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Software · head to head

Chef vs Cockroach Labs

Chef logo

Chef

Software

Infrastructure automation and management

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Cockroach Labs logo

Cockroach Labs

Software

The cloud-native distributed SQL database

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: 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; Cockroach Labs basic and Standard tiers limited to AWS and GCP (select regions only)
  • They diverge on capability: Chef covers Recipes, Cockroach Labs covers Distributed SQL.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Chef and Cockroach Labs actually diverge.

Attributes where Chef and Cockroach Labs differ
AttributeChefCockroach Labs
Pricing modelopen-sourcefreemium
PlatformsLinux, Windows, Mac, ApiAWS, GCP, Azure
Founded20092015

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

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

Only in Cockroach Labs

  • Distributed SQL
  • Automatic Sharding
  • Multi-region Replication
  • Geo-partitioning
  • ACID Transactions
  • Horizontal Scaling
  • Survivability
  • PostgreSQL Compatibility

Both cover

  • On-premise deployment
  • Cloud deployment

What people use each for

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

Chef

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

Cockroach Labs

  • Distributed SQL database for scalable applicationsnot Chef
  • Multi-region deployment and failovernot Chef

Where each one falls short

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

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

Cockroach Labs

  • Basic and Standard tiers limited to AWS and GCP (select regions only)
  • Azure support restricted to Advanced tier only
  • Basic tier limited to 50 million RUs and 10 GiB storage per month
  • Advanced tier starts at $0.60/hour for 4 vCPUs minimum
  • 3 TiB maximum storage on Basic and Standard tiers, 10 TiB per node on Advanced

Pricing, plan by plan

Chef

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

Cockroach Labs

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Cockroach Labs review.

Which should you pick?

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

Choose Cockroach Labs if

  • You need distributed sql.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on AWS, GCP, Azure.
  • You also want automatic sharding.
Cockroach Labs review

Questions people ask

Is Chef or Cockroach Labs better?
Neither clearly leads. Chef starts at Free and Cockroach Labs at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Chef or Cockroach Labs?
Chef starts at Free and Cockroach Labs at Free.
Does Chef or Cockroach Labs run on more platforms?
Chef runs on Linux, Windows, Mac, Api. Cockroach Labs runs on AWS, GCP, Azure.
Can I use Chef for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Chef best used for?
Chef is most often used for configuration management and infrastructure automation across server fleets, enforcing compliance and audit policy on managed nodes. Of those, configuration management and infrastructure automation across server fleets and enforcing compliance and audit policy on managed nodes are not what Cockroach Labs is typically brought in for.
What can Chef do that Cockroach Labs cannot?
Chef covers Recipes, Cookbooks, Roles, Data bags. Cockroach Labs covers Distributed SQL, Automatic Sharding, Multi-region Replication, Geo-partitioning. Both handle On-premise deployment, Cloud deployment.
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