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Software · head to head

Nomad vs Vultr

Nomad logo

Nomad

Software

Flexible workload orchestration

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Vultr logo

Vultr

Software

High performance cloud compute

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; Vultr vultr Cloud Compute pricing as captured 31 December 2022 started at $5/month (1 vCPU, 1GB RAM, 25GB storage, 1TB transfer), scaling to $10/month and $20/month with more vCPU/RAM/storage; bandwidth overage billed at $0.01 to $0.05 per GB depending on plan
  • They diverge on capability: Nomad covers Container orchestration, Vultr covers Cloud servers.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Nomad and Vultr actually diverge.

Attributes where Nomad and Vultr differ
AttributeNomadVultr
Pricing modelopen-sourceusage-based
PlatformsLinux, Windows, Mac, CloudWeb, Api, Cli
Founded20152014

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 Vultr

  • Cloud servers
  • Bare metal servers
  • Block storage
  • Object storage
  • Load balancers
  • Firewalls
  • Private networks
  • Ansible

Both cover

  • Kubernetes
  • Terraform
  • Cloud deployment

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 Vultr
  • Running an orchestrator with a single binary and no external dependenciesnot Vultr
  • Batch and edge workload scheduling across multiple datacentresnot Vultr

Vultr

  • High performance computingnot Nomad
  • Game serversnot Nomad
  • Streamingnot Nomad
  • Database hostingnot Nomad
  • Application serversnot 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

Vultr

  • Vultr Cloud Compute pricing as captured 31 December 2022 started at $5/month (1 vCPU, 1GB RAM, 25GB storage, 1TB transfer), scaling to $10/month and $20/month with more vCPU/RAM/storage; bandwidth overage billed at $0.01 to $0.05 per GB depending on plan

Pricing, plan by plan

Nomad

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

Vultr

Free
  • Cloud Compute$2.5/month
    • 512MB RAM
    • 10GB SSD
    • 500GB bandwidth
  • Bare Metal$32/month
    • Dedicated hardware
    • High performance
    • Full root access

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 Vultr if

  • You need cloud servers.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api, Cli.
  • You also want bare metal servers.
Vultr review

Questions people ask

Is Nomad or Vultr better?
Neither clearly leads. Nomad starts at Free and Vultr at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Nomad or Vultr?
Nomad starts at Free and Vultr at Free.
Does Nomad or Vultr run on more platforms?
Nomad runs on Linux, Windows, Mac, Cloud. Vultr runs on Web, Api, Cli.
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 Vultr is typically brought in for.
What can Nomad do that Vultr cannot?
Nomad covers Container orchestration, Job scheduling, Multi-cloud support, Auto-scaling. Vultr covers Cloud servers, Bare metal servers, Block storage, Object storage. Both handle Kubernetes, Terraform, Cloud deployment.
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