Pact Broker vs PactFlow

Pact Broker shares consumer-driven contracts and verification results so teams can check compatibility between consumer and provider versions before deployment. It is designed for Pact contracts and also accepts contracts that can be represented as JSON. In a CI workflow, consumer builds publish contracts, provider builds retrieve and verify them, and consumers can use the can-i-deploy command to check whether deployment is safe. The broker includes a REST API, embedded API browser, generated documentation, service network diagrams, verification results and status badges. Webhooks can respond to contract changes by triggering actions such as a provider build or Slack notification. Deployment options documented include Docker and Terraform on AWS; PostgreSQL and SQLite are listed, though SQLite is not supported for long-term operation. Docker images support linux/amd64 and linux/arm64. The open-source self-hosted broker is free, with users responsible for hosting, operation, security, maintenance and upgrades. PactFlow plans are also listed: Starter is free, while Team costs $115.42 a month billed yearly or $127 a month billed monthly.

PactFlow is a managed Pact Broker for teams checking integrations in distributed systems through contract testing. It supports consumer-driven testing with Pact and bi-directional testing with OpenAPI. Its AI-augmented testing can generate tests from OpenAPI, traffic data or existing code. Integrations include SwaggerHub Editor and Pact plugins, including gRPC and protobuf; pull-request status checks work with GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket or other source control tools. A Developer API, CLI tools and Terraform support help automate configuration. PactFlow offers a managed service and an Enterprise on-premises option. Starter is free, allows unlimited users and includes two integrations. Team includes 50 integrations and community support; it costs $115.42 a month with yearly billing, billed yearly as $1,385, or $127 a month with monthly billing. Enterprise includes unlimited integrations, SAML SSO, role-based access management and dedicated support, with price available through sales. PactFlow states customer data and backups are stored in AWS data centres in Sydney, Australia, with encryption at rest and in transit.