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Software · head to head

Nomad vs Pulumi

Nomad logo

Nomad

Software

Flexible workload orchestration

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Pulumi logo

Pulumi

Software

Modern infrastructure as code using programming languages

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Nomad nomad 1.7.0 and later is licensed under the Business Source License 1.1 with IBM Corporation as licensor, not an OSI open source licence; Pulumi the free Individual plan allows one user and one concurrent stack update
  • They diverge on capability: Nomad covers Container orchestration, Pulumi covers Multi-language support.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Nomad and Pulumi actually diverge.

Attributes where Nomad and Pulumi differ
AttributeNomadPulumi
Pricing modelopen-sourcefreemium
PlatformsLinux, Windows, Mac, CloudLinux, Windows, Mac, Api
Founded20152017

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 Nomad

  • Container orchestration
  • Job scheduling
  • Multi-cloud support
  • Auto-scaling
  • Service discovery
  • Rolling deployments
  • Monitoring integration
  • High availability

Only in Pulumi

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

Both cover

  • Kubernetes
  • On-premise deployment
  • Cloud deployment
  • Linux support

What people use each for

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

Nomad

  • Scheduling containers, binaries, Java and VM workloads on the same clusternot Pulumi
  • Running an orchestrator with a single binary and no external dependenciesnot Pulumi
  • Batch and edge workload scheduling across multiple datacentresnot Pulumi

Pulumi

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

Where each one falls short

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

Nomad

  • Nomad 1.7.0 and later is licensed under the Business Source License 1.1 with IBM Corporation as licensor, not an OSI open source licence
  • The Additional Use Grant forbids offering Nomad to third parties on a hosted or embedded basis in a paid product that competes with IBM's paid versions
  • Each version converts to MPL 2.0 only four years after that version is published
  • Resource quotas, Sentinel policies and audit logging sit in a Governance and Policy add-on module that is separate from the Enterprise base platform package
  • Multi-region deployments, multiple Vault namespaces and Nomad Autopilot advanced server management require Nomad Enterprise

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

Nomad

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • Workload orchestration
    • Multi-cloud
    • Flexible scheduling

Pulumi

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

Which should you pick?

Choose Nomad if

  • You need container orchestration.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, Mac, Cloud.
  • You also want job scheduling.
Nomad 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 Nomad or Pulumi better?
Neither clearly leads. Nomad 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, Nomad or Pulumi?
Nomad starts at Free and Pulumi at Free.
Does Nomad or Pulumi run on more platforms?
Nomad runs on Linux, Windows, Mac, Cloud. Pulumi runs on Linux, Windows, Mac, Api.
Can I use Nomad for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Nomad best used for?
Nomad is most often used for scheduling containers, binaries, java and vm workloads on the same cluster, running an orchestrator with a single binary and no external dependencies, batch and edge workload scheduling across multiple datacentres. Of those, scheduling containers, binaries, java and vm workloads on the same cluster and running an orchestrator with a single binary and no external dependencies are not what Pulumi is typically brought in for.
What can Nomad do that Pulumi cannot?
Nomad covers Container orchestration, Job scheduling, Multi-cloud support, Auto-scaling. Pulumi covers Multi-language support, Multi-cloud, State management, Secrets management. Both handle Kubernetes, On-premise deployment, Cloud deployment, Linux support.
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