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Chef vs Google Cloud Platform

Chef logo

Chef

Software

Infrastructure automation and management

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Google Cloud Platform logo

Google Cloud Platform

Software

Trusted by millions of enterprises

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; Google Cloud Platform the $300 Free Trial credit expires 90 days from signup, whichever comes first with spending it
  • They diverge on capability: Chef covers Recipes, Google Cloud Platform covers Compute Engine.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Chef and Google Cloud Platform actually diverge.

Attributes where Chef and Google Cloud Platform differ
AttributeChefGoogle Cloud Platform
Pricing modelopen-sourceusage-based
PlatformsLinux, Windows, Mac, ApiWeb, Api, Cli
Founded20092008

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 Google Cloud Platform

  • Compute Engine
  • App Engine
  • Cloud Run
  • Cloud Storage
  • Cloud SQL
  • BigQuery
  • Dataflow
  • Cloud Pub/Sub

Both cover

  • Docker
  • 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 Google Cloud Platform
  • Enforcing compliance and audit policy on managed nodesnot Google Cloud Platform

Google Cloud Platform

  • Running compute, storage and managed data services on Google's cloudnot Chef
  • Hosting Kubernetes workloads on GKE alongside BigQuery analyticsnot 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

Google Cloud Platform

  • The $300 Free Trial credit expires 90 days from signup, whichever comes first with spending it
  • Free Tier Compute Engine is limited to one non-preemptible e2-micro instance per month and only in the us-west1, us-central1 or us-east1 regions
  • Free Tier Compute Engine includes only 30 GB-months of standard persistent disk and 1 GB of outbound North America data transfer per month
  • Free Tier Cloud Storage covers 5 GB-months of regional storage in US regions only, 5,000 Class A and 50,000 Class B operations per month
  • Free Tier outbound data transfer allowances exclude destinations in China and Australia
  • Compute Engine resources are governed by allocation quotas that require a quota increase request to exceed

Pricing, plan by plan

Chef

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

Google Cloud Platform

Free
  • Free TierFree
    • Compute Engine 744 hours/month
    • Cloud Storage 5GB
    • Cloud SQL 250MB storage

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 Google Cloud Platform if

  • You need compute engine.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api, Cli.
  • You also want app engine.
Google Cloud Platform review

Questions people ask

Is Chef or Google Cloud Platform better?
Neither clearly leads. Chef starts at Free and Google Cloud Platform at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Chef or Google Cloud Platform?
Chef starts at Free and Google Cloud Platform at Free.
Does Chef or Google Cloud Platform run on more platforms?
Chef runs on Linux, Windows, Mac, Api. Google Cloud Platform runs on Web, Api, Cli.
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 Google Cloud Platform is typically brought in for.
What can Chef do that Google Cloud Platform cannot?
Chef covers Recipes, Cookbooks, Roles, Data bags. Google Cloud Platform covers Compute Engine, App Engine, Cloud Run, Cloud Storage. Both handle Docker, Cloud deployment.
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