Foreman vs Rudder
Foreman
theforeman.org
Rudder
rudder.ioSide by side
| Figure | Foreman | Rudder |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $3.33/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 8 |
| Spec score · IT Automation Software | 8.8 (#10) | 8.8 (#11) |
| Spec score · IT Configuration Management Software | 8.7 (#4) | 8.7 (#5) |
| 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. | Enterprise includes unlimited standard support, while the Corporate Security Suite includes unlimited premium support and a dedicated customer success manager. |
Plans
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
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.