Chef Infra vs Microsoft Desired State Configuration
Chef Infra
chef.ioMicrosoft Desired State Configuration
learn.microsoft.comSide by side
| Figure | Chef Infra | Microsoft Desired State Configuration |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $4.92/mo | — |
| Free plan | — | — |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 3 | 0 |
| Spec score · Configuration Management Tools | 8.5 (#7) | 5.8 (#24) |
| Spec score · Infrastructure Automation | 8.5 (#7) | 5.8 (#21) |
| Spec score · IT Configuration Management Software | 8.5 (#10) | 5.8 (#26) |
Plans
Chef Infra
- Business$59 a year
- Enterprise$189 a year
- Enterprise PlusPriced on request
Microsoft Desired State Configuration
No plans published.
In their own words
Chef Infra
Chef Infra automates infrastructure configuration and helps keep systems aligned with a defined desired state. Teams express configurations and policies as code, test them, and deliver them through automated pipelines; Chef Infra can correct configuration drift when systems diverge. It supports Windows and Linux systems, cloud ARM systems, and Mac laptops across on-premises, cloud, and edge environments. Chef Infra Client includes more than 150 resources, while the community provides thousands of configuration templates. Chef Workstation bundles the client with Chef InSpec, Chef Habitat, Test Kitchen, Cookstyle, and Chef Upgrade Lab. The policy language is Ruby DSL, and listed capabilities include policy testing, reporting, and CI/CD integration. The free community version is non-commercial. Business costs $59 a year per node, and Enterprise costs $189 a year per node; Enterprise Plus requires a customized quote. Chef Infra Client 19.x is listed as the current LTS release, while 18.x is deprecated and earlier versions are end of life.
Microsoft Desired State Configuration
Microsoft Desired State Configuration has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.