Canonical MAAS vs Metal³
Canonical MAAS
canonical.comMetal³
metal3.ioSide by side
| Figure | Canonical MAAS | Metal³ |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $2.50/mo | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 8 | 0 |
| Spec score · OS Deployment Software | 9.3 (#1) | 7.3 (#18) |
| Spec score · Bare Metal Provisioning Software | 9.3 (#1) | 7.4 (#19) |
| Spec score · Bare Metal as a Service (BMaaS) Software | 9.4 (#1) | 7.6 (#6) |
| Operating system images | The feature tour lists Ubuntu, CentOS, Windows, and RHEL images, and says images can be synchronized or served from an onsite mirror for offline use. | Metal³ can use operating systems available in a cloud image format, and first-boot customization requires cloud-init or a similar tool in the image. |
| Purpose | MAAS is an open source platform for centrally managing and provisioning physical servers as cloud resources. | Metal³ is an open-source project that provides tools for managing bare-metal infrastructure using Kubernetes. |
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.