Canonical MAAS vs PxeLab
Canonical MAAS
canonical.comPxeLab
pxelab.comSide by side
| Figure | Canonical MAAS | PxeLab |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $2.50/mo | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 8 | 0 |
| Spec score · OS Deployment Software | 9.3 (#1) | 7.4 (#17) |
| Spec score · Bare Metal Provisioning Software | 9.3 (#1) | 7.4 (#21) |
| Spec score · OS Imaging & Deployment Software | 9.3 (#1) | 7.4 (#14) |
| Integrations | Canonical documentation names Juju, Chef, Puppet, Ansible, Terraform, OpenStack and Kubernetes as MAAS automation or orchestration integrations. | The product lists iPXE, PXELinux, GRUB2, WDS emulation, iSCSI sanboot, and BMC/IPMI among its boot and operations capabilities. |
| License | The MAAS source repository is distributed under the GNU Affero General Public License version 3. | PxeLab is open source under the AGPL-3.0 license. |
| Purpose | MAAS is an open source platform for centrally managing and provisioning physical servers as cloud resources. | PxeLab is an all-in-one PXE network boot server with DHCP, TFTP, HTTP, DNS, and NFS managed through a web UI. |
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.
PxeLab
PxeLab is an open-source PXE network boot platform that combines DHCP, TFTP, HTTP, DNS, and NFS in one binary. It runs on Windows, Linux, and macOS in server or desktop modes, with management available through a web interface, REST API, or command line. For provisioning, it offers a catalog of more than 64 Linux distributions, ISO uploads, an image library, answer-file templates, and install-task tracking. Its templates cover unattended installation workflows including autoinstall, preseed, kickstart, and autounattend. Boot profiles can use direct kernel, chain, WDS, sanboot, or local disk options, with rollback and host or group bindings. Host management includes inventory, scheduled Wake-on-LAN, BMC/IPMI power control, and CSV import. PxeLab also provides audit logs, live log streams, Prometheus metrics, MAC-based access control, and NFS IP/CIDR allowlists with read-only exports. Secure Boot is supported for UEFI x64 and ARM64. The software is licensed under AGPL-3.0. The Getting Started guide says deb and rpm packages, Homebrew, and Docker images remain on the roadmap.