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Developer Tools · head to head

Atlantis vs Paymo

Atlantis logo

Atlantis

Developer Tools

Runs Terraform plan and apply from pull request comments, self-hosted and free

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit AtlantisFull review
Paymo logo

Paymo

Project Management

Work & project management for teams

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit PaymoFull review

The short version

  • Paymo is a work management solution.
  • Atlantis is free; Paymo starts at $5.9/mo.
  • Only Atlantis lists pull request plans; only Paymo lists task management.
  • Where Paymo falls short: every advertised price rises after 3 months, with Plus going from $10.90 to $15.90 per user and Pro from $16.90 to $23.90.
  • Prices and features on this page were last checked on 13 November 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Atlantis and Paymo actually diverge.

Attributes where Atlantis and Paymo differ
AttributeAtlantisPaymo
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feeFreemium
PlatformsLinux, Self-hostedWeb, iOS, Android, Windows, macOS
CategoryDeveloper ToolsProject Management

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes).

Not yet recorded: founded for Atlantis.

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Atlantis

  • Pull request plans
  • Comment driven apply
  • Workspace locking
  • Policy checking
  • Multi-platform webhooks
  • Custom workflows

Only in Paymo

  • Task management
  • Time tracking
  • Invoicing
  • Gantt charts
  • Resource scheduling
  • Slack
  • Google Workspace
  • Zapier

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Atlantis

  • Making Terraform review meaningful by putting the actual plan output in front of the approvernot Paymo
  • Removing local applies and the credential sprawl that comes with every engineer holding production keysnot Paymo
  • Getting pull request driven infrastructure without paying a per-user subscription for a hosted platformnot Paymo
  • Enforcing Conftest policies as a blocking check before an apply can runnot Paymo

Paymo

  • Time tracking for freelancersnot Atlantis
  • Project management for small teamsnot Atlantis
  • Invoice generation and client managementnot Atlantis

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Atlantis

  • There is no company, no service level agreement and no paid support at any price, and the six maintainers are volunteers with day jobs, which some risk committees will not accept for a component holding production cloud credentials
  • The security surface is inherently sharp, because it is an internet-reachable webhook endpoint that executes applies with privileged credentials, gated by pull request comment authorisation that is coarse next to a real policy engine
  • It is stateful, holding a working directory and lock database on local disk, so high availability and horizontal scaling are awkward and you own upgrades, webhook plumbing, secret rotation and the host itself
  • It lacks the features that distinguish the commercial alternatives, with no native drift detection, no cost estimation, no managed state interface and no policy engine beyond the Conftest integration
  • Terragrunt and monorepo layouts are not first-class, requiring hand-written custom workflows and repository configuration that becomes a growing maintenance burden as the number of repositories increases

Paymo

  • Every advertised price rises after 3 months, with Plus going from $10.90 to $15.90 per user and Pro from $16.90 to $23.90
  • The free plan allows 1 user, 1 client and 2 projects
  • The Solo plan is still capped at 3 clients and 5 projects
  • Gantt charts, task dependencies and scheduling require the Plus plan
  • Integrations are excluded from both the free and Solo plans

Pricing, plan by plan

Atlantis

Free
  • AtlantisFree
    • Apache-2.0, no usage limits and no seat count
    • No commercial edition and no paid support tier
    • Community support through GitHub and the CNCF Slack channel

Paymo

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 1 user
    • unlimited time tracking
    • unlimited invoices
  • Solo$5.9/mo
    • 1 user
    • flat rate/retainer projects
    • 3 clients
  • Plus$10.9/mo
    • unlimited users
    • spreadsheet view
    • recurring tasks
  • Pro$16.9/mo
    • unlimited users
    • Gantt charts
    • task dependencies

Which should you pick?

Choose Atlantis if

  • You need pull request plans.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Self-hosted.
  • You also want comment driven apply.
Atlantis review

Choose Paymo if

  • You need task management.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, Windows, macOS.
  • You also want time tracking.
Paymo review

Questions people ask

Is Atlantis or Paymo better?
Neither clearly leads. Atlantis starts at Free and Paymo at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Atlantis or Paymo?
Atlantis starts at Free and Paymo at Free.
Does Atlantis or Paymo run on more platforms?
Atlantis runs on Linux, Self-hosted. Paymo runs on Web, iOS, Android, Windows, macOS.
Can I use Atlantis for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Atlantis best used for?
Atlantis is most often used for making terraform review meaningful by putting the actual plan output in front of the approver, removing local applies and the credential sprawl that comes with every engineer holding production keys, getting pull request driven infrastructure without paying a per-user subscription for a hosted platform, enforcing conftest policies as a blocking check before an apply can run. Of those, making terraform review meaningful by putting the actual plan output in front of the approver and removing local applies and the credential sprawl that comes with every engineer holding production keys are not what Paymo is typically brought in for.
What can Atlantis do that Paymo cannot?
Atlantis covers Pull request plans, Comment driven apply, Workspace locking, Policy checking. Paymo covers Task management, Time tracking, Invoicing, Gantt charts.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Atlantis: Is there a company behind Atlantis?

No. It runs as a series of LF Projects under the Linux Foundation and is maintained by volunteers. There is no vendor to buy support from and no service level agreement.

Paymo: What is the storage limit by plan?

Free: 1GB, Solo: 5GB, Plus: 50GB, Pro: 500GB.

Source
Atlantis: Is it a CNCF project?

No. It uses a channel in the CNCF Slack, which is often misread as membership, but the project sits under LF Projects rather than the CNCF.

Paymo: Can I use Paymo with multiple users on the Free plan?

No, Free and Solo plans are limited to 1 user only. You need Plus or Pro for multiple users.

Source
Atlantis: Does it work with OpenTofu?

Yes, there is a dedicated integration guide alongside Terraform, and it also has configuration for working with hosted Terraform backends.

Paymo: What happens after the promotional pricing period ends?

Regular prices apply: Solo $9.90/month, Plus $15.90/user/month, Pro $23.90/user/month.

Source
Atlantis: What does it not do that a paid platform does?

Drift detection, cost estimation, a managed state and run interface, and a real policy engine. Atlantis does pull request plan and apply well and stops there.

Paymo: Is there a discount for annual billing?

Yes, annual payment offers up to 40% discount compared to monthly billing.

Source
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