OpenDSC vs Salt
OpenDSC
opendsc.dev
Salt
saltproject.ioSide by side
| Figure | OpenDSC | Salt |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 0 | 1 |
| Spec score · Configuration Management Tools | 7.5 (#18) | 8.3 (#9) |
| Access control | The Pull Server provides role-based access control with users, groups, and granular authorization policies. | Salt provides publisher ACLs and external authentication that can restrict users to selected functions on selected minions. |
| Identity integrations | The pull server supports OpenID Connect providers including Microsoft Entra ID, Okta, and Auth0, with JWT bearer tokens for API clients. | SaltStack Config supports LDAP, SAML, OIDC, and Active Directory integration. |
| Integrations | The Pull Server supports OpenID Connect providers including Microsoft Entra ID, Okta, and Auth0, as well as standards-compliant OIDC providers. | SaltStack Config integrates with LDAP, SAML, OIDC, and Active Directory. |
| License | The project’s GitHub repository identifies its license as MIT. | Salt is licensed under the Apache 2.0 license. |
| Purpose | OpenDSC is a configuration management platform for Microsoft Desired State Configuration (DSC). | Salt is a Python-based, open-source framework for remote execution, configuration management, automation, provisioning, and orchestration. |
| Security | Nodes authenticate with a registration key during initial registration and use client certificates afterward; the documentation describes mTLS authentication. | Salt uses RSA keys for authentication, AES keys for encryption, and rotates the AES key every 24 hours by default or when a minion is deleted. |
Plans
In their own words
OpenDSC
OpenDSC is a configuration management platform for Microsoft Desired State Configuration, intended for teams managing settings across infrastructure nodes. Its Local Configuration Manager monitors system state and can automatically correct configuration drift. For centralized management, the pull server registers nodes, distributes configurations, and provides compliance reporting through a web dashboard and REST API. Configurations can be versioned, assembled into composite deployments, and parameterized by region, environment, or node. Local file-based configurations support disconnected use as well as server-driven pulls. The resource library covers Windows administration, SQL Server, and file, JSON, XML, and archive tasks across Windows, Linux, and macOS. The Resource Development Kit provides .NET libraries and tools for developing custom resources. The pull server supports OpenID Connect providers, client-certificate mutual TLS, role-based access control, and retention policies. SQLite is supported for development, while production deployments can use SQL Server or PostgreSQL. The project is MIT licensed and self-hosted. Its roadmap lists native Linux and macOS LCM services, distribution packages, and official Docker deployment as planned work.
Salt
Salt is a free, open-source framework for remote execution, configuration management, provisioning and infrastructure orchestration. A single execution can run commands across thousands of systems in seconds. A typical setup has a master managing minions, but Salt also supports agentless operation through salt-ssh or salt-proxy and stand-alone use. Salt states define configurations that can be extended and layered, while orchestration can order work by dependency, such as preparing a load balancer before a web-server cluster. Salt Cloud provisions systems on cloud hosts and hypervisors and can connect new virtual machines to a master. Its documented providers include Amazon EC2, Google Compute Engine, Azure, OpenStack, DigitalOcean, Linode, VMware and Proxmox. SaltStack Config adds a web interface, role-based access control, multi-master support, reporting and an enterprise API, along with LDAP, SAML, OIDC and Active Directory integrations. Salt uses RSA key authentication and encrypted master-minion communication. It is self-hosted and licensed under Apache 2.0.