Canonical MAAS vs Puppet
Canonical MAAS
canonical.com
Puppet
puppet.comSide by side
| Figure | Canonical MAAS | Puppet |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $2.50/mo | $120/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) | 8.9 (#9) |
| Spec score · Orchestration / Provisioning Software | 9.3 (#1) | 8.8 (#4) |
| Spec score · Data Center Automation | 9.3 (#1) | 8.8 (#4) |
| API | MAAS exposes a REST API with GET, POST, PUT and DELETE methods; version 2.0 is the documented supported API version. | Puppet and Puppet Enterprise expose HTTP APIs for application integrations, including inventory and orchestration services. |
| Company headquarters | Canonical's LinkedIn profile lists London, England as headquarters. | Puppet’s historical headquarters was Portland, Oregon; current Perforce company information lists Minneapolis as head office. |
| Company legal name | Crunchbase lists the maker's legal name as Canonical Ltd. | Crunchbase identifies the legal entity as Puppet, Inc., also known as Reductive Labs. |
| Extensibility | Canonical documents CLI and Python client bindings, custom commissioning scripts, deployment scripts and custom power-driver plugins. | The product supports an extensible scanner architecture and open API framework, while Puppet Forge provides more than 7,000 reusable modules. |
| Founded | 2004 | 2005 |
| Integrations | Canonical documentation names Juju, Chef, Puppet, Ansible, Terraform, OpenStack and Kubernetes as MAAS automation or orchestration integrations. | Official integration listings include ServiceNow, VMware, Argo CD, Jenkins, Dynatrace, Datadog, New Relic, Splunk, Tenable Nessus and CIS Benchmarks. |
| License | The MAAS source repository is distributed under the GNU Affero General Public License version 3. | Open-source Puppet is released under Apache-2.0, while Puppet Enterprise adds proprietary commercial components, orchestration, console and support. |
| Purpose | MAAS is an open source platform for centrally managing and provisioning physical servers as cloud resources. | Puppet Enterprise provides policy-driven configuration management and infrastructure automation for enterprise-scale environments. |
| 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. | Puppet Enterprise is downloadable for customer-managed installations, and Puppet also offers a self-hosted Unified Compliance appliance. |
| What it does | MAAS is Canonical's private-cloud infrastructure manager that turns physical servers into cloud-like, repeatably deployable resources. | Puppet Enterprise automates configuration, desired-state enforcement, deployment workflows and governance across hybrid and multi-cloud infrastructure. |
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
Puppet
- Puppet CoreFree
- Puppet Enterprise free trialFree
- Puppet Enterprise listing price$120 a month
- Puppet EnterprisePriced on request
- Puppet Enterprise AdvancedPriced on request
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.
Puppet
Puppet Enterprise provides policy-driven configuration management and infrastructure automation for complex cloud and hybrid environments. It uses policy as code to continuously enforce desired state, helping organizations identify and remediate configuration drift. Both agent-based and agentless management are supported, with a web interface and role-based access control. Puppet Enterprise Advanced adds continuous enforcement of CIS Benchmarks and DISA STIGs, self-service automation, AI features, observability integrations, and advanced patching. It also integrates with third-party vulnerability scanners, including Nessus, for remediation. Listed integrations include GitHub, AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, HashiCorp Vault, and ServiceNow. Agents are listed for Linux, Windows, and macOS. Puppet describes the product as suited to medium and large organizations managing complex environments that require security, compliance, and centralized automation. Pricing is custom; a free trial runs on up to 10 nodes with no commitment or time limit. Network and edge device management is optional, and licensing for those devices requires contacting sales.