CFEngine vs Google Cloud VM Manager
CFEngine
cfengine.com
Google Cloud VM Manager
cloud.google.comSide by side
| Figure | CFEngine | Google Cloud VM Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 3 | 3 |
| Spec score · Configuration Management Tools | 9.0 (#1) | 8.7 (#4) |
| Spec score · IT Configuration Management Software | 8.9 (#2) | 8.6 (#7) |
| Spec score · IT Automation Software | 9.0 (#6) | 8.7 (#13) |
| Documentation depth | Documentation includes getting-started guides, installation, policy tutorials, promise and function references, web UI material and API references. | The documentation includes overview, setup, operating-system details, patch guides, policy guides, troubleshooting, API reference links, Terraform guides, quotas, and release-note links. |
| Purpose | CFEngine automates infrastructure, security and compliance by continuously keeping infrastructure secure, compliant and up to date. | VM Manager manages operating systems for large Windows and Linux VM fleets running on Compute Engine. |
| Rating on G2 | 4.8 out of 5 from 2 reviews | The Google Cloud Infrastructure page reports an average based on 15 real user reviews but does not display a numeric aggregate rating. |
| Rating on Gartner Peer Insights | 4.0 out of 5 from 2 reviews | Google Cloud Platform is rated 4.7 out of 5 from 2,035 ratings. |
| Rating on TrustRadius | 9 out of 10 from 3 reviews | Google Cloud Platform scores 9 out of 10 from 59 reviews and ratings. |
| Support | Enterprise provides a dedicated support team that answers questions, recommends best practices and can prioritize development of requested features. | Google Cloud support packages include options such as 24/7 coverage, phone support and access to a technical support manager; VM Manager questions can also be posted to Stack Overflow. |
| What it does | CFEngine automates configuration, patching, security hardening, compliance and infrastructure maintenance through continuously running agents. | VM Manager is a Google Cloud suite for managing Windows and Linux operating systems across large Compute Engine VM fleets. |
Plans
CFEngine
- Community EditionFree
- Enterprise free trialFree
- Enterprise EditionPriced on request
Google Cloud VM Manager
- Free tierFree
- Usage-based VM ManagerFree
- VM ManagerFree
In their own words
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.
Google Cloud VM Manager
Google Cloud VM Manager manages operating systems across Windows and Linux VM fleets running on Compute Engine. Its tools cover patch management, OS inventory and OS policies. Patch jobs apply updates on demand or on a schedule, report compliance, and can use selected approvals and pre- or post-patching scripts. OS inventory collects hostnames, OS and kernel versions, installed packages, available updates, Windows applications and OS vulnerabilities. OS policies centralize software configuration deployment, maintenance and reporting. Teams can use the Google Cloud console, Google Cloud CLI or OS Config API; Terraform can extend scope across projects. The service supports projects inside VPC Service Controls perimeters, but patch jobs operate on VMs in one project at a time. A free tier covers 100 VMs per Cloud Billing account per month, and limited-functionality mode is available at no cost for unlimited VMs. After the free tier, the listed charge is $0.003 per hour per VM with an active OS Config agent.