Puppet vs xCAT
Puppet
puppet.comxCAT
xcat.orgSide by side
| Figure | Puppet | xCAT |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $120/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 5 | 1 |
| Spec score · IT Automation Software | 8.9 (#9) | 7.3 (#51) |
| Spec score · Data Center Automation | 8.8 (#4) | 7.3 (#15) |
| API | Puppet and Puppet Enterprise expose HTTP APIs for application integrations, including inventory and orchestration services. | xCAT provides a REST API for integration with third-party software. |
| Integrations | Official integration listings include ServiceNow, VMware, Argo CD, Jenkins, Dynatrace, Datadog, New Relic, Splunk, Tenable Nessus and CIS Benchmarks. | The documentation lists OpenStack and SoftLayer cloud integration and mentions configuring HPC applications including GPFS, Parallel Environment, and LSF. |
| Purpose | Puppet Enterprise provides policy-driven configuration management and infrastructure automation for enterprise-scale environments. | xCAT automates deployment, scaling, and management of bare metal servers and virtual machines. |
| Scale | Puppet says its free trial runs Puppet Enterprise on up to 10 nodes with no commitment or time limit. | The documentation says xCAT can scale to hundreds of thousands of nodes with a distributed architecture. |
| Security | Puppet describes Security Compliance Enforcement as applying policy as code aligned to CIS Benchmarks and DISA STIGs to identify and remediate configuration drift. | The security documentation covers TLS configuration, transmission channels, command access control, auditing, password management, secure zones, and IP-based access control. |
| Support | Enterprise plans include standard or premium technical support, CVE service-level commitments and optional technical account management. | The project encourages GitHub issues for support and also lists an older user email list. |
Plans
Puppet
- Puppet CoreFree
- Puppet Enterprise free trialFree
- Puppet Enterprise listing price$120 a month
- Puppet EnterprisePriced on request
- Puppet Enterprise AdvancedPriced on request
In their own words
Puppet
Puppet Enterprise provides policy-driven configuration management and infrastructure automation for complex cloud and hybrid environments. It uses policy as code to continuously enforce desired state, helping organizations identify and remediate configuration drift. Both agent-based and agentless management are supported, with a web interface and role-based access control. Puppet Enterprise Advanced adds continuous enforcement of CIS Benchmarks and DISA STIGs, self-service automation, AI features, observability integrations, and advanced patching. It also integrates with third-party vulnerability scanners, including Nessus, for remediation. Listed integrations include GitHub, AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, HashiCorp Vault, and ServiceNow. Agents are listed for Linux, Windows, and macOS. Puppet describes the product as suited to medium and large organizations managing complex environments that require security, compliance, and centralized automation. Pricing is custom; a free trial runs on up to 10 nodes with no commitment or time limit. Network and edge device management is optional, and licensing for those devices requires contacting sales.