CFEngine vs Rudder
CFEngine
cfengine.com
Rudder
rudder.ioSide by side
| Figure | CFEngine | Rudder |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $3.33/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 3 | 8 |
| Spec score · Configuration Management Tools | 9.0 (#1) | 8.7 (#5) |
| Spec score · IT Configuration Management Software | 8.9 (#2) | 8.7 (#5) |
| Spec score · IT Automation Software | 9.0 (#6) | 8.8 (#11) |
| Spec score · Enterprise IT Management Software | 9.1 (#3) | 8.8 (#7) |
| Spec score · Infrastructure Automation | 8.9 (#3) | 8.8 (#5) |
| Company profile | LinkedIn lists Northern.tech as a privately held software company founded in 2008, headquartered in Oslo, with 51–200 employees. | LinkedIn lists Rudder as a privately held software-development company with 11–50 employees, headquartered in Paris and founded in 2010. |
| Headquarters | Oslo, Norway | Paris, France |
| Inventory | Inventory reporting collects detailed information across bare-metal servers, virtual machines, cloud instances and IoT devices. | Agents collect hardware, network, operating-system and installed-software inventory that can be used for targeting rules. |
| Rating on G2 | 4.8 out of 5 from 2 reviews | 4.3 out of 5 from 18 reviews |
| Security | CFEngine's secure bootstrap uses mutual authentication, key exchange and encrypted communication over TLS. | Rudder documentation says communications are encrypted with TLS 1.3 and agents authenticate mutually with the server or relay using mTLS. |
| Support | Enterprise provides a dedicated support team that answers questions, recommends best practices and can prioritize development of requested features. | Enterprise includes unlimited standard support, while the Corporate Security Suite includes unlimited premium support and a dedicated customer success manager. |
| System requirements | The Enterprise quick-install hub requires a 64-bit recent Linux machine, 2 GB memory and 100 MB disk per connected host. | Rudder requires a recent browser, OpenJDK 17 or later and PostgreSQL 13 or later. |
| What it does | CFEngine automates configuration, patching, security hardening, compliance and infrastructure maintenance through continuously running agents. | Rudder is an infrastructure automation platform for continuously managing configuration, patching, vulnerabilities and compliance across cloud, hybrid and on-premise systems. |
Plans
CFEngine
- Community EditionFree
- Enterprise free trialFree
- Enterprise EditionPriced on request
Rudder
- Rudder CoreFree
- Rudder Starter - Essential (Monthly)$4 a month
- Rudder Security Suite - Premium (Monthly)$23 a month
- Rudder Starter - Essential (Yearly)$40 a year
- Rudder Security Suite - Standard (Yearly)$200 a year
- Rudder Security Suite - Premium (Yearly)$225 a year
- Rudder Corporate Security SuitePriced on request
- Rudder EnterprisePriced on request
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.