Foreman vs Google Cloud VM Manager
Foreman
theforeman.org
Google Cloud VM Manager
cloud.google.comSide by side
| Figure | Foreman | Google Cloud VM Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 3 |
| Spec score · IT Automation Software | 8.8 (#10) | 8.7 (#13) |
| Spec score · IT Configuration Management Software | 8.7 (#4) | 8.6 (#7) |
| Access control | Foreman provides role-based access control and can use LDAP or FreeIPA for authentication and authorization. | Creating patch jobs or OS policy assignments requires IAM permissions that Google says can grant the ability to run code on VMs; Google recommends least privilege. |
| Automation | Foreman helps system administrators automate repetitive tasks, deploy applications, and manage servers on-premise or in the cloud. | Google says VM Manager uses automation to improve efficiency and reduce the operational burden of maintaining VM fleets. |
| Purpose | Foreman is an open-source tool for managing servers through provisioning, configuration, orchestration, and monitoring. | VM Manager manages operating systems for large Windows and Linux VM fleets running on Compute Engine. |
| Support | Community support is available through the Discourse support board and a public Matrix room; the project says its support room is not an official support channel. | 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. |
Plans
Google Cloud VM Manager
- Free tierFree
- Usage-based VM ManagerFree
- VM ManagerFree
In their own words
Foreman
Foreman is a free, open-source lifecycle management tool for physical and virtual servers. System administrators can use it to automate repetitive tasks, deploy applications, and manage on-premise or cloud systems. It provisions bare-metal machines and resources from providers including Amazon EC2, Google Compute Engine, OpenStack, Libvirt, oVirt, and VMware. Configuration integrations include Puppet, Ansible, Chef, and Salt; Foreman also collects Ansible reports and facts. Administrators can work through a web frontend, REST API, or Linux CLI, including Hammer CLI access to API calls. Role-based access control and integrations such as LDAP, FreeIPA, and Microsoft Active Directory support access management. Host groups, bulk management, health reports, and audits help organize systems and review changes. A typical deployment has a Foreman server, Smart Proxy servers, and managed hosts. The quickstart lists Enterprise Linux 9, Debian 12 and 13, and Ubuntu 22.04 and 24.04, and requires 4 GB of memory. Installation configures multiple system components, and setup requires Linux system administration knowledge.
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.