cdist vs CFEngine
cdist
cdi.st
CFEngine
cfengine.comSide by side
| Figure | cdist | CFEngine |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 3 |
| Spec score · Configuration Management Tools | 8.6 (#6) | 9.0 (#1) |
| Architecture | cdist uses push mode, needs no central server, and can be run from any computer. | The CFEngine agent runs on each managed device and connects to the CFEngine hub by default every five minutes to ensure configuration compliance. |
| Extensibility | Types are cdist’s extension mechanism, and type and core are kept separate. | CFEngine Build supplies community and vendor policy modules that can be added through Mission Portal or command-line tools. |
| Purpose | cdist is a configuration management system positioned as an alternative to Ansible, Chef, or Puppet. | CFEngine automates infrastructure, security and compliance by continuously keeping infrastructure secure, compliant and up to date. |
| Support | The maker offers community help through a Matrix room and an IRC channel, and says commercial support can be requested from ungleich. | Enterprise provides a dedicated support team that answers questions, recommends best practices and can prioritize development of requested features. |
Plans
CFEngine
- Community EditionFree
- Enterprise free trialFree
- Enterprise EditionPriced on request
In their own words
cdist
cdist is a free, open-source configuration management system that applies a defined state to computers through shell scripts and cdist types. It is positioned as an alternative to Ansible, Chef, and Puppet. Types provide the extension mechanism, and the project says their results are idempotent, so outcomes do not depend on call order. cdist uses push mode: source computers connect to targets over SSH and apply configuration, without requiring a central server or an agent on the target. A target needs a POSIX-compatible shell and SSH server, while the source needs a POSIX-like shell, Python 3.5 or later, and an SSH client. The project lists a small core, standard types, and parallel execution. Installation is documented through Git or pip. Supported systems include Linux distributions, BSD systems, Mac OS X, and XenServer. Manuals are available in HTML and man-page formats, with community help through Matrix and IRC.
CFEngine
CFEngine automates infrastructure, security, and compliance by moving managed systems toward a state defined in policy. Users describe desired infrastructure states in CFEngine’s domain-specific language, and lightweight agents work to bring each device into compliance. By default, an agent contacts the CFEngine hub every five minutes. The system runs on embedded devices, servers, cloud systems, and mainframes, and is designed for tens or hundreds of thousands of nodes. Enterprise adds the Mission Portal web interface, reporting backed by an SQL database, REST APIs, compliance reports, policy analysis, alerts, inventory and change reporting, file-integrity monitoring, and performance monitoring. Dashboards provide compliance and performance views, alerts, and customizable sharing. Secure bootstrap uses mutual authentication, key exchange, and encrypted TLS communication. Community Edition is free under GNU GPL, supports Linux, and includes community support. Enterprise is free for up to 25 hosts; pricing beyond that is available on request. The supported operating systems listed include Linux distributions and Windows.