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Cloud · head to head

Puppet vs Tilt

Puppet logo

Puppet

Cloud

Infrastructure automation for enterprises

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Tilt logo

Tilt

Developer Tools

Local Kubernetes development loop that rebuilds and live-updates containers on save

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Puppet no pricing published for commercial tiers; requires contacting sales; Tilt docker acquired Tilt in 2022 and the team now splits its time across Compose and Docker Desktop, so feature velocity is modest and the product's long-term priority inside Docker is not guaranteed; treat it as a stable utility, not a growing platform.
  • They diverge on capability: Puppet covers Manifests, Tilt covers Live update.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Puppet and Tilt actually diverge.

Attributes where Puppet and Tilt differ
AttributePuppetTilt
Pricing modelquoteOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsLinux, Windows, Mac, ApiLinux, macOS, Windows
CategoryCloudDeveloper Tools
Founded2005Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

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 Puppet

  • Manifests
  • Modules
  • Classes
  • Variables
  • Facts
  • Puppet Master
  • Hiera
  • Facter

Only in Tilt

  • Live update
  • Tiltfile as code
  • Unified web UI
  • Selective rebuilds
  • Local and remote clusters
  • Resource dependencies
  • Extensions registry
  • Custom buttons and triggers

What people use each for

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

Puppet

  • Infrastructure automationnot Tilt
  • Configuration managementnot Tilt
  • DevOps at scalenot Tilt
  • Enterprise infrastructurenot Tilt

Tilt

  • A team of ten or more engineers whose application is fifteen microservices on Kubernetes and who currently wait on CI to test a changenot Puppet
  • An organisation onboarding new developers who want a single command that stands up the whole stack from a committed Tiltfilenot Puppet
  • A platform team giving product engineers a consistent local environment against a shared remote development clusternot Puppet
  • A codebase where one repository contains several services and rebuilding all of them on every edit is the main source of lost timenot Puppet

Where each one falls short

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

Puppet

  • No pricing published for commercial tiers; requires contacting sales
  • Enterprise and Advanced tiers require custom quote
  • Free tier limited to 25 nodes maximum

Tilt

  • Docker acquired Tilt in 2022 and the team now splits its time across Compose and Docker Desktop, so feature velocity is modest and the product's long-term priority inside Docker is not guaranteed; treat it as a stable utility, not a growing platform.
  • The Tiltfile is Starlark, a Python dialect, so non-trivial setups become real programs that need reviewing and maintaining, and the person who wrote yours becomes a single point of failure.
  • Live update only works when the running container can accept synced files and restart the process; compiled languages, distroless images and read-only filesystems often force you back to a full image rebuild, which removes the main benefit.
  • It assumes Kubernetes. If your development target is plain Docker Compose or serverless functions, Tilt adds a cluster you did not need and a layer of abstraction with no payoff.
  • There is no commercial support contract, no SLA and no paid tier, so when a Kubernetes version upgrade breaks something you are dependent on GitHub issues and a Slack channel rather than a vendor you can escalate to.

Pricing, plan by plan

Puppet

Free
  • DeveloperFree
    • Up to 25 nodes
  • Core Commercial$null/custom
    • 25+ nodes
    • Vendor-backed SLAs
    • Training with Certified Engineers
  • Enterprise$null/custom
    • Web GUI
    • RBAC
    • Multi-environment support
  • Advanced$null/custom
    • AI-powered features
    • Advanced patching
    • Vulnerability remediation

Tilt

Free
  • TiltFree
    • Apache 2.0 licensed
    • All features, no paid tier
    • Community support via the Kubernetes Slack #tilt channel

Which should you pick?

Choose Puppet if

  • You need manifests.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, Mac, Api.
  • You also want modules.
Puppet review

Choose Tilt if

  • You need live update.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows.
  • You also want tiltfile as code.
Tilt review

Questions people ask

Is Puppet or Tilt better?
Neither clearly leads. Puppet starts at Free and Tilt at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Puppet or Tilt?
Puppet starts at Free and Tilt at Free.
Does Puppet or Tilt run on more platforms?
Puppet runs on Linux, Windows, Mac, Api. Tilt runs on Linux, macOS, Windows.
Can I use Puppet for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Puppet best used for?
Puppet is most often used for infrastructure automation, configuration management, devops at scale, enterprise infrastructure. Of those, infrastructure automation and configuration management are not what Tilt is typically brought in for.
What can Puppet do that Tilt cannot?
Puppet covers Manifests, Modules, Classes, Variables. Tilt covers Live update, Tiltfile as code, Unified web UI, Selective rebuilds.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Puppet: How much does Puppet cost?

Puppet's Developer tier is free for up to 25 nodes. Commercial, Enterprise, and Advanced tiers require contacting their sales team for a custom quote.

Source
Tilt: Is Tilt free?

Yes, entirely. It is Apache 2.0 open source with no paid tier and no licence fee.

Puppet: Is there a free version of Puppet?

Yes, Puppet's Developer tier is free forever for up to 25 nodes of infrastructure.

Source
Tilt: Who owns Tilt now?

Docker, which acquired it in May 2022. It remains open source and the repository is still actively maintained.

Puppet: What does the Enterprise tier include?

Puppet's Enterprise tier includes web GUI, RBAC, and multi-environment support for organizations managing infrastructure at scale, with pricing available upon request.

Source
Tilt: Do I need a remote cluster?

No. It works against a local cluster such as kind, minikube or Docker Desktop, and also against a shared remote development cluster if your services are too heavy to run locally.

Tilt: How is it different from Skaffold?

Both automate the build-deploy loop. Tilt puts more weight on the live-update path and a multi-service dashboard; Skaffold is more configuration-driven and closer to Google's tooling.

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