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Puppet vs Vagrant

Puppet logo

Puppet

Software

Infrastructure automation for enterprises

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Vagrant logo

Vagrant

Software

Development environments made easy

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Puppet the pricing page publishes no rate and no minimum, and asks you to fill in a form to be sent pricing and plan information; 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: Puppet covers Manifests, Vagrant covers Box management.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Puppet and Vagrant actually diverge.

Attributes where Puppet and Vagrant differ
AttributePuppetVagrant
PlatformsLinux, Windows, Mac, ApiLinux, Windows, Mac
Founded20052010

Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (open-source), 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 Puppet

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

Only in Vagrant

  • Box management
  • Provider support
  • Multi-machine setups
  • Provisioners
  • Networking
  • Synced folders
  • Snapshots
  • Plugins

Both cover

  • AWS
  • Docker
  • 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.

Puppet

  • Declarative configuration management of servers at scalenot Vagrant
  • Enforcing infrastructure compliance policy continuouslynot Vagrant

Vagrant

  • Reproducible local development environments defined in a Vagrantfilenot Puppet
  • Provisioning identical VMs across VirtualBox, VMware and Hyper-V for a teamnot Puppet
  • Sandboxing multi-machine setups on a developer laptopnot Puppet

Where each one falls short

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

Puppet

  • The pricing page publishes no rate and no minimum, and asks you to fill in a form to be sent pricing and plan information
  • Pricing is banded by number of managed nodes, with separate tiers for under 25 nodes and 25 or more nodes
  • The product is split into Puppet Enterprise and a higher Puppet Enterprise Advanced edition, so compliance oriented features sit behind the upper tier

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

Puppet

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • Puppet Agent
    • Community support
    • Full DSL
  • Puppet Enterprise$100/month
    • Puppet Server
    • Console
    • RBAC

Vagrant

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • Development environment provisioning
    • Multiple providers
    • Provisioner support

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 Vagrant if

  • You need box management.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, Mac.
  • You also want provider support.
Vagrant review

Questions people ask

Is Puppet or Vagrant better?
Neither clearly leads. Puppet 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, Puppet or Vagrant?
Puppet starts at Free and Vagrant at Free.
Does Puppet or Vagrant run on more platforms?
Puppet runs on Linux, Windows, Mac, Api. Vagrant runs on Linux, Windows, Mac.
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 declarative configuration management of servers at scale, enforcing infrastructure compliance policy continuously. Of those, declarative configuration management of servers at scale and enforcing infrastructure compliance policy continuously are not what Vagrant is typically brought in for.
What can Puppet do that Vagrant cannot?
Puppet covers Manifests, Modules, Classes, Variables. Vagrant covers Box management, Provider support, Multi-machine setups, Provisioners. Both handle AWS, Docker, On-premise deployment, Cloud deployment.
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