Canonical MAAS vs OPSI
Canonical MAAS
canonical.com
OPSI
opsi.orgSide by side
| Figure | Canonical MAAS | OPSI |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $2.50/mo | €0.42/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 8 | 5 |
| Spec score · IT Automation Software | 9.3 (#2) | 9.0 (#7) |
| Spec score · OS Deployment Software | 9.3 (#1) | 8.9 (#2) |
| Spec score · OS Imaging & Deployment Software | 9.3 (#1) | 8.9 (#2) |
| API | MAAS exposes a REST API with GET, POST, PUT and DELETE methods; version 2.0 is the documented supported API version. | Administrators can inspect endpoints at the opsiconfd /docs address; server data is changed through JSON-RPC and the WebGUI add-on provides a REST API. |
| Company headquarters | Canonical's LinkedIn profile lists London, England as headquarters. | uib GmbH identifies Mainz, Germany as its base. |
| Documentation depth | The documentation is organized into tutorials, how-to guides, explanations and reference material, including installation, API, Terraform, troubleshooting, metrics, logging and security-hardening sections. | The English 4.3 manual covers supported systems, quick start, server, clients, interfaces, products, modules, opsi-script, troubleshooting and contribution. |
| Founded | 2004 | 1995 |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom | Mainz, Germany |
| 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. | OPSI can be installed with Docker or a ready-to-use virtual machine, and its Docker helper scripts support Windows, Linux and macOS hosts. |
| What it does | MAAS is Canonical's private-cloud infrastructure manager that turns physical servers into cloud-like, repeatably deployable resources. | OPSI is a client-management system for Windows, Linux and macOS devices, using a Linux server for deployment, inventory and patching. |
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
OPSI
- BasicFree
- CommunityFree
- Professional€4.99 a year
- Enterprise€8.99 a year
- Enterprise Cloud€11.99 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.
OPSI
OPSI is an open-source client management system for software distribution, operating-system installation, inventory, patch management, and configuration. It can deploy Windows updates, MSI packages, setup programs, and system packages without interactive installation steps. It also automates installations of Windows client and server systems and common Linux distributions, including unattended and image-based setups.
Regular inventory collects hardware and software details, including hardware information from devices without an operating system. Administration can be centralized across multiple sites, each with its own depot servers, configurations, and software packages. Directory integrations support Active Directory, Samba 4, and OpenLDAP; single sign-on extensions support Microsoft Entra ID and Keycloak through SAML 2.0. OPSI-WebGUI runs in a modern browser without client-side installation. Community is free with unlimited devices and one worker process. Basic is free for up to 30 devices and one setup per user. Professional costs €499 a year and requires a minimum purchase of 100 devices; Enterprise costs €899 a year with the same minimum. Enterprise Cloud costs €1,199 a year, starting at 100 devices.