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Cloud & Infrastructure · head to head

Chef vs Pulumi

Chef logo

Chef

Cloud & Infrastructure

Infrastructure automation and management

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Pulumi logo

Pulumi

Cloud & Infrastructure

Modern infrastructure as code using programming languages

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; Pulumi the free Individual plan allows one user and one concurrent stack update
  • They diverge on capability: Chef covers Recipes, Pulumi covers Multi-language support.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Chef and Pulumi actually diverge.

Attributes where Chef and Pulumi differ
AttributeChefPulumi
Pricing modelopen-sourcefreemium
Founded20092017

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), platforms (Linux, Windows, Mac, Api), 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 Pulumi

  • Multi-language support
  • Multi-cloud
  • State management
  • Secrets management
  • RBAC
  • Stacks
  • Automation API
  • Policy as Code

Both cover

  • AWS
  • Azure
  • GCP
  • On-premise deployment
  • 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 Pulumi
  • Enforcing compliance and audit policy on managed nodesnot Pulumi

Pulumi

  • Defining cloud infrastructure as code in TypeScript, Python, Go, C# or Java rather than a DSLnot Chef
  • Managing Pulumi state and secrets in a hosted backend instead of self-managed storagenot Chef
  • Policy, drift detection and deployment workflows for platform engineering teamsnot 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

Pulumi

  • The free Individual plan allows one user and one concurrent stack update
  • The Team plan is $40 per month base including 40 credits, and caps the organisation at 10 users
  • SAML/SSO, RBAC, audit logs and drift detection require the Enterprise plan at $400 per month base
  • The per-resource rate rises from $0.1825 per resource per month on Team to $0.365 on Enterprise, so upgrading raises the unit price as well as the base fee
  • Managed secrets are billed separately at $0.50 per secret per month on Team and $0.75 on Enterprise
  • Self-hosting, SCIM user sync, audit log export and 24x7 support are only in Business Critical, which is custom priced with no published rate
  • Team includes up to 500 resources and Enterprise up to 2,000, with everything beyond billed on demand as credits

Pricing, plan by plan

Chef

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

Pulumi

Free
  • Pulumi CommunityFree
    • Open source
    • Community support
    • Self-hosted
  • Pulumi Cloud$10/month
    • Hosted backend
    • Team collaboration
    • RBAC

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 Pulumi if

  • You need multi-language support.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, Mac, Api.
  • You also want multi-cloud.
Pulumi review

Questions people ask

Is Chef or Pulumi better?
Neither clearly leads. Chef starts at Free and Pulumi at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Chef or Pulumi?
Chef starts at Free and Pulumi at Free.
Does Chef or Pulumi run on more platforms?
Both run on Linux, Windows, Mac, Api, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
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 Pulumi is typically brought in for.
What can Chef do that Pulumi cannot?
Chef covers Recipes, Cookbooks, Roles, Data bags. Pulumi covers Multi-language support, Multi-cloud, State management, Secrets management. Both handle AWS, Azure, GCP, On-premise deployment.
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