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Software · head to head

Box vs Chef

Box logo

Box

Software

Cloud content management for the enterprise

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Chef logo

Chef

Software

Infrastructure automation and management

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Chef has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Box all Business and Enterprise plans require a minimum of 3 users; Chef priced per node per year, at $59 on Business and $189 on Enterprise, so cost scales with fleet size rather than with team size

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Box and Chef actually diverge.

Attributes where Box and Chef differ
AttributeBoxChef
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionopen-source
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebLinux, Windows, Mac, Api
FoundedUnknown2009

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).

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 Box

Nothing recorded that Chef does not also cover.

Only in Chef

  • Recipes
  • Cookbooks
  • Roles
  • Data bags
  • Attributes
  • Chef Server
  • Chef Infra
  • Chef Compliance

What people use each for

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

Box

No use cases recorded yet. See the Box review.

Chef

  • Configuration management and infrastructure automation across server fleetsnot Box
  • Enforcing compliance and audit policy on managed nodesnot Box

Where each one falls short

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

Box

  • All Business and Enterprise plans require a minimum of 3 users
  • Business Starter ($5/user/month) caps at 100 GB of shared storage across the whole account and a 2 GB per file upload limit
  • Enterprise Plus requires annual billing, and Enterprise Advanced's exact price is not published on the pricing page

Chef

  • Priced per node per year, at $59 on Business and $189 on Enterprise, so cost scales with fleet size rather than with team size
  • Tripling the price between the two published tiers puts compliance and audit features well above basic automation
  • Enterprise Plus and every self managed deployment are custom quoted with no published price

Pricing, plan by plan

Box

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Box review.

Chef

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • Chef Infra
    • Community support
    • Full functionality
  • Chef Automate$4000/year
    • Chef Infra
    • Compliance automation
    • Insights

Which should you pick?

Choose Box if

Nothing in the data separates Box from Chef on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

Box review

Choose Chef if

  • You need recipes.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, Mac, Api.
  • You also want cookbooks.
Chef review

Questions people ask

Is Box or Chef better?
Neither clearly leads. Box starts at On request and Chef at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Box or Chef?
Chef has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Box and Free for Chef.
Does Box or Chef run on more platforms?
Box runs on Web. Chef runs on Linux, Windows, Mac, Api.
Can I use Chef for free?
Yes. Chef has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Box starts at On request.
What can Box do that Chef cannot?
Chef covers Recipes, Cookbooks, Roles, Data bags.
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