that turns physical servers into cloud-like, repeatably deployable resources. | FOG is a free, open-source network imaging, cloning, rescue and computer-management system. |
Plans
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
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.
FOG Project
FOG Project is a free, open-source system for cloning and managing networked computers. It captures and deploys Windows, Mac OSX and Linux distributions, including hardware-independent images that can be used across different computer models. The project also lists multi-site installations and remote management, provided the FOG server is publicly reachable. That server must run on Linux; recommended options include server-oriented LTS distributions such as Ubuntu, Debian, Rocky Linux or AlmaLinux. FOG recommends configuring client machines to PXE boot first so imaging tasks can be sent without visiting each computer. The FOG Client supports host registration, hostname changes, scheduled power management, snapin installation and user tracking, with client installation described for Windows, Linux and OSX. Client-server communications use public-key infrastructure and AES-256 encryption after an RSA-4096 key exchange. The security guide recommends firewall rules and protecting the MySQL database and captured image directory. Community support is available through forums, a wiki and IRC. The Linux client lacks the FOG Tray, Active Directory joining and PrinterManager. FOG Project is free for commercial use; community support is free.