Softwr

Business Intelligence · head to head

Celonis vs Spacelift

Celonis logo

Celonis

Business Intelligence

German process mining platform that analyzes, designs and operates AI-driven business processes

From
On request
Free plan
No
Visit CelonisFull review
Spacelift logo

Spacelift

Developer Tools

Infrastructure-as-code orchestration for Terraform, OpenTofu, Pulumi and Kubernetes

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit SpaceliftFull review

The short version

  • Spacelift is free; Celonis prices on request.
  • Where Celonis falls short: Celonis does not publish pricing on their pricing page or website.
  • Where Spacelift falls short: three of the five tiers are quote-only, so a shortlist cannot be costed without entering a sales process with each vendor on it.
  • Prices and features on this page were last checked on 13 November 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Celonis and Spacelift actually diverge.

Attributes where Celonis and Spacelift differ
AttributeCelonisSpacelift
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelQuoteBy private worker and tier, not by user
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebWeb, Self-hosted
CategoryBusiness IntelligenceDeveloper Tools

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 Celonis

Nothing recorded that Spacelift does not also cover.

Only in Spacelift

  • Multi-tool orchestration
  • Policy as code
  • Private workers
  • Spaces
  • Blueprints
  • Drift detection

What people use each for

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

Celonis

  • Process mining and analyticsnot Spacelift

Spacelift

  • Platform teams running infrastructure changes through approval gates rather than through application CInot Celonis
  • Organisations standardising Terraform and OpenTofu across many teams with policy enforcementnot Celonis
  • Estates needing private runners so cloud credentials never leave the networknot Celonis
  • Teams wanting drift detection and reconciliation rather than plan-time checks alonenot Celonis

Where each one falls short

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

Celonis

  • Celonis does not publish pricing on their pricing page or website
  • Company directs customers to contact sales team for pricing information
  • No indication of pricing tiers, starting prices, or quote-based model on public pages
  • Pricing inquiry requires using a contact form or reaching out directly

Spacelift

  • Users are unlimited and private workers are metered, so deployment concurrency rather than headcount drives the bill, which inverts how most engineering budgets are built and is easy to under-forecast
  • There is no affordable paid entry point. The free tier stops at two users and the next tier is a five-figure commitment with nothing in between
  • Three of the five tiers are quote-only, so a shortlist cannot be costed without entering a sales process with each vendor on it
  • The self-hosted build lags the hosted one, has no public worker pool and lacks the Azure and Google Cloud integrations available in the SaaS product, with OIDC federation offered as the workaround
  • Stacks, Rego policies, Blueprints, Spaces and Spacelift-managed state are proprietary constructs, so leaving means rebuilding the orchestration layer rather than pointing it at a different runner

Pricing, plan by plan

Celonis

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Celonis review.

Spacelift

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Two users
    • Public workers only
    • No private workers
  • Starter PlusOn request
    • Unlimited users
    • Two public workers
    • One to two private workers
  • BusinessOn request
    • Unlimited users
    • Three private workers
    • Quoted
  • EnterpriseOn request
    • Unlimited users
    • Five to thirty private workers
    • Self-hosted option

Which should you pick?

Choose Celonis if

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

Celonis review

Choose Spacelift if

  • You need multi-tool orchestration.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Self-hosted.
  • You also want policy as code.
Spacelift review

Questions people ask

Is Celonis or Spacelift better?
Neither clearly leads. Celonis starts at On request and Spacelift at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Celonis or Spacelift?
Spacelift has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Celonis and Free for Spacelift.
Does Celonis or Spacelift run on more platforms?
Celonis runs on Web. Spacelift runs on Web, Self-hosted.
Can I use Spacelift for free?
Yes. Spacelift has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Celonis starts at On request.
What is Celonis best used for?
Celonis is most often used for process mining and analytics. Of those, process mining and analytics is not what Spacelift is typically brought in for.
What can Celonis do that Spacelift cannot?
Spacelift covers Multi-tool orchestration, Policy as code, Private workers, Spaces.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Celonis: How much does Celonis cost?

Celonis does not publish pricing on their website. The company offers process mining and analytics solutions but requires customers to contact their sales team or use the Get in touch form on their pricing page to receive custom pricing quotes.

Source
Spacelift: How is Spacelift priced?

By tier and by private worker count rather than per user. Users are unlimited on every paid plan. The published figure on the pricing page carries no period label, and the FAQ describes the tier as an annual subscription, so confirm the period in writing.

Celonis: What is Celonis' pricing model?

Celonis' pricing model and pricing tiers are not publicly disclosed. Customers must request pricing information directly from Celonis through their sales contact channels.

Source
Spacelift: Does it support OpenTofu?

Yes, and Spacelift sponsors the OpenTofu project, which is a substantive hedge for anyone avoiding Terraform under the Business Source Licence.

Celonis: Does Celonis offer a free trial or demo?

Celonis offers resources through Celonis Academy for training and has specialized programs (Academic Alliance, Aspire, Labs), but specific pricing for trials or demos is not disclosed. Contact Celonis directly for information on trial availability and pricing.

Source
Spacelift: Is there a self-hosted version?

Yes, described as carrying Enterprise functionality, but it is priced on request and lags the hosted product on cloud integrations.

Spacelift: Why not just use the CI system we already have?

That is the real comparison. General purpose CI handles state, drift, approval gates and concurrency control for infrastructure poorly, and whether that is worth a five-figure floor depends on how much infrastructure change your organisation actually ships.

Spacelift: What happens to our pipelines if we leave?

They do not port. Rego policies, Blueprints, Spaces and managed state are Spacelift constructs and the orchestration has to be rebuilt elsewhere.

Share

Related pages

More on Celonis

More on Spacelift

Keep looking

Other head to heads