Software · head to head
Chef vs Oracle Cloud
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; Oracle Cloud the free trial gives US$300 of credit that expires when consumed or after 30 days, whichever comes first
- They diverge on capability: Chef covers Recipes, Oracle Cloud covers Autonomous Database.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Chef and Oracle Cloud actually diverge.
| Attribute | Chef | Oracle Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | open-source | usage-based |
| Platforms | Linux, Windows, Mac, Api | Linux, Windows, Api, Cli |
| Founded | 2009 | 2019 |
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 Oracle Cloud
- Autonomous Database
- Compute Instances
- MySQL Database Service
- Object Storage
- Block Volume
- Load Balancers
- Virtual Cloud Network
- API Gateway
Both cover
- Docker
- Cloud deployment
- Linux support
- Windows 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 Oracle Cloud
- Enforcing compliance and audit policy on managed nodesnot Oracle Cloud
Oracle Cloud
- Running virtual machines, databases and storage on Oracle's cloud infrastructurenot Chef
- Hosting Oracle Database workloads on infrastructure from the same vendornot 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
Oracle Cloud
- The free trial gives US$300 of credit that expires when consumed or after 30 days, whichever comes first
- The US$300 cloud credit is available only in select countries
- Only one Oracle Cloud Free Trial or Always Free account is permitted per person
- Accounts left idle for 30 days or more are eligible for suspension or termination as abandoned
- Always Free NoSQL Database is restricted to the Phoenix region
- Free Tier availability is subject to capacity limits, and the published per-service capacity figures are estimates that assume the entire credit is spent on that one service
Pricing, plan by plan
Chef
Free- Open SourceFree
- Chef Infra
- Community support
- Full functionality
- Chef Automate$4000/year
- Chef Infra
- Compliance automation
- Insights
Oracle Cloud
Free- Always FreeFree
- Oracle Autonomous Database
- 2 compute instances
- 100 GB storage
- Pay-as-You-GoFree
- Flexible pricing
- No long-term commitment
- Enterprise support
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 Oracle Cloud if
- You need autonomous database.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Linux, Windows, Api, Cli.
- You also want compute instances.
Questions people ask
- Is Chef or Oracle Cloud better?
- Neither clearly leads. Chef starts at Free and Oracle Cloud at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Chef or Oracle Cloud?
- Chef starts at Free and Oracle Cloud at Free.
- Does Chef or Oracle Cloud run on more platforms?
- Chef runs on Linux, Windows, Mac, Api. Oracle Cloud runs on Linux, Windows, 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 Oracle Cloud is typically brought in for.
- What can Chef do that Oracle Cloud cannot?
- Chef covers Recipes, Cookbooks, Roles, Data bags. Oracle Cloud covers Autonomous Database, Compute Instances, MySQL Database Service, Object Storage. Both handle Docker, Cloud deployment, Linux support, Windows support.