Cloud & Infrastructure · head to head
Packer vs Vagrant
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Packer packer 1.10.0 and later is licensed under the Business Source License 1.1 with IBM Corporation as licensor, not an OSI open source licence; Vagrant vagrant 2.4.3 and later is licensed under the Business Source License 1.1 with IBM Corporation as licensor, not an OSI open source licence
- They diverge on capability: Packer covers Image building, Vagrant covers Box management.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Packer and Vagrant actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (open-source), free tier (Yes), platforms (Linux, Windows, Mac), 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 Packer
- Image building
- Multi-platform support
- Builders
- Post-processors
- Variables
- Data sources
- Validation
- Azure
Only in Vagrant
- Box management
- Provider support
- Multi-machine setups
- Networking
- Synced folders
- Snapshots
- Plugins
- VirtualBox
Both cover
- Provisioners
- AWS
- Docker
- Ansible
- 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.
Packer
- Building identical machine images for multiple clouds from one templatenot Vagrant
- Baking golden AMIs and VM images into a CI pipelinenot Vagrant
- Creating immutable infrastructure artifacts consumed by Terraformnot Vagrant
Vagrant
- Reproducible local development environments defined in a Vagrantfilenot Packer
- Provisioning identical VMs across VirtualBox, VMware and Hyper-V for a teamnot Packer
- Sandboxing multi-machine setups on a developer laptopnot Packer
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Packer
- Packer 1.10.0 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 Packer to third parties on a hosted or embedded basis in a paid product that competes with IBM's paid versions of Packer
- Each version converts to the MPL 2.0 Change License only four years after that version is first published, and the Change Date is set separately per version
- Alternative licensing for uses outside the grant must be arranged with the licensor rather than taken under the public licence
Vagrant
- Vagrant 2.4.3 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 Vagrant to third parties on a hosted or embedded basis in a paid product that competes with IBM's paid versions of Vagrant
- Each version converts to the MPL 2.0 Change License only four years after that version is first published
- Uses that fall outside the Additional Use Grant require a separately negotiated licence from the licensor
Pricing, plan by plan
Packer
Free- Open SourceFree
- Multi-platform image building
- Template-driven
- Provisioner support
Vagrant
Free- Open SourceFree
- Development environment provisioning
- Multiple providers
- Provisioner support
Which should you pick?
Choose Packer if
- You need image building.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Linux, Windows, Mac.
- You also want multi-platform support.
Choose Vagrant if
- You need box management.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Linux, Windows, Mac.
- You also want provider support.
Questions people ask
- Is Packer or Vagrant better?
- Neither clearly leads. Packer starts at Free and Vagrant at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Packer or Vagrant?
- Packer starts at Free and Vagrant at Free.
- Does Packer or Vagrant run on more platforms?
- Both run on Linux, Windows, Mac, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
- Can I use Packer for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Packer best used for?
- Packer is most often used for building identical machine images for multiple clouds from one template, baking golden amis and vm images into a ci pipeline, creating immutable infrastructure artifacts consumed by terraform. Of those, building identical machine images for multiple clouds from one template and baking golden amis and vm images into a ci pipeline are not what Vagrant is typically brought in for.
- What can Packer do that Vagrant cannot?
- Packer covers Image building, Multi-platform support, Builders, Post-processors. Vagrant covers Box management, Provider support, Multi-machine setups, Networking. Both handle Provisioners, AWS, Docker, Ansible.