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Cloud & Infrastructure · head to head

Pulumi vs Vultr

Pulumi logo

Pulumi

Cloud & Infrastructure

Modern infrastructure as code using programming languages

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Vultr logo

Vultr

Cloud & Infrastructure

High performance cloud compute

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Pulumi the free Individual plan allows one user and one concurrent stack update; 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: Pulumi covers Multi-language support, Vultr covers Cloud servers.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Pulumi and Vultr actually diverge.

Attributes where Pulumi and Vultr differ
AttributePulumiVultr
Pricing modelfreemiumusage-based
PlatformsLinux, Windows, Mac, ApiWeb, Api, Cli
Founded20172014

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Pulumi

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

Only in Vultr

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

Both cover

  • Kubernetes
  • Cloud deployment

What people use each for

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

Pulumi

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

Vultr

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

Where each one falls short

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

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

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

Pulumi

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

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 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

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 Pulumi or Vultr better?
Neither clearly leads. Pulumi 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, Pulumi or Vultr?
Pulumi starts at Free and Vultr at Free.
Does Pulumi or Vultr run on more platforms?
Pulumi runs on Linux, Windows, Mac, Api. Vultr runs on Web, Api, Cli.
Can I use Pulumi for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Pulumi best used for?
Pulumi is most often used for defining cloud infrastructure as code in typescript, python, go, c# or java rather than a dsl, managing pulumi state and secrets in a hosted backend instead of self-managed storage, policy, drift detection and deployment workflows for platform engineering teams. Of those, defining cloud infrastructure as code in typescript, python, go, c# or java rather than a dsl and managing pulumi state and secrets in a hosted backend instead of self-managed storage are not what Vultr is typically brought in for.
What can Pulumi do that Vultr cannot?
Pulumi covers Multi-language support, Multi-cloud, State management, Secrets management. Vultr covers Cloud servers, Bare metal servers, Block storage, Object storage. Both handle Kubernetes, Cloud deployment.
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