Cloud & Infrastructure · head to head
Chef vs Linode
Linode
Cloud & Infrastructure
Affordable cloud hosting and infrastructure
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
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; Linode linode.com/pricing returns a 301 redirect to akamai.com/cloud/pricing; the service is now sold as Akamai Cloud
- They diverge on capability: Chef covers Recipes, Linode covers Compute instances.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Chef and Linode actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Cloud & Infrastructure).
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 Linode
- Compute instances
- Object storage
- Block storage
- Kubernetes
- Managed database
- Load balancers
- Firewalls
- Private networks
Both cover
- Docker
- Cloud deployment
- Api support
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 Linode
- Enforcing compliance and audit policy on managed nodesnot Linode
Linode
- Running Linux virtual machines on hourly billed shared or dedicated CPU plansnot Chef
- Managed Kubernetes, block storage and object storage on a single cloud accountnot Chef
- Hosting workloads in a specific one of the listed global regionsnot 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
Linode
- linode.com/pricing returns a 301 redirect to akamai.com/cloud/pricing; the service is now sold as Akamai Cloud
- Charges accrue for any service on the account even when it is powered off, because RAM and network capacity stay reserved; only deleting the service stops billing
- Network transfer beyond the monthly allotment is billed from $0.005 per GB and the rate varies by region
- The Akamai Cloud pricing landing page shows no rates and directs visitors to regional pricing pages or sales
Pricing, plan by plan
Chef
Free- Open SourceFree
- Chef Infra
- Community support
- Full functionality
- Chef Automate$4000/year
- Chef Infra
- Compliance automation
- Insights
Linode
Free- Nanode 1GB$5/month
- 1GB RAM
- 1 vCPU
- 25GB SSD
- Linode 4GB$20/month
- 4GB RAM
- 2 vCPU
- 80GB SSD
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.
Choose Linode if
- You need compute instances.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Api, Cli.
- You also want object storage.
Questions people ask
- Is Chef or Linode better?
- Neither clearly leads. Chef starts at Free and Linode at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Chef or Linode?
- Chef starts at Free and Linode at Free.
- Does Chef or Linode run on more platforms?
- Chef runs on Linux, Windows, Mac, Api. Linode 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 Linode is typically brought in for.
- What can Chef do that Linode cannot?
- Chef covers Recipes, Cookbooks, Roles, Data bags. Linode covers Compute instances, Object storage, Block storage, Kubernetes. Both handle Docker, Cloud deployment, Api support.